ED’s Note
Untangling Sustainability's Gordian Knot One of the oft repeated statements that one hears in green seminars, boardrooms and interactions is the role played by the government. Depending on which side is speaking, there is either much praise or too much angst about the role played by the GoI. There are of course the firsts - the Ministry of New Renewable Energy headed by Farooq Abdullah is the first of its kind anywhere in the world. Also, there has been no paucity of planning commissions, national visions and other things. Purely from a policy front, India does not score too low. After all, even Barrack Obama could not bring about a green revolution, though he evangelised the same.
Shashwat DC Editor -in-Chief
The federal structure of India ensures that some states in India are pioneers in terms of green while others are laggards.
Yet, the sum of all the parts does not add up significantly, simply because it’s all scattered and being done in various silos. Let me share with you an instance. Sustainability as a practice and effort with an enterprise, at varying times, falls under the ambit of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Ministry of Power, Ministry of NonRenewable Energy, Ministry of Environment and Forests, and others depending on the efforts undertaken. To add to the conundrum, there are various governmental and inter-governmental departments that deal on different aspects. Like, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency that is meant to drive the uptake of energy star products and green buildings. And if this wasn't a khichdi (mishmash) enough, the federal structure of India ensures that there's much overlap on what is under the jurisdiction of the central government or state government. Little wonder then, some states in India are pioneers in terms of green while others are laggards. There is no parity among what one Indian state has achieved with that of another. Much like the fabled Gordian Knot that held an ox-cart standing resting in the palace of the former kings of Phrygia at Gordium in ancient times, the policy framework on sustainability and CSR in India is all tied up too intricately to make sense of. For an outsider the complexity can be fairly perplexing. So what's the solution to this knotty affair? In fact, the very legend of the Gordian knot also comes along with a solution as well. According to the same, the knot stood entangled for many centuries challenging one and all, till came along a young upstart from Macedonia, with visions to conquer the world. At first, he tried his hand at finding an end of the cornel bark and on not finding any, drew his sword and sliced it in half, thereby untying the knot. This is out-of-box thinking that challenges the norm and has the courage to strike at the status quo. We need modern days Alexanders who have a grand vision and the necessary wherewithal to achieve it, too. Let's look and analyse the ones around to check whether such a leader is there in our midst, and if not let's nurture a few; and encourage them to go through. Do we have such leaders? In this issue, we discuss threadbare the various government missions undertaken to promote the uptake of green and sustainability. We have received fabulous response to our first edition; quite a bagful of suggestions and encouragement. You will see quite many of them being incorporated in the coming issues. In the meantime, let those mails keep coming, sharing with us your views, stories, suggestions or even criticisms. Drop a mail on editor@sustainuance.com. Till next time!
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CONTENTS
31 Sustainablity Portfolio
20 Mind your Garbage!
SEPTEMBER 2012
10
National Missions
Producing Energy from waste can be a notable source of renewable energy
24
Eight National Missions representing longterm strategies for achieving climate change goals.
Blackout: a Call for Clean Energy?
18 17 Solar Myths - Busted! People seem to harbour false beliefs and doubts about solar power
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Why Go Green? It can give you operational benefits and better earnings
CONTENTS
06
CDM has been ineffective: CSE
06
Storage facility can boost renewable energy growth
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IIT-Madras developing new solar technology for domestic use
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Sikkim to go ‘fully organic’ by 2015
09
Solar power – as never seen before!
6 R’s to Green Earth
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Chairman & Managing Director Uday S Surve Editor-in-Chief Shashwat DC Printer & Publisher Sameer P Gore Consulting Editor Deepak Kumar Content Manager (Web) Jigna Khajuria Special Correspondent Pratima H Senior Correspondent Saikat Nandi Correspondent Desiree Lobo Sailee Karnik Neha Kumari Tanu Kaur Correspondent (USA) Shikha Das Shankar Design Director: Nirmal Biswas Senior Designer Graphic: Mahesh Walunj Illustrator Nitin Dhumal
35
Sustainability Initiatives by Indian Industrial Sectors
38 Apple's Green Job Apple has been thoroughly vocal about the aggressive steps it is taking to become the greenest business it can possibly be
Head Community: Jiten Doshi Senior Manager Sales: Mahesh L Shetty Asst. Manager Sales: Shoaib Shaikh Ad Coordinator: Roshan Fernandes Operations Manager: Rahoul Teli Accounts & Admin Manager: Gajpal Rana Assistant Manager (Subscription) Pooja Gondhalekar Circulation Manager: Vishal Ladkat Production Head: Riken Manseta Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission from Saaga Interactive Private Limited is prohibited. The views and opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. Copyright: All rights reserved. Published and Printed by Sameer Pradeep Gore on behalf of Saaga Interactive Private Limited. Published at 510, Western Edge-1, Western Express Highway, Borivali (East), Mumbai 400066. Printed at Amruta Print Arts, JR Boricha Marg, Opp. Kasturba Hospital, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai - 400 011. Editor: Shashwat Dinesh Chaturvedi
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NEWS CDM has been ineffective: CSE demand and price of carbon credits. The panel wants every country – developed or developing – to increase their mitigation ambition and use carbon credits to meet their targets. This means rewriting the international climate convention and obliterating the difference between developed and developing countries.
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disintegrating. The Report included various stakeholders such as civil society, policymakers and market participants in the deliberations.
The Report was released at the 69th CDM Executive Board meeting in Bangkok on September 11, 2012.
“The report is singularly geared towards saving the ailing CDM and carbon markets, with not enough focus on how the social and environmental integrity of the mechanism should be addressed,” said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE.
The recommendations aim at how to reform the CDM design and process, and how to prevent the global carbon market from
The CDM Policy Dialogue Report has a list of 51 recommendations which focus on saving the carbon market by increasing the
he recommendations made in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Policy Dialogue Report are totally inadequate to achieve any real reforms on climate change, says Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) in a critique of the Report.
CSE has urged the Indian government to reject these recommendations. “The recommendations are not only bad for the developing countries, they will also negate global efforts for fighting climate change,” said Narain. CDM was created under the Kyoto Protocol mainly to serve two purposes – to help developed countries to meet their commitments under the Protocol in a cost-effective manner, and to support sustainable development activities in developing countries.But experts say that it has been reduced into just being a market tool used by the Kyoto parties to write off their targets with cheap offsets. It has failed in actually reducing emissions or promoting sustainable development in developing countries. Researchers are of the opinion that CDM has been ineffective, and also a sort of carbon accountancy fraud, a ‘cheap development mechanism’ promoting cheap offsets.
Storage facility can boost renewable energy growth Addressing the media at ‘Renewable Energy Conference – Policy, Regulation, Technology and Finance’, he said that grid managers did not want renewable energy due to issues of dispatch.
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he most important aspects of renewable energy are storage and dispatch, said Debashish Majumdar, Chairman and Managing Director, Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA).
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The most effective solution to that would be storage of energy as it would help streamline supply according to gird requirements. To accelerate the growth of renewable energy, smart grids, storage and forecasting would become crucial, Majumdar said. It can be stored in the form of heat, and in case of solar, through thermal power. Renewable energy can be generated at the
point of use as well as in off-grid sites. Obviously, technology would play a major role in such a scenario. Research has proved that it is possible to forecast wind with an accuracy of up to half-an-hour, he said. On financing for renewable energy sector, he said availability was not an issue but the poor health of the public utilities was of concern. The Ministry of Renewable Energy has funded projects based on new technology which could translate into higher efficiency. Talks are on with Spain for electricity storage through thermal and molten salt, Majumdar informed. Majumdar also added that by and large the states’ policies on renewable energy were in sync with the Central norms.
