As India pushes for electric vehicles to meet climate goals, critical mineral shortages could be addressed through battery recycling, but the largely informal sector lacks regulation, capacity, and government support
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The absence of a steady and cheap source of battery materials is one of the reasons why the EV industry has been slow to take off.
Why battery recycling could be the missing link in India’s EV supply chain
As India pushes for electric vehicles to meet climate goals, critical mineral shortages could be addressed through battery recycling, but the largely informal sector lacks regulation, capacity, and government support
In 2021, at Glasgow Climate Summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s goal of achieving net-zero by 2070. As a consequence, the country has spurred into action to quicken its pace on putting EVs on the road. It has resolved that by 2030 at least 30% of passenger cars, 70 % of commercial vehicles and 80% of two- and three-wheelers on its roads would be electric.
However, this ambitious plan faces a rather crucial roadblock. India does not produce many of the critical minerals for manufacturing batteries for EVs like lithium, cobalt and nickel. Further, the scale of Chinese domination in EV manufacturing and possession of components required for the manufacturing makes India look like an insignificant player in the global EV supply chain.
In the face of these challenges, recycling the large amounts of these critical minerals accumulating in massive e-waste that the country generates presents itself as a viable solution. There are some questions, however, that come up. How much of these critical minerals can India procure through recycling? How well regulated is the recycling sector at the moment? Does India have the technological capacity to recycle these minerals into top quality raw materials, say battery grade lithium? CarbonCopy delves into all these questions here.
EV is here to stay
After initial hesitation, dominant global wisdom has once again zeroed in on electric traction to power the transport sector. Electric vehicles or EVs were tried out on American roads in the closing years of the last century, but despite all round satisfaction they were given a quiet burial in 2003. Oil was still king and it was feared that EVs would destabilise the petroleum-based internal combustion engine-dominated auto industry. Now, of course, petroleum, a fossil fuel, has been identified as the third-biggest contributor to global warming after power and industry. EVs, therefore, are strongly back in favour as they are believed to hold the key to checking global warming and meet climate goals.
Although action to limit carbon emissions has accelerated and acquired urgency after the 2015 Paris Climate Summit, China had already emerged as the world leader both in the manufacture of electric vehicles and the components that go into their making by then. It is not surprising, therefore, that more than half of all EVs run on Chinese roads.
Compared to China, India has been a slow starter, framing serious policy only in 2015 to manufacture with the introduction of a scheme called Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles with the acronym FAME with an investment of ₹895 crore. But even so, the results produced over the next four years were disappointing, to say the least. By 2019, it had managed to put only 28,000 two-wheelers and 143,000 three wheelers and only 2,377 cars on the road. In 2019, the government initiated the second phase in FAME 2 for a period of three years with an outlay of ₹10,000 crore, over ten times the outlay of the first phase. This time around, the results were more encouraging with two-wheeler sales jumping to over 250,000, three-wheelers to 172,000 and four-wheelers to over 18,000 by 21-22. But these were still well short of expectations. The following two years, the spike was even more impressive with two-wheeler sales going up to just under a million and four-wheelers to about 90,000 by 23-24. The total number of EV four-wheelers (with much larger batteries than two- and three-wheelers) on the roads in India is just over 200,000, which is a very small fraction of more than four million two-wheelers sold in 2023-24.
The government is considering a number of options to overcome this bottleneck, but most of them will take a while to mature. For the moment, the only viable option that can ensure a steady supply chain of these materials seems to be recycling the large amounts of these critical minerals that have accumulated in the large numbers of LiB-powered consumer electronics devices over the years such as discarded mobile phones, laptops and tablets.
The importance of circularity was emphasised earlier this month in a resolution on sustainability called ‘Pact for the Future’, which was adopted by the UN to achieve sustainable production and consumption. This comes about 50 days before COP 29 Climate Summit scheduled to open in Baku, Azerbaijan in November. In early 2025, parties are expected to submit updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) or what has been called the ‘third generation national climate plans.’. It is clear that timelines are tight, but the government has delayed the announcement of FAME 3 (faster adoption and manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid vehicles) as a sequel to FAME 2 announced in 2019. The term of FAME 2 ended in 2022, but in the absence of the next phase, a new Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme (EMPS) was announced in April 2024 and is expected to continue till FAME 3 is ready.
Critical minerals import surge
The biggest obstacle to the manufacture of EVs in India was that they did not produce some of the crucial ingredients, including metals like lithium and cobalt, which are the heart and soul of EVs. Naturally, India turned to imports to implement FAME. Today, the country imports more than 95% of its LIB batteries. – 63% from China and the rest from Hong Kong (22%), Vietnam (9%) and the United States (2%), according to a study carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers for NITI Aayog and published in September, 2020. In 2023, India’s battery import bill was $2.1 billion.
But the post-Covid supply chain disruptions have driven home the lesson that procurement of critical ingredients could not be left to the vagaries of an uncertain global supply chain. So, the search in India branched off in two other directions – exploration and setting up joint ventures in countries that had large deposits of these metals. Explorations have unearthed large deposits of lithium, while at the same time, a new consortium of three state-owned Indian mining companies, formed to target overseas deposits, has struck deals with some South American countries and Australia. But both are in preliminary stages and may even take well up to a decade to mature. Clearly, India can’t afford to wait that long to meet even its 2030 climate goals.
Recycling to secure supply
The only secure and immediate supply of lithium, cobalt and other rare metals, therefore can be obtained by recycling the considerable stocks of LIB batteries built up over the years in such consumer electronic powered devices like laptops, mobile phones and tablets imported for the last couple of decades. Critical minerals could be recovered from used lithium-ion batteries through a process that has come to be described as urban mining. A recent Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) report says that circularity will “kickstart a perpetual motion machine.”
A 2022 NITI Aayog Report has said that the consumer electronics sector currently uses 51% of all LIBs. This is not surprising as the number of smartphones has grown exponentially from 14.5 million in 2011 to 150 million in 2020, according to the report. The Indian Cellular & Electronics Association (ICEA) estimates that the total number of smartphones and laptops in the country in 2021 was more than half-a-billion, to which 170 million are added every year. Of these, 119 million enter the recycling and refurbishing streams every year. Each smartphone, for example, contains about 5% cobalt, 0.35% lithium and 1.6% nickel, according to ICEA data. The estimated cumulative stock of LIBs was 15 GWh in 2020.
