All these three are dynamic. The climate is changing, so is its terminology [common but differentiated responsibilities is now equity & common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities] ! Growth story is changing, so is the design to achieve it. Aspiration is natural and create a goal that could be anything ranging from owning an asset, product or knowledge. India keeps its eyes on the manufacturing sector for its employable population of millions emerging every year but how many will be absorbed is a critical question. Equity in all the three contexts is too broad and for whom it is being talked about?
As the purchasing power increases or the society becomes more consumptive of products (digital products vis-a-vis energy) there is going to be a peaking period before a downfall or stabilisation of emissions is done (efficient materials), if ever the greed to consume more ends! The desire of the society at large to purchase products for comfort and even rigorous desire of companies to promote products seems unending. As per several investment houses, the penetration rate of air conditioners is only 4% and by 2020 some 7.2 million ACs are expected to sold. Similar is the low penetration rate of other household gadgets like washing machines, roughly at 11% or so. Each has a good growth potential which will meet some aspirations but in the making of these machines emissions generated and lifecycle assessment will reveal its break even. (Read ‘Environmental impact of Amazon’s Kindle’ by Emma Rich).
the other extreme end is than of the extractives’ which have a direct and sometimes forward linkage with the industry. The Energy conservation Act came into being in 2001 and therein emerged a scheme later called PAT, Perform-Achieve-Trade. Some 468 designated users were identified to make their specific energy consumption efficient and an entity called Indian Energy Exchange was set up for trading of energy from surplus to deficit regions on demand base with a bundled costing of RE/NRE and cross subsidy and prevailing situations in the state pertaining to efficiency. These DCs were to perform within the bechmarks created for energy consumption relative to their production. Those who consumed less than this benchmark during a 3 year period, get incentives i.e tradable ESCerts (Energy saving certificates). Those consuming more were to buy these ESCerts! Its a local emission market! Some reports point that 31 million tonnes of CO2 has been offset by avoiding generating 5400-5500 MW by adopting measures of efficiency!
The coal auctioning may have saved on extraction cost (which is due to inefficiencies) but land based emissions are bound to increase as 100 Crore Tonne coal is the target for 2020!
Author – Nishant
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