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NEWS IIT-Madras developing new solar technology for domestic use domestic and agricultural use. IIT-M director Bhaskar Ramamurthi said, “Residential, commercial and agriculture sectors are most affected by power cuts. It’s crucial to remove or reduce basic electricity needs from the grid. Schools and colleges should all go off the grid and only use it as a back-up.”
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ower shortage is common in many parts of the country. It is but natural that the technological organizations would want to do something about it. Concerned by the domestic power consumption needs, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) – Madras is developing technology to use solar photo voltaic cells for
The institute is working with three private drip irrigation companies on a technology that would integrate bore-well pumps with solar PV cells. Ramamurthi agreed that solar energy which cannot be stored is an issue, but it can be overcome in some time if engineers worked on the technicalities. He called upon interested scientists to work on making the solar power project a success.
The director also countered the belief that drawing solar power was expensive. He said the use of diesel generators hiked the cost to Rs15 per unit, which could go up to Rs30 a unit unless used optimally. Inverters are almost as expensive at Rs 14 a unit. In contrast, over the last three years the generation of solar power, apart from land costs, is Rs 4.35 per unit. This is equal to the generation of power from a thermal unit. Taking into account the cost of storage, the total cost could rise by another Rs4. Former director of the Central Leather Research Institute G Thyagarajan urged institutions like CSIR and IIT to play a greater role in helping small industry players to adopt safe practices.
Sikkim to go ‘fully organic’ by 2015 time-bound manner. A state-level apex body with the chief minister as its chair oversees the implementation,” an official said. Over the years, Sikkim government has also promoted large-scale use of bio-fertilizers and has been providing farmers with organic manure as an alternative. For this, 24,536 rural compost units and 14,487 vermi-compost units were constructed in farmers’ fields till 2009. A bio-village program was also initiated in 2003 and around 400 villages were adopted by the state government till 2009 to benefit some 14,000 farmers and 14,000 acres of land.
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ikkim is all set to become a fully organic state by 2015, an official statement has said. Various state agencies have been working in coordination for the same. The state started eco-friendly farming from a small area of land in 2003. The government set up the special Sikkim State Organic Board to promote better farm techniques and prohibit the use of manufactured synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. Around 8,000 hectares of land was covered under this scheme from 2003
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to 2009. “Now our farming relies on techniques such as green manure, compost, biological pest control and crop rotation,” Sikkim Agriculture Secretary Vishal Chauhan said. The state government has stopped taking their quota of chemical fertilizers offered by the Government of India since 2006-07 and all sales points for chemical fertilizers in public and private sectors have been closed. “We have also launched the comprehensive ‘Sikkim Organic Mission’ as a nodal agency to implement and monitor the program in
Since the organic products sell at a higher price, the state governments hopes it will benefit over 50,000 families in the state and promote organic agro-tourism. According to latest data, Sikkim produces some 80,000 million tonnes of farm products, including 45,890 million tonnes of ginger, 3,510 million tonnes of large cardamom, 2,790 million tonnes of tur mer ic, 4,100 million tonnes of buckwheat, 3,210 million tonnes of urad daal and 20,110 million tonnes of mandarin oranges. Significant portion of these products are already organic.
NEWS Solar power – as never seen before!
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he recent ‘Solarcon India 2012’ conference brought to light the fact that boundaries of solar power have extended beyond heating and lighting. This infinite source of energy is leading to hitherto unheard of innovations. Water pumps, farm operations, crematoriums, securing critical data stores and distillation and effluent plants are the newest examples of its uses. Gadgets and equipment running on solar power lessen the dependence on erratic grid power which only depletes fossil fuels. The latest gear on the solar scene is Solarator, a solar alternative to the mobile generator. The trailer-mounted equipment was launched at Solarcon India 2012. It is manufactured by HHV Solar, near Bangalore, and can light up campsites, disaster sites or even construction sites with 2KWh output and 600 watt input. H.R. Vasuki, General Manager-Operations, HHV Solar, said the green power generator can last for six hours. Its photo-voltaic panels convert sunlight into electricity without causing noise or air pollution. A fully sealed water-proof compartment at the bottom of the trailer houses all electronic and electrical components to prevent a short circuit. The generator’s two solar modules use mono crystalline silicon cells
to generate 300 watt power each. The compact Solartor is foldable, can be carried or airlifted to disaster sites. It can be a boon for relief and rescue operations and for fire-fighting personnel since it can be connected to lights, pumps, surgery equipment or lifting machines. A single unit would cost Rs. 4 lakh. Farming can benefit a lot from the solar water pumps. Several manufacturers have begun producing such pumps with onsite solar power production facility. Thejaswi Bhat, who heads Grundfos Pumps, says the company has already sold nearly 2,500 such pumps in the Indian market since 2006. The pumps allow water to be drawn from 200 meters below the ground and could also be integrated with wind turbine if the wind conditions are conducive. Arraytech Technologies, too, produces similar pumps. It has introduced secondgeneration PV cells where more polluting cadmium has been replaced by thin PV films made of an alloy of copper, indium and selenium. These pumps can work at lower sunshine level and can be found in the range of six to 12 HP. Pune based Enertech generates solar power with big installations at areas which are critical in terms of safety, security and
emergency. For example, the company has installed a 20KW plant at the Bombay Stock Exchange where data security is of utmost importance and power failure even for a second can result in losses in terms of millions of rupees while trading is on. Vijay Deshpande, Managing Director, Enertech, said lighting in passageways in certain facilities, CCTVs in airports or servers in IT industries or police control rooms are of critical importance. Huge structures which need security lights can shift power loads to solar backups which provide 10 to 20 hours of uninterrupted power supply. Arun Kulkarni’s Motion Controls has made inventions in solar ceiling and pedestal fans. His ceiling fans can operate with six-volt inbuilt solar-powered batteries. Exposed to five hours of sunshine, they can run for five hours. He has sold over 2,000 fans in the last four years. Then there were solar caps with a tiny fan fitted under the shade of the cap, powered by a PV cell film mounted on the upper side. The caps, produced by Sunray Solar Systems, can be used by batsmen in cricket matches or construction laborers working under the scorching sun. It is useful for trekkers, walkers and joggers as well.
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NEWS MNRE planning to assist 10 MW rooftop solar scheme
Hydro-power projects in Arunachal face clearance hurdles
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he Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) will be announcing a strategy to assist in the development of 10 MW solar photovoltaic power facilities on the rooftops of buildings. B. Venkateswara Rao, general manager (Technical), Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), made this statement during the solar industry’s conference, titled Solarcon 2012. This will be a rent-a-roof type of scheme where any roof-owner will be able to lease out his house roof to a project developer. The project developer will build the solar power unit and will be free to sell the electricity generated to the grid. Mr. Rao added that the probable cities where this project will be developed is yet to be decided. They will most probably choose places where there are no concerns about grid power. Even though the power gained by rooftop project is expensive than the power generated by large scale MW projects, commercial establishments are willing to purchase the scheme. Mainly because it guarantees supply and is low-cost in the
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long run. And since it is off-grid, the project developers don’t need to depend on the economically frail state-run distribution companies. The National Solar Mission of the Government of India handles the payment part by merging the solar energy with unreserved conventional power, thus increasing the one-sided average cost of the combined power. However, currently that unreserved power, which is not allocated for sales to any particular customer under power purchase agreements, has dwindled. Some state governments have declared their own rooftop solar schemes recently. The Karnataka Minister for Large and Medium Industr ies, Mr. Mur ugesh Rudrappa Nirani, stated in the Solarcon 2012 that the state had recognized 1,000 key buildings for the establishment of rooftop solar projects of more than 100 kW each. At present, the country has solar power facilities of 1,030 MW, of which 680 MW is under the feed-in tariff-based program of the Government of Gujarat.