If India is to achieve 30% of EV penetration by 2030, it can need as much as 800 GWh of batteries, according to a report by consulting firm Arthur D Little.
The numbers are without doubt encouraging, but India’s experience with e-waste recycling, in which devices like discarded mobile phones and laptops are handled, has not been a very happy one so far though e-waste rules were introduced as long back as 2011. “To begin with, 80-90% of e-waste recycling is still in the hands of the informal sector,” said Dr. Sandip Chatterjee, a senior scientist at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), who has been closely associated with the design of the government’s recycling policy. Dr. Chatterjee’s estimate is supported by ICEA. The rules, therefore, remain mostly on paper since it is virtually impossible to monitor e-waste and make sure that the rules are followed. Dr. Chatterjee said that the informal sector is made up of about 2 million operators. ICEA goes further in its 2022 report that said that these informal aggregators not only collect a large portion of e-waste, but even recycle 70% of it.
Formal recycle sector nascent
A formal sector in recycling e-waste has also come into existence over the last four or five years with a dozen or so startups, but as of now only 22% of e-waste is recycled by them, according to ICEA. Besides, even the formal sector depends on the informal sector for collection since it has not yet been able to set up a house-to-house coverage network, which only informal collectors have.
This overwhelming domination by the informal sector has several serious drawbacks the first of them being that there are no accurate figures of either the quantity of e-waste generated or of the volumes that are recycled though there are more than 470 officially registered recyclers. The government, therefore, has to depend on data that is mostly estimates based on volume of sales and average life of devices. These are prepared by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Information obtained through questions in Parliament in December, 2023 showed that in 2022, the amount of e-waste generated was estimated to be 1.6 million tonnes, of which a third was recycled, refurbished or reused. But this is again an estimate. LIB waste is believed to constitute about a fifth of all the e-waste, but the mining of lithium, cobalt and nickel from these batteries was hampered by the fact that till the 2021 amendment to the rules, they said nothing specifically about recycling LIB batteries under extended producer responsibility (EPR) even though they came out of e-waste.
According to Utkarsh Singh, founder of recycling startup BatX Energies, the amount of LIB battery waste in the country was estimated to be 55,000 to 65,000 tonnes in 2022. BatX, like most recyclers, claims that it is capable of achieving 99% purity for lithium. But EV battery grade lithium, reaching purity levels of 99.5% or higher, is still not produced in India. Impurities, like sodium, can lead to battery failures, overheating and even fires. The recycling startups purify lithium and supply to pharmaceuticals, paint companies, electroplating and aerospace industries, says Singh.
They also extract other metals that fetch higher market prices like nickel, cobalt and manganese as well as gold, silver and platinum. Some recyclers extract rare earth minerals as well. Many recyclers take to the path of producing what is called black mass after the mechanical shredding and separation of LIB waste. Batteries are first crushed to small pieces of half-a-centimetre, and separated into two parts – iron, copper and aluminium flakes and lithium, cobalt and nickel electrode powder. Magnetic separators isolate the iron while aluminium and copper are separated using density separators. They are then passed on to smelters. This powder is known as black mass, which is mostly exported, particularly for extraction of battery grade lithium. However, even if Indian recyclers were to invest in this refining technology to produce battery grade lithium, there wouldn’t have been any takers since EV manufacturers import battery packs or constituent cells from China or South Korea. There are no LIB manufacturers in India, although some companies are setting up facilities.
Chicken-and-egg situation
The absence of a steady and cheap source of battery materials is one of the reasons why the EV industry has been slow to take off. The numbers show it — the total number of EVs that have been put on the road since 2018 is just about 3.85 million. This is likely to continue till batteries from large vehicles like passenger cars and buses reach their end-of-life and become available for recycling. This could even take as long as the end of this decade since these bigger EV batteries have to pass through their second and refurbished lives.
This seems to be a chicken-and-egg situation in which businesses are reluctant to set up recycling plants in the absence of assured supplies from EVs, particularly four-wheelers which require big batteries. For their part, auto manufacturers are reluctant to make electric cars in the face of tepid demand. Consumers, on the other hand, are not so keen to buy EV cars in the absence of government incentives and uncertainty about the resale risks, which in turn hinders the confidence of financial institutions in mobilising finance for EVs. It is clear that this vicious circle can only be broken by the government, which so far has not been able to find an answer.
The “wettest monsoon” in over a decade had seasonal rainfall just 7.1% above normal — less than the national average of 7.8%.
North India experiences its best monsoon in over a decade?
North India witnessed the best monsoon in 11 years, reported TOI, adding that the region that mostly faced large monsoon deficits while staring at a worsening groundwater situation, recorded 628mm from June 1 to Sept 29, its highest rainfall since 2013.
The “wettest monsoon” in over a decade had seasonal rainfall just 7.1% above normal — less than the national average of 7.8%. This shows that North India hasn’t had a significantly wet June-September period in recent years, the newspaper reported.
The 2024 monsoon season officially ended on Monday, during which India received the highest rainfall since 2020 and recorded the lowest number of subdivisions with deficient rains — three out of 36 — since 2019, explained TOI, adding that overall, the monsoon is set to be 7-8% higher than the long period average (LPA), in the ‘above-normal’ category.
Monsoon started retreating a week ago, which, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD), was nearly a week later than normal, Reuters reported, adding that India’s annual monsoon provides almost 70% of the rain it needs to water farms and replenish reservoirs and aquifers and is the lifeblood of a nearly $3.5-trillion economy. Without irrigation, nearly half of Indian farmland depends on the rains that usually run from June to September.
Heat dome effect, unusual for September, kills 7 in Assam
In an extreme weather event, unusual for the month of September, the northeastern state of Assam burned at 40°C, triggering “health complications arising out of the heat dome effect,” killing seven people over the past few days, reported DTE.
The heat dome effect is a type of high-pressure system (also known as anticyclone) that forms over a large area in the atmosphere, causing extreme heat and dry weather conditions, DTE explained, adding that mobile phone applications flag the 40°C heat as ‘feels like 50 degrees’.
