Page 3 - Emissions

Pollution of warming gas methane soars; people are mostly to blame: Study

The amount and proportion of the powerful heat-trapping gas methane that humans spew into the atmosphere is rising, helping to turbocharge climate change, a new study finds. Tuesday's study finds that in 2020, the last year complete data is available, the world put 670 million tons (608 million metric tons) of methane in the air, up nearly 12 per cent from 2000. An even more significant finding in the study in Environmental Research Letters was the source of those emissions: those from humans jumped almost 18 per cent in two decades, while natural emissions, mostly from wetlands, inched up just 2 per cent in the same time. Methane levels in the air are now 2.6 times higher than in pre-industrial times, the study said. Methane levels in the air had plateaued for a while in the early 2000s, but now are soaring. Humans cause methane emissions by burning fossil fuels, engaging in large-scale agriculture and filling up landfills. Methane is a climate menace that the world is ignoring, ..

Substantial subsidies for electric vehicles are no longer required: Gadkari

At the BNEF Summit, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted the lower GST rates on electric vehicles compared to those on petrol and diesel vehicles

Antibiotic production waste fuelling drug-resistant bacteria, warns WHO

In a first, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued norms on managing waste during antibiotic production

India's power emissions must peak by 2026 to align with Paris pact

The world's third-biggest emitter needs $12.4 trillion in investment to reach net zero ahead of its official target of 2070, BNEF said in its New Energy Outlook for India

India has decoupled economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions: Survey

India has successfully reduced the emission intensity of its GDP, the Survey said

From algorithms to emissions: Google struggles with AI's energy hunger

Artificial intelligence systems, which need a lot of computing power housed in energy-hungry data centres, have become crucial in Google's operations

Global fossil fuel use, emissions hit records in 2023, says report

Overall global primary energy consumption hit an all-time high of 620 Exajoules (EJ), the report said

Nitrous oxide emissions grew 40% in 40 yrs, China largest emitter: Study

Planet-warming nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions grew by 40 per cent between 1980 and 2020, with China being the largest emitter, followed by India and the US, according to a new report. The study by the Global Carbon Project, a network of climate scientists, also said that 74 per cent of the nitrous oxide emissions in the past decade came from the use of nitrogen fertilizers and animal manure in agriculture. The top 10 emitters are China, India, the US, Brazil, Russia, Pakistan, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey, and Canada, it said. Nitrous oxide is the third most significant greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide and methane and is 273 times more potent than CO2 over 100 years. The increase in greenhouse gases has already raised the Earth's average surface temperature by 1.15 degrees Celsius compared to the 1850-1900 average. Anthropogenic nitrous oxide emissions contribute to about 0.1 degrees of this warming. In 2022, the concentration of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere reached 336 parts

World hits streak of record temperatures as UN warns of 'climate hell'

The average global temperature for the 12-month period to the end of May was 1.63 degrees Celsius (2.9 degrees Fahrenheit) above the pre-industrial average

China plans CO2 emission cuts in key industries by 1% of 2023 level

The plan said China would 'strictly' control coal consumption, 'reasonably' control petroleum consumption and promote use of biofuel and sustainable aviation fuel

Ford Motor backs new US rules to cut vehicle emissions through 2032

Earlier, a trade group representing General Motors, Toyota Motor, Volkswagen, Ford and nearly all other major automakers on Monday said it supported two key aspects of the rule

Fuelling change? M&M may consider hybrid tech shift if demand arises

Automaker puts EVs and ICE in the driver's seat amid hybrid emission concerns

Buildings sector will exceed country's entire GHG emissions budget

Emissions from India's buildings sector between 2020 and 2070 are projected to reach 90.85 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in the business-as-usual scenario, exceeding the carbon budget allocated for the entire country, according to a report released on Monday. The countries are striving to achieve net-zero emissions (a balance between greenhouse gases emitted and removed from the atmosphere) to limit the rise in global average temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius and prevent further worsening of climate impacts. Becoming a net-zero economy is particularly challenging for India as it must achieve the dual goals of fulfilling developmental aspirations and curbing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR6) estimated the remaining global carbon budget (from 2020 onwards) for a 50 percent chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius to be 500 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent. According to Climat