ed-tapism is a problem faced by all of us, quite often affecting important large scale schemes. Nabam Tuki, the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh has voiced similar concerns. Addressing a panel on Hydropower Projects in North East at New Delhi, he said that the state was facing delays in getting forest and environment clearances, in some cases taking years, for the proposed hydropower projects in the Himalayan state. The CM pointed out that staff crunch and other factors are the main reasons behind these delays. The Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Geological Survey of India (GSI) are unable to speed up the issuance of Techno-Economical Clearance (TEC) despite their efforts to examine the DPRs and issue the clearances. The chief minister highlighted the importance of hydropower, and said that it is a source of clean energy. It regulates the flow of water during rainy seasons, hence moderating floods and saving life, property and agricultural prospects in downstream areas. Tuki requested MoEF to have a more encouraging role in developing hydropower in Arunachal Pradesh, which has a potential of 40 percent of the country’s total hydropower generation potential. Of the projected 60000 MW potential in the state, projects of almost 42000 MW installed capacity have already been allotted, while additional 10000 MW is likely to be allotted soon.
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COVER STORY
I
ndia is emerging as the most rapidly developing economy and will be a powerful nation in no time. Accepted! But it also can’t be ignored that India is facing the challenge of sustaining its rapid growth while dealing with the global threat of climate change. And would it not? The whole of accumulated greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere emanates through long-term on-going industrial growth and the high consumption lifestyles in developed countries. India needs to have a ‘National Strategy’ in the first place, before engaging itself with the international communities to collectively deal with this threat! It’s obvious that climate change may alter the distribution and quality of India's natural resources and adversely affect the livelihood of its people. With an economy closely tied to its natural resource base and climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, water and forestry, India may face a major threat because of the projected changes in climate. India has a wider spectrum of choices when it comes to chalking out a development pathway which is ecologically sustainable. This is mainly attributed to its early stage of development. It has a vision to create an economy which is self-sustaining, the ability to unleash creative energies of its people and successfully fulfilling the responsibilities towards present and future generations. India will be engaging actively in the multilateral negotiations at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, in a positive and constructive way. The objective is the establishment of an effective, cooperative and equitable global approach. Gandhiji’s wise dictum “the earth has enough to meet people’s needs, but will never have enough to satisfy people’s greed” is indeed true. Our approach has to be compatible with our role as a responsible and enlightened member of the international community. Our national efforts would be significantly enhanced if the developed nations affirm their responsibilities for accumulated greenhouse gas emissions. Also, they will have to fulfil their commitments under the UNFCCC. BY NEHA KUMARI
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COVER STORY
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COVER STORY
PRINCIPLES For an enhanced standard of living for such a vast majority of people, it is necessary to maintain a high growth rate and reducing the vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. In order to achieve a sustainable development path that simultaneously advances economic and environmental objectives, the National Action Plan for Climate Change (NAPCC) will be guided by the following principles: • Protecting the poor and vulnerable sections of society through an inclusive and sustainable development strategy sensitive to climate change. • Achieving national growth objectives through a qualitative change in direction that enhances ecological sustainability. • Devising efficient and cost-effective strategies for end use Demand Side Management. • Deploying appropriate technologies for both adaptation and mitigation of greenhouse gases emissions extensively as well as at an accelerated pace. • Engineering new and innovative forms of market, regulatory and voluntary mechanisms to promote sustainable development. • Effecting implementation of programmes through unique linkages, including with civil society and local government institutions and through public privatepartnership. • Welcoming international cooperation for research, development, sharing and transfer of technologies enabled by additional funding and a global IPR regime that facilitates technology transfer to developing countries under the UNFCCC.
The Way Forward: Eight National Missions Dealing with the climate change is not a one day job! We must act on several fronts in a focussed manner simultaneously. The National Action Plan on Climate change was formally launched on June 30th, 2008. The Plan relies on the development and use of new technologies. Institutional mechanisms which suit the effective delivery of each individual mission’s objective will have to be implemented. This would also include public private partnerships and civil society action. The focus will be on promoting understanding of climate change, adaptation and mitigation, energy efficiency and natural resource conservation. There are Eight National Missions which form the core of the National Action Plan, represent¬ing multi-pronged, long-term and integrated strate¬gies for achieving key goals in the context of climate change. While several of these programmes are already part of our current actions, they may need a change in direction, enhancement of scope and effectiveness and accelerated implementation of time-bound plans.
National solar mission Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh launched the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission – Solar India in New Delhi on 11th January 2010. While addressing the audience, he said “This National Solar Mission has place of pride in India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change. Its success has the potential of transforming India’s energy prospects, and contributing also to national as well as global efforts to combat climate change. This Mission is one of the major priorities of the second term of our government.” It is noteworthy here that the importance of this Mission is not just limited to providing large-scale grid connected power. It has the potential to provide significant multiplier for the transformation of India’s rural economy. Already in its decentralized and distributed applications, solar energy is beginning to light the lives of tens of millions of India’s energy-poor citizens. The rapid spread of solar lighting systems, solar water pumps and other solar power-based rural applications can change the face of India’s rural economy. The country intends to expand such applications significantly through this mission. Technological innovations are and will continue to be a key factor in ensuring the success of this mission. Reduced space intensity of current solar applications, through the use of Nano-technology is to be sorted and planned. Cost-effective and convenient storage of solar energy beyond daylight hours will be critical to its emergence as a mainstream source of power. In the meantime, we may need to explore hybrid solutions, combining solar power generation with gas, biomass or even coal-based power. The national solar mission, which aimed to install 20,000 MW capacity of solar energy by 2020, has commissioned 89% of its allotted capacity in its first stage. Also, the government signed Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) with 28 solar power developers in 2011.
National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency Being one of the key missions , National Mission For Enhanced Energy Efficiency has a staggering INR 74,000 crore energy efficiency opportunities, A very ambitious execution plan based on three pillars namely – Perform, Achieve and Trade (PAT)
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COVER STORY Mechanism, which will assign energy efficiency improvement targets to the country’s most energy intensive industrial units, with the provision of allowing them to retain anything in excess of their target in the form of Energy Savings Certificates, called ESCerts. Then there is Energy Efficiency Financing Platform (EEFP), Market Transformation for Energy Efficiency (MTEE), and Framework for Energy Efficient Economic Development (FEEED) under the leadership of Bureau of Energy Efficiency. To enhance energy efficiency, four new ini¬tiatives will be put in place.These are: • A market based mechanism to enhance cost effec¬tiveness of energy-intensive large industries and facilities, through certification of energy savings that could be traded. • Accelerating the shift to energy efficient appliances in designated sectors through innovative measures to make the products more affordable. • Creation of mechanisms that would help finance demand side management programs in all sectors by capturing future energy savings. • Developing fiscal instruments to promote energy efficiency Expanding the use of the carbon market to help achieve market transformation towards energy efficient equipment and appliances is one more aim to meet. There is a need for the creation of two funds to help channel investment into energy efficiency projects. One of the funds, the Partial Risk Guaranty Facility, will provide back-toback guarantees to banks for loans to energy-efficient projects. The other fund, a Venture Capital Fund, will support investment in the manufacturing of energy-efficient products and services. Another major goal of the Mission is the promotion of Energy Service Company (ESCO) based upgrades of energy-efficient buildings, municipalities and agricultural pump-sets. Through this business model, ESCOs are paid over several years from the resulting energy savings.