Experts told the outlet that the weakening monsoon circulation (attributed to the weakening of the Gulf Stream), poor soil moisture, heavy exposure to sunlight, heavy deforestation and expanding industrial activity have all contributed towards the heat dome effect now prevalent over a week in Assam.
Himalayas, Western Ghats losing forests, facing ‘outrageous increase’ in urbanisation
The biodiversity hotspots of Himalayas and the Western Ghats are rapidly losing forest cover because of an intensifying urban expansion and changes in land use and land cover, new research, based on remote sensing data by the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun found. Scientists mapped land use and land cover changes (LULCC) in the western Himalayas from 1975 to 2015. They reported a massive upsurge in urban areas in the ecologically fragile mountain systems, alongside a parallel forest decline.
Citing the study, Mongabay reported that the Western Himalayan Region (WHR) is under constant threat from LULCC due to urbanisation, agricultural expansion, and population growth. The study’s results, according to the outlet, highlight “an outrageous 184% increase in regional urbanisation,” the authors reported. The expansion of urban and cropland, about 12%, led to deforestation, which reduced the area of natural habitats, specifically forests by 11%, water bodies by 8%, and scrubland by 6%.
The study also found a “significant rise” in barren land by 30%, while there was a decrease of 20% in glacier/snow melt. Based on this data, the researchers predict that the current trend could continue till 2055, with intensified urban expansion of 63% and an approximate 9% reduction in overall forest coverage.
The findings are highly significant in the context of the speedy urban growth in the Himalayas and its environmental implications, particularly forest loss, Prakash Chandra Tiwari, professor of geography at Kumaun University, Nainital, who is not associated with this study, told Mongabay India.
Extreme rains and landslides leave at least 193 dead across Nepal
Floods and landslides killed at least 193 people in Nepal, the Associated Press reported. The worst hit Kathmandu Valley saw “half its average rainfall in less than two days,” reported Nepali Times. Reuters said: “Haphazard development amplifies climate change risks in Nepal, say climate scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD).”
Most deaths were reported from Kathmandu valley, Kathmandu Post reported. In Dhadhing’s Jhyaple Khola, 35 bodies were recovered after landslides buried four passenger vehicles.
Koshi Province reported 17 deaths and Bagmati Province recorded 56 fatalities. The heavy downpours have left 60 individuals injured, while more than 3,661 people have been rescued by teams from the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force, and the Nepali Army, reported the outlet.
Toll rises to 130, as Category 4 hurricane Helene tears through southeast US
Hurricane Helene, one of the worst in US history, caused widespread devastation revealing flattened houses, crushed cargo containers and mud-covered highways, reported PA News Agency, adding that the death toll tops 130.
Deaths have soared across six states after Helene, which made landfall in Florida as a mammoth Category 4 hurricane, tore through the Southeast and left millions without power and communications, reported the CNN.
Climate change has exacerbated conditions that allow such storms to thrive, rapidly intensifying in warming waters and turning into powerful cyclones sometimes in a matter of hours,” AP reported.
According to Axios, Helene knocked @NOAANCEI offline, the top US centre tracking global climate change, including extreme weather events & billion dollar disasters. North Carolina suffered the highest death toll, at least 42 so far. In Henderson County, among the many dead was a sheriff’s deputy in Macon County who was swept away by the storm. The hurricane stretched over 500 miles, from coastal Florida to the Blue Ridge Mountains, the report said, adding that the historic North Carolina mountain community of Asheville is now isolated as hundreds of roads in the Carolinas remain closed, hampering the delivery of badly-needed supplies — and making it difficult to get people out. Over 2 million customers remain without power, according to PowerOutage.us, CNN said.
Canada’s carbon emissions drop for first time since the pandemic
Canada witnessed a drop in emissions since it started its coal phase out in Ontario and Alberta, reported the Star. Figures from the Canadian Climate Institute think-tank suggest that Canada has seen its first drop in greenhouse gas emissions since the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving them 8% lower than the nation’s baseline year of 2005, according to the Toronto Star.
Emissions fell 0.8% between 2022 and 2023, driven largely by the phase-out of coal in Ontario and Alberta and the introduction of renewables in the Maritimes region.
Man-made deaths: Racial minorities more likely to die in extreme heat events in the US
Racial minorities are more likely to die because of the health impacts of heat waves in the US, according to new research, reported by Science Direct. The research used a “new database of linked administrative and census data with precise meteorological information” to analyse how deaths from 1993-2005 were linked to episodes of extreme heat and extreme cold.
The authors said: “Our analysis suggests that recent temperature increases could exacerbate racial disparities in temperature-related deaths, highlighting the need to investigate how climate change affects different population subgroups and exacerbates social inequities.”
‘Anthropocene began around 1952’: The year of unprecedented surge in human role in global climate change data
The “Anthropocene” – a new geological period defined by humans’ impact on Earth – began around 1952, according to data taken from 137 global sites reaching back more than 7,000 years, reported a new study. The study identified an “unprecedented surge” in the fingerprints of human change in the data in 1952, the authors said, adding: “Notably, the period from 1953 to 1958 saw a nearly simultaneous surge in fingerprints across all regions, including Antarctica, the Arctic, East Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania. This synchronous upsurge reflects the moment when human impacts led to rapid transformations in various natural processes and cycles, with humans becoming a geological force capable of inscribing abundant and diverse anthropogenic fingerprints in global strata.”
Throwing water on the snow on top of Arctic sea ice can thicken the ice: Study
Pouring sea water onto the snow on top of Arctic sea ice can make the ice thicker, offering a chance to preserve sea ice throughout the summer. The bold plan could offer humanity a final chance to save the region’s vanishing sea ice, reported New Scientist.
The trials in the Canadian Arctic to thicken sea ice using water from the ocean below have proved successful, said UK start-up Real Ice, adding that their technology might help restore rapidly melting Arctic sea ice, which has fallen by half since the 1980s. They are developing a system to create new layers of ice, in the hopes of protecting this vital ecosystem, reported High North News, citing the study.
The New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance is expected to be decided at COP29 in Azerbaijan this year.
$6.852 trillion of climate finance required until 2030: UN Needs Determination Report
Climate finance of $5.012-6.852 trillion cumulatively will be required until 2030 to support developing nations to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), said the second Needs Determination Report (NDR) released by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The first NDR released in 2021 at COP 24, for the first time laid out a figure for the quantum of climate finance needed by developing countries: $5.8-5.9 trillion until 2030, which was much more than the previous $100 billion per year goal until 2020 (later extended to 2025).
