Himachal has added yet another feather to its cap as it has become the first state in the country to prepare its green house gas emission inventory where it has calculated its total carbon emissions from various sectors like energy, industry, transport and tourism.
Having already taken the lead in the country by getting a World Bank carbon credit programme approved, the hill state has been able to work out its emissions, which stand at 1.47 million tonnes carbon dioxide per annum. This level of carbon emissions will probably be among the lowest in the entire country with the hill state having an expansive forest cover of almost 14,668 sq km as per the 2007 Forest Survey of India report.
“The Department of Environment, Science and Technology has prepared an exhaustive green house emission inventory which helps us know where we stand today and how we can further cut down on our carbon footprint with the increased use of clean energy,” said Sudipto Roy, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment. He added that the inventory prepared by Suresh Attri, Principal Scientific Officer, and others in the department was greatly lauded by World Bank officials as a comprehensive and in-depth document.
The inventory, yet to be released, gives a fair idea about the green house gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emitted from various sectors like energy, industry, agriculture, waste and land use change and forestry. “Our carbon emissions are likely to remain low in view of various mitigation actions like use of CFLs, installation of solar lights, solar water heating and afforestation,” said Roy.
The inventory work has been undertaken as part of preparedness for the Station Climate Action Plan and has been carried out as per the requirement of the UNDP which emphasises on vulnerability assessment and green house gas emissions inventory to mitigate the effects of climate change.
A scientist pointed out that hydro-power energy component, which in case of Himachal was quite substantial and constituted clean energy, had not been taken into account while preparing the inventory. In case this sector was taken into account Himachal could even claim to be a carbon neutral state, a rare feat.
According to the inventory, it is the industry which has the highest carbon emissions followed by the transport and tourism sectors. With an exact idea about the main carbon emitters, the government can push in measures like encouraging eco-friendly and green industry to keep the pollution levels low and adopting energy conservation measures like use of CFLs and solar lights.
With about six lakh vehicles plying in the state annually, carbon emissions from the road transport sector are also quite high.
The tourism sector, with a sizeable number of hotels, is also a major consumer of energy and it is only a policy decision by the state government which can make it mandatory for hotels to undertake some major energy-saving initiatives.