Expanding the use of carbon market to help achieve transformation towards energy efficient equipment is the National Missions’ aim
National Mission on Sustainable Habitat Promoting sustainability of habitats through improvements in energy efficiency is the objective of the mission on sustainable habitat. Buildings, urban planning, improved management of solid and liquid waste, shift towards public transport and conservation through appropriate changes in legal and regulatory framework for incorporating efficient energy. The mission aims at promoting energy efficiency as an integral component of urban planning and urban renewal through four initiatives. 1) The Energy Conservation Building Code, which addresses the design of new and large commercial buildings to optimize their energy demand, will be extended in its application and incentives pro¬vided for retooling existing building stock. 2) Recycling of material and Urban Waste Management will be a major component of ecologically sustainable economic development. India already has a significantly higher rate of recycling of waste compared to developed countries. A special area of focus will be the development of technology for producing power from waste. The National Mission will include a major R&D program, focusing on bio chemical conversion, waste water use, sewage utilization and recycling options wherever possible.
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COVER STORY 3) Better urban planning and modal shift to public transport. Making long term transport plans will facilitate the growth of medium and small cities in ways that ensure efficient and convenient public transport. 4) Improving the resilience of infrastructure, community based disasÂŹter management, and measures for improving the warning system for extreme weather events. Capacity building would be an important component of this Mission.
National Water Mission
Recycling of material and Urban Waste Management will be a major component of ecologically sustainable economic development.
The objective of this Mission is "conservation of water, minimizing wastage and ensuring its equitable distribution both across and within States through integrated water resources development and management". The Mission Document was drafted by the Ministry of Water Resources through consultative process with full involvement of State Governments, concerned Central Ministries, NonGovernmental Organizations, academicians and other stakeholders. Five goals identified in the National Water Mission 1) comprehensive water data base in public domain and assessment of the impact of climate change on water resources 2) promotion of citizen and state actions for water conservation, augmentation and preservation 3) focused attention to vulnerable areas including over-exploited areas 4) increasing water use efficiency by 20% 5) promotion of basin level integrated water resources management A two-tier setup has been proposed, one at Central level and the other at State level for framing the policies and guidelines for implementation of the National Water Mission. On June 12, 2012 the Centre has decided to incentivise States that fast-track water sector reforms with liberalised funding criteria. The plan is to “grade� States as per the reforms process adopted by them. States that speed up reforms will get increased financial assistance from the Centre for water projects.
National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem The Himalayan ecosystem is vital to the ecological security of Indian landmass. It provides forest cover, feeds perennial rivers that are the source of drinking water, irrigation, and hydropower, conserves biodiversity, provides a rich base for high value agriculture, and spectacular landscapes for sustainable tourism. Climate change may adversely impact the Himalayan ecosystem through increased temperature, altered precipitation patterns, and episodes of drought. It is accordingly, necessary to continue and enhance monitoring of the Himalayan ecosystem, in particular the state of its glaciers, and the impacts of change in glacial mass on river flows. Since several other countries in the South Asian region share the Himalayan ecosystem, appropriate forms of scientific collaboration and exchange of information may be considered with them to enhance understanding of ecosystem changes and their effects. It is also necessary, with a view to enhancing conservation of Himalayan ecosystems, to empower local communities, to assume greater responsibility. The National Environment Policy, 2006, provides the following
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COVER STORY relevant measures for conservation of mountain ecosystems: - Adopt appropriate land-use planning and watershed management practices for sustainable development of mountain ecosystems - Adopt "best practice" norms for infrastructure construction in mountain regions to avoid or minimize damage to sensitive ecosystems and despoiling of landscapes - Encourage cultivation of traditional varieties of crops and horticulture by promotion of organic farming enabling farmers to realize a price premium - Promote sustainable tourism through adoption of "best practice" norms for tourism facilities and access to ecological resources, and multi stakeholder partnerships to enable local communities to gain better livelihoods, while leveraging financial, technical, and managerial capacities of investors - Take measures to regulate tourist inflows into mountain regions to ensure that these remain within the carrying capacity of the mountain ecology - Consider particular unique mountain scopes as entities with "Incomparable Values", in developing strategies for their protection
National Mission for a Green India The Mission aims to increase the quantity and quality of forest area. The Mission will also focus on improvement of ecosystem services, including biodiversity, hydrological services and carbon sequestration, and aim to increase forest-based livelihood incomes for 3 million forest dependent families. In terms of carbon sequestration, the mission aims to reach an annual CO2 sequestration of 50 to 60 million tonnes by 2020, which will increase the share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions offset by India’s forest and tree cover to around 6 percent as compared to 4.5 percent that would have been offset in the absence of the Mission. The Mission on Green India will be implemented on degraded forest land through direct action by communities, organized through Joint Forest Management Committees and guided by the Departments of Forest in state governments. An ini¬tial corpus of over Rs 6000 crore has been earmarked for the programme through the Compensatory Afforestation Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) to commence work. The programme will be scaled up to cover all remaining degraded forest land. The institutional arrangement provides for using the corpus to leverage more funds to scale up activity.
It is necessary, with a view to enhancing conservation of Himalayan ecosystems, to empower local communities, to assume greater responsibility.
National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture The Mission lays emphasis on four key functional areas and ten important dimensions. Through these, the mission seeks to target both; the imminent challenges from the likely impacts of climate change on Indian agriculture and the more fundamental ones in food security, equitable access to food resources, livelihoods and economic stability at the national level. The mission seeks to achieve those objectives through strategic interventions at the agro climatic zones ranging from improved crop seeds, livestock and fish culture to livelihood diversification. The mission rightly acknowledges that the likely adverse impacts of climate change on Indian agriculture can lead to a new class of community called ‘Climate Refugees’ comprising of people impacted by variable and extreme climate events. Agriculture will need to be progressively adapted to projected
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COVER STORY climate change and our agri¬cultural research systems must be oriented to moni¬tor and evaluate climate change and recommend changes in agricultural practices accordingly. Focus would be on improving productivity of rain fed agriculture. This will be supported by the convergence and integration of traditional knowledge and prac¬tice systems, information technology, geospatial technologies and biotechnology. New credit and insurance mechanisms will be devised to facilitate adoption of desired practices.
National Mission on Strategic Knowledge for Climate Change
Adverse impacts of climate change on Indian agriculture can lead to a new class of community called ‘Climate Refugees’
This Mission seeks to build a dynamic knowledge system that would inform and support national policy and action in addressing the climate change challenges while not compromising on the nation’s growth goals. This, it seeks to achieve through a combination of knowledge infrastructure, institutional inter-connections, capacity building and mission mode programs well supported by an interministerial co-ordination mechanism. Among the key deliverables of the mission are: 1. 10 thematic knowledge networks in the areas of climate science , climate modelling, adaptation across GDP critical sectors, energy generation technologies, emission inventories. 2. 10-12 technical reports on sub-mission programs concerning Indian monsoon, glaciers melt, frequency and intensity of natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, earth quakes. 3. Regional and disaggregated climate models. 4. 50 Chair professorships in climate science and technology and about 200 trained specialist climate change researchers. 5. At least 3 PPP programs in adaptation and mitigation technologies 6. Technology Watch Groups across climate science, renewable energy, clean coal, sustainable habitats, solar, waste etc. 7. Thematic reports on technology policy interfaces in the areas of per capita emissions at various GDP growth rates. 8. Technology collaborations with the USA, EU, Japan, China on areas identified in the mission elaboration from time to time. The Mission has on its research agenda, socio-economic impacts of climate change including impact on health, demography, migration patterns and livelihoods of coastal communities. A Climate Science Research Fund would be created under the Mission to support research. Research to support policy and implementation would be under¬taken through identified centres. The Mission will also focus on dissemination of new knowledge based on research findings. Implementation of the missions All the eight missions are being institutionalized by respective ministries. They will be organized through inter-sectoral groups which include in addition to related Ministries, the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission, experts from industry, acade¬mia and civil society. Building public awareness will be vital in supporting implementation of the NAPCC. This will be achieved through national portals, media engagement, civil society involvement, curricula reform and recognition/ awards, details of which will be worked out by an empowered group. The group will also consider methods of capacity building to support the goals of the National Missions.