In order to actualise the historical financial responsibility of the developed world and to fulfill the needs of developing countries, the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance is expected to be decided at COP29 in Azerbaijan this year. The second NDR will help calculate an estimate in line with the actual needs of developing countries.
The ‘Costed needs’ pointed out in the report are important to ascertain the quantum of finance required by developing countries to undertake climate action. Only 98 of 142 countries have reported their costed needs, which implies that the entirety of the needs of developing countries would be much greater, the report pointed out. The first NDR identified costed needs of only 48 countries amounting to $5.8-5.9 trillion. Therefore, second NDR’s updated estimation of $6.8 trillion is more representative of the actual needs.
The report explained that $2.4 trillion (48% of the total costed needs) was for conditional actions, whereas $882 billion (18%) was for unconditional actions. The remaining $1.8 trillion remained unspecific about the conditionality. Conditional actions, which are the bulk of costed needs, are to be fulfilled via international support in the form of finance, technology transfer and capacity building, the report said.
India asks for exact definition of climate finance
India said the world has to close the inequality gap between countries on the issue of technology and finance to achieve the joint goal of tackling climate change and an exact definition of climate finance is needed. The Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav said the goal of raising $100 billion annually has become outdated from the point of view of providing resources to developing countries. “India has always said that for increasing capacity building, there should be an exact definition of climate finance,” he said.
Yadav’s comments come a day after Azerbaijan, the host of this year’s Conference of Parties 29 (COP) summit, the annual United Nations climate conference, announced that it will launch a new fund to support developing countries in their actions against climate change, reported the Indian Express.
Centre won’t share forest clearance details of security projects on govt website
The Centre announced that details of projects related to the country’s internal and external security to which it grants environmental clearance will not be available on its PARIVESH portal, in the interests of security and confidentiality, HT reported.
The clarification from the Union environment ministry came in response to a July query from the Union home ministry on guidelines for projects exempted under the Forest Conservation Amendment Act or Van (Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Adhiniyam, 1980.
HT reported that Section 1A of the Act that was amended in 2023 exempted some projects from forest clearance requirement such as: strategic linear ones of national importance and concerning national security within 100 km from international borders; those related to infrastructure involving forest land up to five hectares notified by home ministry; and those involving 0.1 hectares of forest land meant for proving connectivity road/rail side amenities, newspaper reported.
Centre’s panel to review Great Nicobar project’s green clearance questioned
The Centre did not include an independent reviewer after the National Green Tribunal ordered the review of environmental clearances to the proposed $72,000-crore mega infrastructure project Great Nicobar Island (GNI) plan. This despite the green court giving the government flexibility to do so, reported DTE citing former Environment minister Jairam Ramesh’s letter to Environment minister Bhupender Yadav.
“…the High-Powered Committee (HPC) constituted by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), in pursuance of the NGT’s directive to review environmental and Coastal Regulation Zone clearances, did not associate any independent institution or expert when the NGT had given it the flexibility to do so,” DTE quoted Ramesh’s letter adding that the review committee members — from NITI Aayog, ANIIDCO, MOEF&CC and MOEF&CC’s Expert Appraisal Committee — were part of either the project planning, or, execution and even earlier clearance granting processes.
The outlet reported that Yadav, in response to an earlier letter by Ramesh, claimed that the decision to clear the project had been taken “only after due deliberations and after incorporating exemplary mitigation measures … keeping the strategic, national and defence interests in mind and without compromising with the environmental and social aspects”
First tranche of Loss and Damage fund ready to be disbursed in 2025
The Loss and Damage Fund board completed leg work to distribute climate adaptation aid to vulnerable nations to fight climate impacts. The board made key decisions in Baku that will allow the fund, years in the making, to begin disbursing money in 2025 to countries hit hardest by climate disasters, reported the HT.
Senegalese banker Ibrahima Cheikh Diong has been picked to lead the fund. Diong has experience in development banking, government and insurance against climate disasters in Africa, reported Climate Home News.
Germany cut climate finance for poor countries by 12% in 2023
Germany is gearing up to face tough climate finance questions at the upcoming COP29 in Azerbaijan given that the government cut 12% of its budget for climate aid in developing countries.
Bloomberg reported Germany’s contribution to “green projects” overseas fell in 2023 to a 12% cut in the development ministry’s budget, which is responsible for the lion’s share of international aid contributions. The outlet said the German government set aside €5.7 billion for climate protection and mitigation in emerging markets in 2023 (in 2022 it was €6.4 billion) that’s less than the €6 billion Scholz promised Germany would pay annually from 2025.
India State of Forest Report delayed by a year: Concerns rise over forest data integrity
The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) has been delayed by more than a year. It was supposed to be out in 2023, leading to widespread speculation of major reduction in forest cover, DTE reported, adding that Centre has not responded to its RTI plea on the issue of the delay.
The outlet explained that the report, which is released every two years, is produced by the Forest Survey of India (FSI) under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It has been published since 1991 and provides a comprehensive overview of the state of India’s forests. “It’s likely that forest cover has diminished significantly, which may be why the government is reluctant to release the report,” a senior official told DTE.
The last report, published in 2021, recorded the country’s total forest cover at 713,789 sqkm or 21.71/% — a marginal increase of 1,540 sqkm compared to the 2019 ISFR publication. While the National Forest Policy aims for 33.3% of land in plains and 66.6% in hilly regions to be forested to achieve environmental stability and ecological balance, DTE report said. This comes after retired officials from the forest and environment departments, along with environmental activists, approached the Supreme Court to challenge amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023.
Biodiversity finance increased but came mostly as loans, says OECD
Finance for development of global biodiversity grew in 2022, but most of it was in the form of loans, reported Climate Home, which cited new figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The OECD report, the outlet said, analysed the period from 2015 to 2022, showing that funding for efforts to protect and restore nature grew from $11.1 billion in 2021 to $15.4 billion in 2022.
The news portal noted that the increase came largely from multilateral institutions – mainly development banks – which increased their funding from $2.7 billion in 2021 to $5.7 billion in 2022, mostly by offering concessional loans (cheaper than commercial terms).