Global carbon markets value hits record $949 bn in 2023, shows data

The world's most valuable carbon market, the EU's ETS, was worth around 770 billion euros last year, up 2% from the previous year and representing 87% of the global total

TotalEnergies, ONGC join forces to detect, measure methane emissions

TotalEnergies and state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) have signed a cooperation agreement to carry out detection and measurement of methane from the Indian firm's operations using the French company's pioneering technology. ONGC is aiming to curb emission of methane, a greenhouse gas, from its oil and gas operations as part of its decarbonisation drive. It will now use TotalEnergies' pioneer AUSEA (Airborne Ultralight Spectrometer for Environmental Applications) technology to detect and measure methane emissions, the two firms said in a statement. The Cooperation Agreement was signed by Sangkaran Ratnam, Country Chair of TotalEnergies in India and Sushma Rawat, Director (Exploration), ONGC on the sidelines of India Energy Week. "ONGC has been inviting international technology partners to help reduce its methane emissions in India by 2030, while TotalEnergies has decided to share its AUSEA technology in an effort to pivot the whole industry towards zero methane emissi

Solar panels on rooftops along Delhi-Meerut RRTS to cut emissions: NCRTC

The NCRTC is installing solar panels on rooftop spaces along the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS, which is expected to yield 12.5 million units of solar energy and reduce 11,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually, officials said on Saturday. A solar capacity of about three MW has already been installed over the platform sheds of RRTS stations at Sahibabad, Guldhar, Duhai, Duhai Depot station and Duhai workshop of the priority section, which will be able to meet the auxiliary load requirement of these locations, they said. "The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is poised to install about 11 megawatt of solar capacity over its rooftop spaces along the 82 km-long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) corridor. This initiative is expected to yield 12.5 million units of solar energy annually and a reduction of 11,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually," an official said. Further solar power plants will be installed at the remaining stations of

Zero-emission cars can tackle air pollution, cut oil imports: Tata Motors

Only zero emission cars can contribute towards a reduction in air pollution, cutting burgeoning fuel imports and attaining net zero targets, according to Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Managing Director Shailesh Chandra. Amid demands from a certain section of the industry to cut taxes levied on hybrid cars, Chandra said that such vehicles do not align with the key national objectives of achieving net carbon-zero target, improving air quality levels, and reducing fossil fuel imports. He noted that hybrid and CNG technologies in cars help in improving fuel efficiency and meeting emission-related regulatory compliances but cannot be compared with pure battery electric vehicles. In an interaction with PTI, Chandra said that the government already supports hybrid vehicles in terms of lower taxation and there is no need to bring those at par with electric vehicles. He noted that hybrid cars cannot be compared with EVs as they essentially run on polluting "fossil fuel". Chandra said that

European Commission to back 90% emissions cut for 2040 climate target

The European Union is drafting its first 2040 climate target, to bridge the gap between its existing goals to cut net emissions 55% by 2030 and reach net zero emissions by 2050

Deloitte India unveils initiative to cut emissions attributed to software

Deloitte India on Wednesday unveiled an Enterprise Conscious Code initiative for sustainable, inclusive, and accessible software development that aims to cut up to 30 per cent of the emissions attributed to software alone. Launching the Code here on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024, Deloitte India said this initiative marks a significant leap towards sustainable and responsible software development, supporting global efforts to reduce carbon footprint, increase energy consciousness, and ensure accessibility for everyone. "The Enterprise Conscious Code (ECC) combines everything a company needs - the triple Ps of the bottom line - people, planet, and profits," it said. The Code offers ways to build eco-friendly software, promoting the use of techniques that contribute to a greener planet. Currently, about 3 per cent of the world's carbon emissions are attributed to the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, equivalent to roughly 1.58 bill

Why climate efforts fail to cut emissions

Technological limitations and policy inconsistencies pose a formidable challenge