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COLUMN
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e are running out of fossil fuels and that might affect a lot of our industries, production, transport and other facilities. The amount of pollution these fuels create is alarming, not to mention the destructive greenhouse gases damaging our fragile ecosystem. In such a scenario, renewable energy is a ray of hope to save our earth from further damage. In a sunny country like ours, solar Photovoltaics (PV) rooftop is a good option for energy and electricity demands. Even though people understand the need for solar power, they do not want to make the switch from fossil fuels due to some doubts and false beliefs they seem to harbour. Following are a few myths and realities about solar power: 1) The first myth is that solar system is very expensive and you can’t really recover the installation cost. The truth is that the system eliminates electricity bill, which is why most people get the panels installed in the first place. Hence, the money saved this way typically pays the system off in a few years, depending on the usage and state. 2) Solar panels are delicate and difficult to handle. The panels are actually quite resilient. Because they are black, the snow melts off them quickly as well. In fact, NASA uses them for most of its spaceships and other projects out in space. 3) Solar energy will not give results in cool and cloudy climates. The fact is, solar panels work on UV rays of the sun which get through the clouds. Also, cold temperatures make the energy transfer easier and efficient. 4) Solar panels may add to global warming. The solar panels do not burn fossil fuels or harsh chemicals which release greenhouse gases associated with global warming. The only carbon footprint they make is when they are made and transported, which is minimum. 5) Solar systems can work on either batteries or grid. In modern day systems they are grid tied. It is cheaper for most families and also allows them to sell the excess produce to the electric company. This will earn them credit for the power that would otherwise remain unused in the batteries. It also allows them to not worry about storing energy for the night and bad weather days.
Solar Power is cheaper for most families and also allows them to sell the excess produce to the electric company
6) Regular maintenance is not necessary. The fact is, a rinse off once a year is recommended so that the solar panels remain clean. It would also be sensible to check for debris and clean it off as soon as possible. 7) Solar panels cannot lead to roof leak or collapse. One should make sure that everything is waterproof before actually starting the installation. Generally, companies install a rail across the roof and mount the panels on top of it. Solar rooftop has become a necessity, especially where conventional electricity is difficult or too expensive to get. Converting solar radiation into direct electricity will save huge amounts of conventional energy, thus saving the precious resources for future generations.
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FEATURE
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omeone rightly remarked that we haven’t received this world as an inheritance from our forefathers. It is a legacy we will leave to our grandchildren. It is then time to seriously think what we want to leave behind – a world full of pollution, depleting resources, scarce water bodies and damaged ecology, or a sustainable world with enough resources and good living conditions. As a businessman, you might want to take a more sustainable approach to business due to any of the factors like pure philanthropy, profits or cost saving. You may truly want your workers to be educated, reasonably paid and to have decent living conditions. Besides, being more sustainable brings tangible business benefits. Even if the primary aim of a business is to concentrate on profitability, it doesn’t mean they can’t put in efforts into sustainability. In fact, following a sustainable route can aid you into achieving a ‘privilege to expand’ your business and gain benefits. Secondly, there is the long-term need that makes sustainability the only logical approach. Just imagine, if you use up a natural resource faster than it can be replaced, there will be no resource left to make products out of. It is simple self-preservation. It becomes necessary to ensure that the raw materials for manufacturing your products continue to be available. You can do so either by reducing the demand, ensuring that resources are renewed or switching to a less scarce or renewable raw material. Thirdly, customers are increasingly becoming aware of the environmental impact. Hence, they support more sustainability, and so do other stakeholders like shareholders, local community, government regulators and so on. They would appreciate if you are more environmentally friendly and more responsible in the treatment of staff, suppliers and community. You will particularly need to take sustainability as an integral part of your business if your company is either a big brand, is a regulated business, makes a big footprint, has a bad reputation of damaging the environment, makes heavy use of fossil fuels or is valued for ethics.
Risks: Any business involves risks. When you decide to go green, you will encounter two types of risks: those associated with making
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Risks and rewards are part of any business, and taking a sustainable approach involves both.
FEATURE changes to be more sustainable; and those that spring up if you do not take up the sustainable approach. If you take a more sustainable approach, the risks would be mostly money-related. For example, increased expenses because of better pay and conditions for workers, increased cost of new manufacturing processes, increased cost of new packaging, increased cost of maintaining, monitoring and reporting on sustainability. However, if you avoid sustainability, you can still face cost implications. But other risks can come from the following areas as well: 1) Employees: you might lose your best employees to other companies, or cause harm to employees with the potential for law suits and damages. 2) Customers: their increasing awareness can reduce the market for unsustainable products and services. 3) The media: it will expose companies undertaking unsustainable activities like using child labour to damaging the environment. It can lead to legal proceedings and great damage to reputation. 4) The industry: competitors who take a more sustainable approach can definitely put your business at risk. 5) Suppliers: don’t think that if suppliers act in an unsustainable manner, it is their problem. You will also face the consequences of their action and reputation. 6) Processes: your activities might bring health risk to employees and the local community, lead to legal action and fines, or environmental risk. 7) A product or service: examine the lifetime impact of a product, from raw materials in a product to disposal.
Costs: The cost factor is very important to any business. The costs incurred towards sustainability should be seen as a necessary operating cost rather than an added expenditure. It will have associated benefits in the form of financial gains from reduced waste, reduced energy use, better productivity and sales and improved image. Costs include the following: 1) Some sustainable raw materials are more expensive than regular ones. 2) Initial capital costs of setting up new plants or buildings. But it will lead to many years of improvements in running costs and other financial benefits. 3) Maintenance costs would mean keeping your plant and buildings operating well. 4) Better design of processes and products. 5) Extra costs from production to packaging and disposal. 6) Increased costs for salaries, better working conditions and bonuses for you workforce. etc.
Rewards: Taking a sustainable approach to business has its own rewards including financial, operational and human. You can reap financial benefits in the form of increased revenues, lower costs (operational and capital), less administrative overheads, reduced cost of defence against litigation, improved stock market performance etc. Besides, it can give you operational benefits like better earnings from resources, reduced waste, higher productivity, better management of risk etc. Undertaking a sustainability impact assessment can make clearer your needs for greater sustainability. It is important to realize that although taking a more sustainable approach has inherent costs, it can also result in cost savings and increased revenue. It is not enough to look at risks and added costs alone.
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FOCUS
India is striving hard to achieve an industrialized nation status. With that the waste, too, is expected to rise significantly in the future.However, unavailability of appropriate funds and facilities makes it difficult to treat and dispose solid waste in metropolitan cities.