The outlet explained that the issue of whether loan finance should be provided to already debt-strapped developing countries for action on climate and nature is hotly debated, with poorer countries and climate justice activists calling for more money to be disbursed as grants.
UN chief’s ‘Summit of Future’ calls for end to fossil fuels , ‘deep, rapid and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with 1.5 degrees’
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a 42-page “Pact for the Future” which UN secretary-general António Guterres described as a landmark agreement that is a “step-change towards more effective, inclusive, networked multilateralism”, Reuters reported. The newswire added that the pact, which also includes an annex on working toward a responsible and sustainable digital future, was adopted without a vote at the start of a two-day ‘Summit of the Future’.
The outlet said the agreement came after some nine months of negotiations. The pact recommended peace and security, global governance, sustainable development, climate change, digital cooperation, human rights, gender, youth and future generations. It laid out some 56 broad actions that countries pledged to achieve, Reuters reported, adding that the pact said global crises have spotlighted the need for UN reform and overhauling international financial systems. The pact identified challenges that included ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and Sudan; lagging climate change mitigation efforts. The document said “the transition away from fossil fuels [is] key to fighting climate change”.
Byrnihat is also representative of India’s under-studied and under-attended air pollution problem in cities beyond Delhi.
Byrnihat in Meghalaya, Begusarai in Bihar more polluted than Delhi
Byrnihat in Meghalaya remained the most polluted town all of 2023 and most of 2024, more polluted than Delhi and any other city in the plains, reported TOI.
Clusters of small industries are choking Byrnihat, the report said, adding that spread across the Meghalaya-Assam border, the town is an industrial area, home to clusters of small-scale units producing ferroalloys, tyres and tubes, cement and polythene items. The close proximity in which these industries operate results in Byrnihat’s noxious pollution levels, the outlet said.
“Since it’s on the border of two states, it witnesses huge interstate truck movement. As a result, the emission levels are high,” Sunil Dahiya, analyst at Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) told TOI. Byrnihat is also representative of India’s under-studied and under-attended air pollution problem in cities beyond Delhi, especially tiers II and III. In the 2023 overall pollution index, Delhi, in fact, was at eighth spot. Begusarai in Bihar was second after Byrnihat. Other places more polluted than the Capital in 2023, were all small cities, and among them, only Greater Noida is in the NCR. For Byrnihat, the trend has continued into 2024, with the northeast town consistently ranking number one, the TOI report noted.
Ahead of winter pollution, revised graded action plan to be on from October 1
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) updated the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) on September 17, 2024. The plan was first notified in January 2017 for Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas, reported DTE.
The outlet noted that initially, focus of the GRAP implementation was based on PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations. Now it has been based on the city’s air quality index (AQI) levels, which are calculated based on the eight pollutants (PM10, PM2.5, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ground-level ozone, ammonia and lead).
The report pointed out that the severity of pollution for implementation of GRAP has been categorised into four stages, based on Delhi’s AQI levels: Stage I — ‘Poor’ (AQI 201-300); Stage II — ‘Very Poor’ (AQI 301-400); Stage III — ‘Severe’ (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV — ‘Severe+’ (AQI > 450). Each stage outlines specific actions that must be implemented to curb pollution levels. The outlet said earlier, the actions were implemented when the air quality was at a dangerous mark (Very Poor, Severe or Severe+) levels for three consecutive days. The new system developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) and System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research forecasts the pollution levels for the following three days, which helps the government to take pre-emptive actions.
The new additions related to vehicular emissions include the Decision Support System (DSS) for Air Quality Management developed by IITM provides data on real-time source apportionment of PM2.5. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) analysed the DSS data showing that around half of Delhi’s particulate pollution during winter months come from vehicles.
PM2.5 pollution dipped slightly in India but remains top health threat: Study
India’s particulate pollution fell from 51.3 in 2021 to 41.4 μg/m³ in 2022, adding one year to the country’s average life expectancy, said the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) annual Air Quality Life Index 2024 report, which added that despite this decline, the annual average particulate pollution level in most areas exceeds WHO guidelines, reported Mongabay.
The outlet reported that in districts home to cities covered by India’s National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), PM2.5 concentrations declined by 19% on average, and in the districts not covered by the programme this stood at 16%.
The report noted that the most significant drop in particulate pollution in 2022 occurred in the Purulia and Bankura districts of West Bengal and the Dhanbad district of Jharkhand, with pollution levels dropping by over 20 μg/m³ in each of these areas. However, South Asia continues to be the world’s most polluted region, the AQLI report said, adding that of the total life years lost globally to high pollution, South Asia accounts for 45%. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan are among the most polluted countries in the world.
Mercedes Benz served notice from Maharashtra pollution board
German luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz received a notice from the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), accusing the company of violating environmental pollution rules, NDTV reported.
The report said clarifiers and centrifuge units in the sewage treatment plant were not working and the company’s failure to comply with the requirement to install emission control devices for diesel engines was also the reason for the pollution control board action.
“Sub-divisional officers of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board had inspected Mercedes Benz’s Chakan plant (100 acres, near Pune). Several pollution rules were found to be violated in it. Therefore, the company has been issued a notice and asked to respond within 15 days,” said Jagannath Salunkhe, the regional officer of the state pollution control board was quoted as saying in the report.
Stick to 27 point air pollution guidelines, Mumbai builders told ahead of winter
Mumbai’s municipal corporation (BMC) directed builders to adhere to the 27-point guidelines for the mitigation of air pollution ahead of winter after air quality worsened in October 2023 and had remained in the moderate and poor category for some time thereafter, reported TOI.
The newspaper reported that civic officials asked members of the construction industry to minutely check their activities and ensure that all measures are carried out, including the procurement of necessary paraphernalia for maintaining air quality around their sites.
The developers were also told to develop a green perspective in their projects and made aware of the heat spots in the city. The report explained that in 2019, 133 of 182 days were bad air quality days, while in 2023, the number of bad days increased to 162. The outlet pointed out that after the air quality declined in October 2023, the government released the 27-point guidelines for the mitigation of air pollution. A large number of construction sites were inspected, stop-work notices and sealing action were carried out at construction and infrastructure project sites, including those of Metro contractors and various other government agencies. Besides, penalties were also imposed on construction sites. The civic body even washed city roads.
