Govt to raise energy efficiency targets for industry
Environment secretary says the ministry will reveal India’s ambitious plan to address climate change by the end of August
A file photo of environment secretary Ashok Lavasa. Photo: PIB
New Delhi: India is raising energy efficiency
targets for the industry, environment secretary Ashok Lavasa said on
Tuesday, adding his ministry will reveal the country’s ambitious plan to
address climate change by the end of August.
By September end, around 196 countries will announce their Intended
Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) which would form the basis
of the December Paris summit aimed at striking a new global climate
deal. INDCs are a set of voluntary actions that each country will
announce to address the issue of climate change. It could range from
cutting down reliance on fossil fuel and encouraging renewable energy to
enhancing energy efficiency of industries.
“The NMEEE (National Mission for Enhanced Energy
Efficiency) is being revised and expanded to cover new large industry
sectors as well as enhance targets. Other new missions are also being
finalised under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC),”
Lavasa said. He was speaking at the ‘Industry Consultation on India’s
INDCs for Climate Change’ in Delhi, organised by the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Lavasa’s announcement is in line with the decisions taken
at the meeting of the Prime Minister’s council on climate change
earlier this year, where the decision to enhance national missions under
the NAPCC was taken.
“The pre-2020 actions on mitigation and finance are
important and need to be enhanced. India is looking for clean coal
technologies as well as coal is going to be a source of power for India
in coming years,” said Lavasa.
The environment secretary also said that out of the
45-odd INDCs submitted so far to the UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), studies showed that the “numbers offered by the
developed countries are not ambitious enough though the developing
countries are showing innovation in the way they present their
contributions.”
Meanwhile, even as India prepares its INDCs in
consultation with all stakeholders including industry, environment,
minister Prakash Javadekar is set to attend the two-day meeting of the
Major Economies’ Forum on climate change starting 18 July to be held at
Luxembourg and an informal meeting of around 40 ministers organized by
the French government later this year before the December summit.
Joint secretary (climate change) R.S. Prasad, who was
also present at the function, said India is likely to submit its INDCs
in about a month and half.
“The second cycle of the PAT scheme under NMEEE is being
finalised. The sectors covered under NMEEE and the targets for
industries will be revised in the second cycle. The INDCs will cover not
just mitigation but also adaptation. The Indian INDCs is expected to
cover all areas and not just mitigation (reduction of emissions), such
as adaptation, climate finance, technology and capacity building needs
of the country,” Prasad said.
Indian government had notified energy efficiency targets
for 478 industrial units under the Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT)
scheme which is part of the National Mission for Enhanced Energy
Efficiency.
PAT scheme is a mechanism to accelerate as well as
incentivize energy efficiency in the large energy-intensive industries.
The scheme provides the option to trade any additional certified energy
savings with other designated consumers to comply with the Specific
Energy Consumption reduction targets. One of the new sectors that could
be added to PAT scheme is the railways.
Prasad also said the government is compiling a list of
technologies that would be needed for India to enhance its contributions
to climate change during 2020-30.
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