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ndia, the second most populous nation on earth, is on its way to becoming a global economic giant and upgrading the quality of life. But this dream faces severe challenges from rotting and untreated garbage in most parts of the country. There is a big gap between services required and provided. The Census of 2011 estimates India's total population at 1.21 billion (17.66% of the world population), which is also the combined population of Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Indonesia and USA. In 2001, India’s urban population was 285 million (greater than the total population of USA - 308.7 million), which increased to 377 million in 2011. The 366 cities, representing 70% of urban Indian population, generates 130,000 tons of garbage per day (TPD) or 47.2 million tons per year (TPY) at a per capita waste generation rate of 500 grams/day. Thus, the total MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) generated by urban areas could be as much as 188,500 TPD or 68.8 million TPY. Therefore, the quantum of waste generated by urban India is 50 million TPY. The six metro cities Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru produce 48,000 TPD (17.5 million TPY) of MSW.
Solid Waste: Waste can be defined as those materials which are not useful in any way or do not represent any economic value for its owner. Waste is categorized into solid, liquid and gaseous depending on its physical
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state. Solid waste can be categorized into municipal wastes, hazardous wastes, medical wastes and radioactive wastes.
Hazardous Waste: is the industrial and hospital waste which contains toxic substances. It can be explosive, corrosive or highly inflammable. India produces around 7 million tonnes of hazardous wastes every year, most of which is concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
Medical Waste: Hospital waste is generated during the diagnosis, immunization or treatment of human beings or animals. It can be in the form of cotton swabs, bandages, disposable syringes, human excreta, body fluids etc. These wastes are highly infectious and pose serious threat to human health.
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW): is the waste generated from household, commercial and institutional activities and is generally not hazardous. Sources and types of municipal wastes are listed in Table no.1. Generally, MSW is disposed of in low-lying areas without any precautions or operational control, and that causes major health threats and environmental problems in Indian cities. Solid Waste Management (SWM) is associated with generation, storage, collection, transfer, transport, treatment and disposal of solid wastes. But Indian cities follow only four activities - waste generation, collection, transportation, and disposal. Unavailability of appropriate facilities to treat and dispose MSW in metropolitan cities
FOCUS 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0 1951
1961
1971
1981
Total Population (millions)
1991
2001
2011
Urban Population (millions)
(Courtesy: http://swmindia.blogspot.in/)
has become a critical issue. India is striving hard to achieve an industrialized nation status. With that the MSW, too, is expected to rise significantly in the future. Indian cities produce eight times more MSW than they did in 1947 due to changing lifestyles and more urbanization. The rate of increase in MSW generated per capita is 1 to 1.33% annually. The generation rates are lower in small towns compared to metro cities. It was estimated that total generation of MSW by 217 million people of urban areas is 23.86 million t/yr. in 1991 and more than 39 million ton in 2001. See Table no. 2 for per capita quantity of municipal solid wastes in Indian cities:
Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) and Economy MSWM and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country are corelated to each other. Higher the GDP, higher the waste produced in the country. A number of studies have shown the co-relation between solid waste composition and socio economic factors. The socio economic trend in India has been changing with great speed. For example per capita income of India has changed from US$ 17.22 to US$ 253.78 and GDP from US$ 9382.67 million to US$ 238504.7 million during 1971–1995.
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FOCUS Issues in MSW Management: a) India faces the problem of unorganized and unscientific methods of waste segregation, excluding industrial waste. Thus, there is no efficiency in segregation; the unorganized sectors prefer to segregate and give waste material in recycling markets due to high economic returns. b) MSW is usually disposed without any treatments, posing environmental and health risks. c) A substantial amount of cellulosic materials, clean plastics, glasses and metals are recycled in India due to their huge quantity and attractive economic returns. But in contrast to it, the organic waste, which is the largest proportion in the waste stream, is neglected and disposed of rather than segregating and converting into bio-gas. Landfill gas, too, remains unutilized. d) There are no policy frameworks to encourage the waste minimization, recycling and transition of waste into meaningful products. e) There is a need to concentrate on the technologies that help energy and material recovery from the waste. Developing countries need to build pilot demonstration projects, which in turn is dependent on data collection on waste characterization and quantification.
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f) To suppor t and improve waste management methods, availability of funds is the most important factor. The local authorities are mostly in a crucial financial situation where they are not even in a position to carry out the basic job of waste collection and disposal. But this sector largely remains neglected and not much efforts are made towards it.
Opportunities in Waste Management: • Waste minimization or waste reduction is a component which boosts the concept of competitiveness. Many industrial firms have taken the initiative to minimize the generation of waste, not only for reduction of waste treatment and disposal costs but also for resource efficiency. • Due to rise in energy and material costs, the recovery of energy and materials has been much more economically viable. A whole new industrial sector domain can be based on recycling waste materials. The Government of Gujarat has already planned of setting up a ‘Recycling Industrial Park’. Apart from price fluctuations and limitations in raw material stocks, recycling industries will profit from cheap and perennial supply of input materials. • By designing the Waste Management Systems with stress on the concept of reduce, reuse and recyle, the existent waste
management cost can be reduced. The ‘residual waste’ can be majorly reduced by cropping down the treatment and disposal costs. • Producing energy from waste can be a notable source of renewable energy. Conversion of organic waste too can provide cheap and renewable energy. Waste components such as plastics and papers can be converted into fuel with due care for combustion related emissions. • This service is not dependent only on government sector; private sector is also involved in it. They are engaged in recycling industry as well as established industry based on recycled input material. • Most of the developing countries aspire to empower the poor by employment generation. Waste management serves as a good employment opportunity for the poor. It is estimated that in the next decade India will generate a total of 920 million tons of MSW in the landfills or it can openly dump 840 million tons of it and produce 3.6 million tons of mixed waste compost. It will also generate 33.1 million TPY of potential refuse derived fuel (RDF). India needs act fast and innovate new techniques to keep the nation hygienic, clean and green.
OPINION
RISE IN FALL IN
UTILITY BILLS Solar panels play an important role in effective and continuous supply of power. But one also needs to take the location and cost factors into account before installing this high-return source of energy. BY SAILEE KARNIK
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ith the depletion of oil and other traditional sources of fuel, providing enough energy has become difficult in many countries. In such a situation, solar panels play an important role in cost-effectiveness and continuous supply of power. You will be surprised with the solar panel’s low price and long term benefits, but still, the final verdict lies on the location of the power generation. The generation of energy through solar panels relies heavily on the quantity of sun light falling on it. The stronger the light received, the more energy will be produced. Ours is a tropical country with around 300 clear, sunny days in a year, making it an excellent solar power reception center.
Location is Important To get the best results from solar power, an ideal location is necessary. Especially, the southern or northern area of your location needs to be free from obstructions; it is the main downfall which blocks the sunlight from falling on panels. Another practical way of making maximum use of the sunlight would be to install panels on high poles of
different portion of the property which can follow the sun across the sky with the help of tracking mechanism. One of the benefits of such mechanism is that it is easy for cleaning and maintaining purposes and can route the electricity back to its place.
The Cost Factor of Solar Power Now one of the main factors is the installation cost of the solar power panels. Not only the natural resources and energy, but solar power, too, should be saved and that can be done by trying to make the home energy-efficient in most possible ways. The utility bills can keep updating us about the per kilowatt hours utility in a month. From an investment perspective, solar power is a long term one. But during the time of purchase, the systems sure are costly. Solar technology has reached such an advanced stage where the whole control is with the electrical grid which can take the charge of excessive energy and place it back into the grid. It can also make the meter run back. The power companies can take the initiative and hold the extra energy in
reserve or sell it. Whatever the company might do, the final benefit is that it saves the energy cost. But do keep in mind that going full-fledged solar might not be so easy. The monitoring of energy usage and avoiding the drainage of batteries is of utmost importance here. Before making a final decision, a trial period would be much better. Many use the CFLs for conservation without strong panels. For start, these CFLs can be used; if it shows good result and you are comfortable with it, then taking one step further would do no harm. Solar power is a conscious and an ecological decision you can take to make your house energy-efficient. Selling excessive power to company is the right choice you can make to cut down extra energy costs. These necessary changes can sustain your lifestyle in every way and at a much cheaper rate.