Incomplete biomass combustion, traffic fuel pollute Delhi the most: CPCB to green court
Incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels, including those in traffic, contributed most to air pollution in the national capital, said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in its reply to the National Green Tribunal (NGT), according to TOI.
The NGT had earlier sought the board’s reply regarding air pollution in Delhi from sources, such as incomplete combustion of various fuels, biomass burning, vehicular pollution, especially from old and poorly maintained vehicles and usage of coal.
The CPCB said it conducted a study, which attributed “incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels, including traffic, as the dominant contributor to OP (oxidative potential of particulate material)”.OP reflects the health effects of exposure to airborne particulate material (PM), which is a mixture of solids, chemicals, liquids and aerosols.
The newspaper cited CPCB report noting that ammonium chloride, and organic aerosols from traffic exhaust, residential heating, and oxidation of unsaturated vapours from fossil fuels were the dominant PM sources inside Delhi. About incomplete burning of biomass such as crop stubble, the report said, “A scheme is being implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare for providing subsidy for purchase of crop residue management machinery and establishment of custom hiring centres in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and NCT of Delhi.”
It said the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had issued directions for co-firing of 5-10 per cent biomass with coal in thermal power plants located within 300 km of Delhi, and in captive power plants of industrial units located in NCR.
Developers have complained about lower efficiency of locally made modules and the high degradation rate saying that considering the price point, the modules are not up to the mark.
Domestic solar modules not high quality as export modules, developers complain
The Centre’s push to deploy locally manufactured modules for solar projects could jeopardise the growth rate in capacity additions, Mercom reported.
In the first half of 2024, solar projects totaling 14.9 GW were added in India, a 282% growth compared to 2023 because developers rush to import modules to commission projects ahead of the reimposition of the Approved List of Models and Manufacturers (ALMM) Order from April 2024, the report noted.
Mercom report said developers complained about lower efficiency of locally made modules and the high degradation rate saying that considering the price point, the modules are not up to the mark, they aren’t as efficient as Chinese modules. as many of them fail the I-V tests. “When we check the samples, a 550 Wp solar module is shown as giving the rated wattage, but when we use them in the projects, they give less wattage.” Mercom quoted a buyer. The outlet said local developers complain that Indian manufacturers are producing export-quality modules but material is not the same in the modules supplied to domestic projects.
Solar parts makers demand anti-dumping duty on imports from China, Vietnam
Indian makers of components used to produce solar panels have sought trade protections against imports from China and Vietnam, demanding imposition of anti-dumping measures, even as manufacturers of solar modules continue to import cheaper components. The Solar Ancillary Manufacturers’ Association, sought tariff and non-tariff barriers to curb the inflow of cheap solar products. The state must instead encourage investment in local manufacturers of parts like solar glass, back sheets, and aluminium frames, manufacturers said to ET.
The lobby asked to reinstate an anti-dumping duty on solar glass, where 60% of demand is met with imports. A five-year levy imposed in 2017 helped the sector grow 17-fold. The industry is also demanding a mandate for module makers to use a certain amount of domestic content in their products, and a requirement for a government quality certification.
The renewables ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. India has already placed steep import tariffs on solar modules and cells. The protections have aided a nearly five-fold expansion in domestic modules capacity.
Battery storage and RE grids among top COP 29 agenda
Azerbaijan announced an initiative to promote battery storage and electric grid that it hoped countries would sign up for at the COP29 UN summit, Climate Home reported. The outlet noted that governments are being asked by the COP29 presidency to back a pledge to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, and to add or refurbish more than 80 million kilometres of electricity grids by 2040. The voluntary initiatives are currently in draft form and will be finalised after consultation with states and other partners.
The targeted increase in the ability to store energy, mainly in batteries, is what the International Energy Agency (IEA) said is needed to meet the goal set last year at COP28 to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 while maintaining energy security, the report pointed out. The report said Rho Motion predicted that by 2030, there will be 1,400 GW just from battery storage. The IEA forecasts that, under current policies, energy storage will reach 1,000 GW by 2030. “the real challenge” will be ensuring that storage is installed on a global basis to support the adoption of renewables. The IEA expects that the vast majority of battery storage is likely to be in China and in advanced economies.
150-fold increase needed to triple global RE capacity by 2030 : IEA
World needs a 15-fold increase from present levels to meet the target to triple RE by 2030, the latest IEA analysis said. The report added that battery storage and grids needed to deliver the UN goal to triple renewable energy, IEA said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) report said the goal set at COP28 last year to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 is “feasible” if countries work quickly, reported Reuters. The newswire cited the IEA report saying: “favourable economics, ‘ample’ manufacturing potential and policies” make the goal possible. However, the outlet adds: “In order to fully execute, [the IEA] said countries need to build 25m km of transmission lines and add 1,500 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030, a 15-fold increase on today’s level.”
Wind, solar require three times faster growth per year to limit warming to 1.5°C
Solar and wind energy need to grow fivefold by 2030 (three times faster than current yearly rates) and eightfold by 2035 across 11 countries that account for over 70% of current wind and solar power, to limit warming to 1.5°C, said Climate Analytics and NewClimate Institute, ET reported.
According to the report, India is set to more than triple wind and solar capacity by 2030 compared to 2022, but would need further international climate finance support to scale five-fold to over 600 GW to meet growing demand and move away from coal dependence in line with 1.5°C.
With electricity demand growing rapidly in India, wind and solar will need to continue accelerating to meet demand growth while phasing down coal power. It finds India’s wind and solar generation needs to grow five times by 2030 to align with 1.5ºC, reaching around 1,100 TWh of wind and solar.
Just over 600 GW of wind and solar power (460 GW of solar and 150 GW of wind) would need to be installed by 2030. At 2022 levels it was 126 GW. At the current pace of rollout, India is projected to reach around 400 GW of wind and solar by 2030. This falls short of the capacity needed in 2030 by 140 GW of solar and 70 GW of wind.
Tata Power to invest $14.3 billion in Rajasthan over 10 years
Tata Power will invest about ₹1.2 trillion ($14.32 billion) in Rajasthan over the next 10 years, mostly in renewable energy projects, Reuters reported. Tata Power will set up solar modules manufacturing plants, solar rooftops installations, transmission and distribution projects, nuclear power plant and electric vehicle charging.
