Achieving Net Zero Emission

There is always the question of how do we achieve net zero Carbon Emissions. This Question seems to be at the centre of all debates and policy discussions in the Climate Change Space. The debates have led to various governments trying to reduce Carbon emissions across a whole range of Industries.

I have been discussing the same in the Great Climate Book Club where we have been discussing the Climate Change Committee Sixth Budget Report. The whole approach of the Report is on building a policy framework which enables the allocation of resources and effort to be net Zero Carbon neutral. The Report from UK will be the basis for a lot of discussions and policy work in other countries as well. Hence a detailed discussion for India is important.

For more details please on the Climate Book Club please find the Link and join the same https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/9043841/

In the Indian Context the whole question of Net Zero has always been about decarbonization i.e., of shifting various processes from their current to a more carbon efficient one and it has already started. This could be done by replacing energy sources from Fossil Fuel to a Greener Alternative especially Renewable Energy. The other method of enabling net Zero emissions to make existing processes more efficient.

No matter what we do, we need to have a negative Emission Target to ensure that the carbon being released into the atmosphere is being neutralized through processes which “absorbs” carbon from the atmosphere.. The bulk of the focus of Government Policies have been rightly towards reduction of Carbon Emissions. The focus has been on

? Transportation – Electrification of Public Transport and Private Transport is a movement which has begun and will increase as we go ahead

? Agriculture - A move away from Water and Energy Intensive agricultural processes is a step in the right direction however it comes with huge needs of investment and often productivity dips which may impact food security

? Electricity Consumption - Reduction of consumption by using energy efficient processes both at home and Work Places. The biggest consumption of Energy is usually the HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) . Efficiency in HVAC systems using product Engineering or Process Engineering have been known to reduce Energy Costs

? Industry – Many industries by their very nature are energy intensive, Steel and Aluminium have been known to be amongst the most energy intensive industries. Energy efficient processes at best would be able to reduce the amount of Carbon Emission.

? Resource Recovery – Virgin material used for any product goes through an intensive production process, which creates its own Global Warming Potential. The process of recycling and reuse of material wherever feasible will reduce the amount of Energy and hence the Global Warming Potential and hence decrease the Energy Footprint of each industry

? Sequestration -The process of Injecting Carbon captured through Technical Means or natural means. The means of Sequestration includes Geological, Technological and Industrial and also natural biological means. The simplest means includes Reforestation which is a natural means of reducing Carbon footprint. The whole process of achieving net Zero Carbon includes a lot of process innovation, to reduce the amount of Carbon being used. The second part of the whole process is how to capture Carbon already emitted.

Every process needs to be incremental in nature, i.e. reduce carbon step by step and also do all that we can to sequester Carbon already emitted. Along with defined KPI’s and focussed government policies, we should be well on our way towards achieving the net Zero emission targets.