The newswire cited the company saying that about ₹750 billion of the investment will go on renewable energy projects, with 10 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity to be developed across the state. Tata Power, which currently has 5 GW renewable energy capacity in large projects, aims to add another 5 GW capacity in the next one to two years and expand that to more than 20 GW by 2030, investing up to $9 billion CEO Praveer Sinha told Reuters.
Solex Energy targets 5 GW of solar cell and 15 GW of panel manufacturing capacity by 2030
Gujarat-based Solex Energy will invest over ₹8,000 crore ($1 billion) to develop a solar cell manufacturing facility with an initial capacity of 2 GW, designed to scale up to 5 GW, reported PV Magazine. The outlet added that initial 2 GW cell capacity will be based on TOPCon technology. It is planned in two phases of 1 GW each with the first 1 GW to start production by the end of 2025 and the other 1 GW by the end of 2026.
The company plans to increase module manufacturing capacity from 1.5 GW (as of Dec. 2024 end) to 15 GW. Currently, it has a 700 MW module production capacity with an additional 800 MW to start production by December this year. Solex aims to expand its workforce to over 25,000 to support this growth in solar manufacturing.
The Indian government has allocated ₹2,000 crore for Mission Mausam as of now.
India plans to control rainfall in the next five years
The Indian government has ambitious plans to start and stop rainfall, and control it to small extents when needed, in the next five years, through the project Mission Mausam, reported The Times of India. Such measures of suppressing and enhancing rain are already deployed in Western countries, through seeding using aeroplanes. The Indian government has allocated ₹2,000 crore for this project as of now, and plans to improve weather forecasting and artificial intelligence to send out quick updates.
New patent for protecting transformers bagged by Tata Power-DDL
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (Tata Power-DDL) has come up with a novel way to protect transformers from moisture. It received a 20-year patent for its ‘Self-Regenerating Transformer Breather’, according to a report by ET Energy World. Current technology uses silica gel to keep away moisture, but they need to be replaced four to six times in two years, which increases cost, and reduces efficiency. The patented technology uses waste heat from the transformer’s top plate to minimise moisture in the air inlet, which elongates the life of the silica gel, achieving greater efficiency.
Biden plans to ban Chinese cars and tech in USA, can face wider retaliation
Citing national security concerns, the incumbent Biden administration in the USA has plans to stop Chinese software being used in any vehicles in the USA, and completely ban the import of Chinese electric vehicles, reported news agency Reuters. Effectively, this could prohibit nearly all Chinese cars from entering the USA, and compel major auto manufacturers from using Chinese components. However, this harsh move may not be taken so kindly by China, and could lead to wider outcry and retaliation against all kinds of US-owned businesses operating in China, according to a report by Bloomberg.
Chinese carmaker turns to Pakistan for assembling cars after India’s rebuff
After India blocked Chinese investment in India, and barred Chinese EV maker BYD from setting up shop in the country, the automaker has turned to Pakistan, reported The Financial Times. BYD has entered a partnership with Pakistan’s biggest electricity provider to set up an assembly plant by 2026. This could well mean that Pakistan could become an export hub for electric vehicles.
Social media owners pose the greatest risk in spreading misinformation
International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) modelled a study on the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and found that social media owners are at the top of global surveys of misinformation concerns, as they can have unchecked power. While no owners are specified, Elon Musk’s X, formerly known as Twitter, had raised concerns including reports of excessive promotion of Musk’s own tweets. This can be used for spreading misinformation for political gains. There are also concerns that misinformation about climate change can delay immediate action, and impede the awareness about the crisis.
AI market can grow as big as $1 Trillion by 2027, sparking fears of water shortage
There are concerns that a surging boom of the AI industry might lead to a shortage of computers and chips, found a report by Bain. According to it, the AI industry will grow to around $1 trillion by 2027, while the market for AI services will grow 40-55% every year. But AI consumes huge amounts of freshwater. Its projected water usage could be as high as 6.6 billion m³ by 2027, according to a report by Forbes. This means humans will have less water, especially when two-thirds of the global population experiences severe water shortages for at least one month a year, according to the United Nations Environmental Report, nearly. While tech companies like Meta, Microsoft and Google promise to mitigate their water footprint, there just isn’t weight behind it, as there isn’t that much water in the world.
Swedish battery company to cut 1/5th of workforce amid EV sales slowdown
Northvolt, Europe’s leading battery maker, has been dealt a hard hand. Not only is it being forced to cut 1,600 jobs in Sweden, but also stop expanding its factory, reported The Financial Times. The main culprit is the slowdown in EV sales in Europe, which has led to a cutback in orders from electric automakers. This has also tempered investors’ keenness in the industry.
The decision to increase the amount of coal-based power generated coincides with an extraordinary three-year surge in power consumption in India.
India expands its 12.8 GW thermal power grid in response to growing energy use
Over the first 100 days of the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, the Union Ministry of Power has installed 12.8 GW of thermal power capacity in response to the growing demands for energy. With an additional 28.4 GW currently under construction, this expansion is part of a larger drive to upgrade the country’s power infrastructure to meet future requirements. The Union Ministry of Power’s Secretary, Pankaj Agarwal, announced that the Ministry has started contracting for 12.8 GW of additional thermal power capacity, and that the construction phase will shortly begin. The decision to increase the amount of coal-based power generated coincides with an extraordinary three-year surge in power consumption in India. Thermal power is still a vital part of the nation’s energy mix because it is recognised for supplying the base load power required for system stability.
Odisha looks to sell excess coal at discount
According to an auction document, the state government-owned Odisha Coal and Power Ltd (OCPL) is seeking to sell excess coal from its mine in eastern India at a discount, suggesting a decline in the nation’s demand for the fuel, the Reuters reported. The advertisement published in a newspaper said that OCPL will auction off 3 million tonnes of its excess coal via online auctions for power plants on October 4 at a 15% discount to the base price on the national coal index. According to data from the coal ministry, India’s total domestic coal production increased 7.12% from the previous year to 370 million metric tonnes between April 1 and August 25. For the first time since COVID-19, India’s imports of thermal coal are anticipated to decline this year because of increased domestic production and high inventory.
Renewables to cross 50% share in electricity generation globally: RBI
According to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) most recent report, the country will no longer rely primarily on fossil fuels to generate power by the end of the decade. The research also stated that it is anticipated that renewable energy will produce more than 50% of the world’s electricity, the Economic Times reported. The apex body said that the deployment of clean technologies and capital investment have increased to record levels in recent years, signalling an acceleration of the energy transition. “Cleaner power generation can drive bulk of the aggressive emissions cuts that are urgently needed, enabling more time to tackle ‘hard-to-abate’ areas like steelmaking and aviation, where cost competitive low-carbon solutions have yet to scale” stated the RBI.
The analysis said that an average of three dollars must be invested in renewable energy for every dollar spent on fossil fuels. This is a significant rise from the existing ratio, which shows equal investment in both sectors. The RBI emphasised that the predicted cost of a fully decarbonised global energy system by 2050 is estimated to be $215 trillion. It also said that greening the financial industry to accomplish an ambitious energy transformation will require striking the correct mix between market-based competition and state policy measures.
India suggests imposing retaliatory duties on EU’s safeguard measures on steel products
India suggested imposing retaliatory Customs taxes under the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules on a certain value of items imported from the EU as the two sides cannot agree on the European Union’s safeguard measures on particular steel exports. India stated in a communication to the WTO that it has suggested suspending concessions, which would result in higher duties on specific goods with EU origins. India notified that between 2018 and 2023, India’s trade losses as a result of the EU’s safeguard measures totaled USD 4.412 billion, of which $ 1.103 billion would have been collected in duties. “Accordingly, India’s proposed suspension of concessions would result in an equivalent amount of duty collected from products originating in the EU,” the letter stated. It further stated that India reserves the right to implement the proposed suspension immediately and to modify the products and the tariff (or customs taxes) rates in order to guarantee the effective exercise of its right to suspend substantially equal concessions.
Oil phase out a ‘fantasy’: OPEC
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) declared that phasing out oil is a “fantasy”. The cartel predicted that demand would continue to rise until at least 2050, a crucial year in the fight against climate change. The International Energy Agency estimated that demand for fossil fuels will peak this decade as people switch to renewable energy sources and electric vehicles, which contradicts the oil cartel’s projection. OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais stated that oil and gas comprise well over half of the energy mix currently “and are expected to do the same in 2050” in the organisation’s annual World Oil Outlook (WOO).
In the report’s foreword, Ghais stated that the outlook underscored that the fantasy of phasing out oil and gas bears no relation to fact. According to the analysis, the demand for oil alone is predicted to increase by 17.5% from 102.2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to 120.1 million bpd by 2050. OPEC also increased its 2045 projection to 118.9 million barrels per day from the previous year’s WOO’s 116 million barrels per day, which did not account for 2050. According to Ghais, “there is no peak oil demand on the horizon.”
Study reveals how syndicated bank deals are financing fossil fuels
A study that examined over $7 trillion in syndicated debt related to fossil fuels through a systems lens discovered that the markets for syndicated debt are robust against uncoordinated phase-out scenarios. Around 709 banks issued $7.1 trillion in bonds and loans between 2010 and 2021, the majority of which were syndicated. It discovered that throughout the past ten years, there hasn’t been a consistent drop in lending for fossil fuels. The analysis found that banks gave bonds and loans totaling $592 billion to coal, oil, and gas industries in 2021, down from an average of $584 billion per year between 2010 and 2016. Nonetheless, the top 30 banks control the majority of the market, handling 78% of all loans between 2010 and 2021.
However, if regulation is upheld, things might quickly alter. A tipping point may be reached, and if banks continue to leave the industry or cease funding to fossil fuel corporations, the phase-out will eventually come to pass. According to the study, one’s speed in reaching the tipping point now depends on how strictly the laws are implemented. Naturally, when large, influential banks with regionally extensive networks start the phase-out, the tipping point is reached sooner.
Foreign investments in coal have produced 26bn tonnes of CO2 so far: Study
Coal-fired power plants supported by foreign investment have produced 26 billion tonnes of CO2 (GtCO2) cumulatively, and still produce 0.53GtCO2 per year, according to a new study. The authors analyse investment data from 908 “overseas coal-fired power plants”. They found that “developed nations account for 78% of these cumulative emissions on the basis of investments, while emissions from developing nations have surged from 8% in 1960 to 39% in 2022”. The authors estimate that overseas coal-fired power plants could produce an additional 15-30GtCO2 by 2060. Furthermore, they could “stimulate local coal power growth in emerging economies”, adding 6-45GtCO2 indirectly, study said.
Pakistan finds substantial oil and gas reserves offshore
Pakistan has found significant offshore oil and gas deposits that have the potential to completely change its economy, CNBC reported. Realising the full potential of these resources is difficult, though, because of the nation’s present economic instability and the enormous expense of exploration. Estimates indicate that the substantial petroleum and natural gas deposits found in Pakistan’s territorial seas may rank as the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas reserve. The discovery, confirmed by a three-year study conducted in partnership with a friendly country, has the potential to significantly change Pakistan’s economic situation, a top security official told DawnNewsTV, a prominent news channel in Pakistan. Though actual extraction may take several years, bids and exploration proposals are now being reviewed. Drilling wells and producing oil and gas may be a protracted operation that calls for additional funding and infrastructural development. Muhammad Arif, a former member of Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), sounded a more sobering note, telling stakeholders that although optimistic, there is never a guarantee the reserves would live up to expectations. He clarified that extracting the reserves could take up to five years, and that exploration calls for a significant investment of about $5 billion.
Britain shuts down its last coal power plant
Britain shut down Ratcliffe-on-Soar, its last coal-fired power plant. The plant will be closing after generating electricity for 57 years and after agreeing a “just-transition” plan for its staff. Shadow energy secretary Claire Coutinho told the Times that the UK’s coal phaseout was made possible by building more offshore windfarms than any other country other than China.
It is the first major economy – and first G7 member – to achieve this milestone. It also opened the world’s first coal-fired power station in 1882, on London’s Holborn Viaduct, reported Carbon Brief adding that from 1882 until Ratcliffe’s closure, the UK’s coal plants will have burned through 4.6bn tonnes of coal and emitted 10.4bn tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) – more than most countries have ever produced from all sources. The outlet said the government’s plan for clean power by 2030 would mean phasing out gas twice as fast as the coal phaseout.