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COUNTER POINT
A CALL FOR CLEAN ENERGY? BY SAILEE KARNIK
Solar is a reliable, accessible and cost effective energy source, but has a long way to go to fulfill the dream of an effective energy future. 26 | September | SustaiNuance
A
most outrageous power cut left the whole of North and East India crippled in July 2012. It set the record as the largest power blackout in the history of the world, leaving 680 million people without electricity. Hundreds of trains and road traffic was hampered, leaving the commuters stranded and making headlines in the newspapers all over the world. One such satirical newspaper ‘The Onion’ made a witty headline, “300 Million Without Electricity In India After Restoration Of Power Grid.” It carried two important
messages. One, a third of India that goes without electricity can benefit largely from community-level investments in wind, solar and other non-polluting energy sources; second, the two-thirds who are connected to the grid will now be pleading their local and national governments to modernize India’s electricity system. India was on a positive note in the solar market, exceeding 1 gigawatt installed solar photovoltaic power. But this massive blackout eclipsed this significant victory of Indian solar market. Solar is one of the reliable, accessible and cost effective
COUNTER POINT
energy sources across India, but has still a long way to go to fulfill the dream of effective and bright energy future. High energy-using appliances like air conditioners, electronic gadgets and water pumps are disrupting the supply of power to an ever-increasing demand for energy in our country.
way. Measures like incentivizing off-grid solar projects in rural areas and supporting cheaper financing from risk-averse banks can prove beneficial. Promotion of new and advanced renewable technologies can bring down the level of dependency on coal plants.
With energy efficiency measures, the Indian government can look forward to expand the renewable energy sources, especially solar and wind power. According to NRDC report, ‘Laying the Foundation for Bright Future,’ the National Solar Mission has moved ahead with much proficiency, but with hurdles on its
Checking our neighborhood, Japan has started giving serious thought to the renewable energy after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. It launched its own feed-intariff program aimed at solar, wind and geothermal development to lower the dependence on nuclear power. In China, the
12th five-year-economic-plan is designed to increase the solar installations 20-fold by 2020. Last month it pulled back the target to 2015, with a hope to place 21 gigawatt of solar power capacity, enough to supply whole Ontario. This blackout crisis could catalyze a national commitment to blend the clean energy solutions with its plans for the development of national infrastructure. For India’s secure energy future, this is a time to investment in clean energy market, embracing energy efficiency measures and integration of renewable energy.
SustaiNuance | September | 27
OPINION
THE BRAND NEW AGE OF DEVELOPMENT! BY NEHA KUMARI
India is fully committed in the development and expansion of its energy market.The usage of latest technology in the energy segment will contribute a lot to this sector.
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he world has seen the rise and fall of various Ages, like the Industrial Age, the Information Technology Age. And now the latest phenomenon to catch people's interest, it seems, is the Energy Age. An Age that will probably ascertain a country’s richness on the basis of how it manages the demand and supply dynamics of energy needs. Economic and human development share a strong two-way relationship with energy consumption. The development of an economy is directly proportionate to the availability of costeffective and clean energy sources. Similarly, economic development has been observed to be dependent on energy demand. To judge a country’s potential for meeting its future energy need, it is necessary to calculate proper information on the reserves of non-renewable sources of energy and the potential for generation of renewable energy sources. The energy scene of India contains both non-renewable (coal, lignite, petroleum and natural gas) and renewable energy sources (wind, solar, hydro, biomass, cogeneration bagasse etc.). A lot of research and development has been done in discovering the new reserves of resources and the pace of their exploitation. It’s helpful in a way of devising effective conservation and enhancing management strategies for optimal utilization of these resources. Two major components of the energy balance statistics are 1) Total Primary Energy
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Supply and 2) Total Final Consumption of energy commodity. Total Primary Energy Supply constitutes of total supply of coal, crude oil, natural gas, nuclear energy and renewable energies including imports, net of exports and stock changes. While some part of these resources is used directly, the rest are converted into electricity or other forms of energy resources. Final consumption is equal to the quantities of coal, petroleum products, natural gas and electricity used for consumption as the final product by the non-energy producing sectors. The Energy Commodity Balances further provide information on final consumption by various sectors. External energy used per kilogram of product, or raw material processed, or on dry solids or some key component is one way to calculate Energy balances. What is interesting about the energy consumed in food production is that it includes a variety of sources. Direct energy is the fuel and electricity used in the farm, in transport in factories, in storage and selling etc. The indirect energy is yet another source which is used to actually build the machines, to make the packaging, to produce the electricity and the oil and so on. One of the most important and major energy sources is the food itself. The energy balance in this case can be determined for animal or human feeding; balancing food energy input against outputs in heat and mechanical energy and chemical synthesis.
OPINION
This energy commodity balance is where the production and consumption is given in thousand tonnes of oil equivalent (ktoe) on a net calorific value basis. Non-availability of data for all types of fuel that are being used in India - both purchased and free - is the main bottle neck in arriving at a balanced energy balance. In a country like India, which is home to 1.2 billion people and over 17% of the world’s population, energy is proving to be an unquenchable thirst. The country is focused towards 10% economic growth rate with incorporated sustainability over 10-15 years. Technology has always been an important part of all policymaking and strategies. Therefore, usage of latest technology
in the entire energy segment contributes a lot to this sector. Mostly, the development of energy sector has happened under government-controlled organization. There has been a lot of encouragement in private investments, particularly in petroleum, natural gas and power. India is fully committed in the development and expansion of its energy market. It is equally interested to safeguard the environment. Besides its constant efforts towards “Energizing�, India will have to give appropriate priority to both- supply side management and demand side management.
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STRATEGY
EFFECTIVE STEPS TO It is best when embedded - and is not an overlay - across functions and people in the organization. How? BY JIGNA KHAJURIA
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oing green is the new mantra. People are becoming more aware of the hazards our actions pose for the environment. The common man is trying in small ways to contribute towards making this earth a better place, by not using plastic bags or bottles, reusing things as much as possible and by not littering around. For a business organization, going green would require similar efforts, but obviously on a much larger scale and in a precise, legal manner. Every organization, big or small, commercial or non-profit, today wants to be seen as following a sustainable business practice. A dilemma often is: where does one start? There can be no one right way to develop a more sustainable approach. Different businesses may adopt different approaches to going green, as the strategy would need to be tailored to suit the given business and its environment. It would be important to take into account the opportunities and the risks that the business faces. The framework for developing various strategies, however, may remain the same, typically employing the following six steps:
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STRATEGY
SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT:
MOTIVATION:
As said, attitude is more important than the circumstances. So the first questions to be asked are: how does your company see the environment and the society? How is sustainability viewed by both the management and the staff? Is there any interest in working more sustainably at the grass-root or executive levels? Next, it is important to understand what the company culture is at the moment. Understand how your organization reacts to change, or deals with new ideas, and how responsive and flexible it is. Finally, take into account existing sustainability projects within your organization. Have these efforts been successes or failures? Is there any expertise that can be tapped into? Also assess the external factors and consider how you treat your stakeholders—both customers and employees. Audit how your business operations affect the environment and the society. Does it lead to pollution, and produce waste or cause damage? Or does it enhance the environment in any way? Studying the risks is also a fundamental aspect. Can your business cause any damage to the environment or society if things go wrong? What penalties would you face due to the damage?
ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION: It is important to take into account the schemes, certifications and information systems that are available for your operations. Consider how they can benefit the customers and other stakeholders. Another important aspect is to keep an eye on how your competitors are doing in areas of sustainability. Consider their strengths and weaknesses. Look at other industries for lessons as well. Consider aspects like climate change, use of natural resources and employees’ rights. Do these aspects of the environment and society have a direct impact on your business? Regulations and their impact on business can be strong. Does your organization follow the environmental, social or sustainability regulations and standards that apply to your business? How do you make sure you comply? Lastly, have a clear picture of your supply chain—all the way back to the raw materials. What are the other stakeholders in your supply chain doing about being sustainable?
PLANNING:
Understand ‘why’ you want to become more sustainable. Is it due to some internal and external pressures or due to a moral necessity? Understand ‘what’ the costs and benefits of operating more sustainably will be. What will be the risks and the impact on your stakeholders and on your reputation? Understand ‘how’ to practically apply your ideas. What will be your framework or tool for the work? Decide what kind of mechanism you want to use. Understand the finance part. There are likely to be start-up costs. Determine your budget and resource
t usually works top-down. If you are in a top role like a CEO, you need to be driving this concept down; if not, make sure your CEO is on board and he puts the message across, both within the organization and outside. Find support within organization. Resistance at the beginning of a new project is certain. Be prepared for this by trying to get wide support from all parts of the organization. Make sure your suppliers are aware of your sustainability goals and look for ways in which they can help. Making it clear that sustainability will be an important factor in your purchasing decisions will also lead suppliers to support. Networks are very impor tant; businesses and bigger organizations can come together to help develop knowledge and to share best practice in sustainability. Try to improve your supply of information and build up knowledge. To follow the best sustainable practice, it would be a good idea to involve your customers at the inspiration stage. This way you can achieve more transparency and benefit more. Ask their feedback on what you could do better or what they regard as best practice for the sustainability drive. The more involved the customers are, the more they will feel a commitment to your new sustainably focused enterprise. Similarly, having a good relationship with your local community is an essential part of taking on the social aspect of sustainability. Their suppor t can be immensely valuable in case of regulatory problems or industrial accidents.
requirements for the sustainability schemes. Starting up would be a major step. Be sure whether it’s going to be a complete overhaul of your business practice or an incremental change. Decide if this is about changing your product, ser vices, eliminating some unsustainable activities or taking on new ones? Team effort is necessary in any organization. It would be best to appoint a temporary team dedicated to the new task in case of a major change in operations. But later you need to establish how the effort will be distributed and among which staff.
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STRATEGY
EXECUTION: Using sensible business processes, break down the large projects into manageable tasks. Make sure you have measurements in place to track progress and fix things if they are going astray. Be aware of critical paths. A clear, wellpresented strategy is essential. You should have answers if someone asks, “Why are we doing this? What is this meant to achieve?” or “How will this benefit the company?” Share your strategies with the employees and after feedback, modify them if necessary. Label your priorities clearly and manage them. Since one can’t do everything at once, have a clear roadmap for getting things done. Treat sustainability like any standard project management. The area of sustainability can benefit by the use of models and pilot schemes, because you are often breaking a new ground for the organization. Regard experimentation and failure as an essential part of the process for learning. Have clear ownership within your conventional business structure; it is best not to set up a whole sustainability bureaucracy with its own organizational hierarchy. Bring sustainability into your systems. This would mean incorporating sustainability targets into performance management or even ensuring that your financial systems include appropriate environmental and social data in their reporting, alongside the financials. You will probably need to train your staff and management to help them understand the importance of sustainability. Don’t go alone; work with other companies with a similar vision of sustainability, or simply share experiences and methods.
Green your World Coming soon on the iPad 32 | September | SustaiNuance
EXPANSION: Keep a track of work. It is essential to spot failures early on and to make corrections in the process in order to keep things on track, especially with trial schemes and models. Involve the staff and communicate. You will need to keep stressing upon the strategy and its importance, to make all a part of it. Keep the flow of communication going with your stakeholders, and be it suppliers, customers or communities, don’t hold back from mentioning problems. Your annual reporting process will definitely begin to contain a significant proportion of sustainability information, as should your website, press releases and other formal communications. Marketing is crucial for any aspect of business. Make sustainability a central part of the way you market your products or company. But it has to be done in a way that maintains trust with the consumers. If some things work, build on those and spread to different parts of the organization. If some schemes fail, learn the lessons. It is impossible to bring sustainability into an organization without being innovative, and it is impossible to innovate without failing sometimes. Don’t stop after achieving a few targets, as new opportunities will keep coming. Technologies, environment and even your competitors will change, so you will constantly need to revise your approach and goals. Keep improving continuously.
COLUMN
HOW TO CHECK SUSTAINABILITY PORTFOLIO OF A COMPANY Investors want to do their bit for the environment and are looking for ‘green’ enterprises and products. How to get a clearer idea of a socially responsible business? BY JIGNA KHAJURIA
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ompanies are very much interested to get a tag of “sustainable” to their image and public relations nowadays. Investors also want to do their bit for the environment and are looking for ‘green’ enterprises and products. But you, as a well-meaning investor, will have to distinguish between corporate greenwashing and actual damage-minimizing efforts. It might be a little cumbersome to go through the sustainable reports of the company you want to invest in, but it is a time well-spent. To give you an example, even something as simple as eggs have tags like ‘cage-free’, ‘free-range’, ‘vegetarian’ and ‘organic’. How to make sense of all these jargons? How, as an investor, can you get a clearer idea through this corporate fog of a socially responsible business? Below are a few simple methods to start with:
Make a list of companies Check out surveys or research papers to help you get a broad collection of potential investments. These surveys publish an annual ranking of various companies that score well on several different criteria, like waste or water management and energy productivity, average worker pay, taxes paid, safety etc. See if the company provides health care for employees, gives part of its profits to community and nonprofit organizations, or whether it buys renewable-energy credits. Of course, these survey results might not be perfect. They don’t take into account factors like land-grabbing, violation of labor laws in foreign countries, contamination of ecosystems, underhanded lobbying tactics, among other things. But the rankings are still helpful in getting an overall picture of how a company functions, its values and
profits. Use this list as a take-off point to highlight companies that you might want to research further.
Use web for more in-depth research Now that you have identified and noted down potential companies worth your investment, hunt on the internet for any undisplayed offence. Mainly, read news related to that company. Find what its employees have to say. Don’t just rely on the company’s official website and press releases. Chances are that there will be a negative take on a company’s policies or past actions. For example, it might not have reported its greenhouse gas emissions. While some companies take no accountability for the damage they’ve caused to the society or environment, others will be more in a grey area. Remember, as an investor, you can only minimize the damage that you do, and not change the scenario.
Read the fund reports Read the quarterly letters of the company and look at what firms it has invested in. With more research resources at its disposal, a mutual fund that you trust can be a good source of information. Of course, you should use these holdings as a start, as the fund could have bought in or sold out anytime in between disclosures. Other means of highlighting a company would require more in-depth and hands-on analysis, like learning about a founder’s beliefs, looking at resource certifications, and actually talking to employees. To be more discerning, take any sustainable claims with a pinch of salt; make your own enquiries. Both investors and firms committed to the green cause will have to find better ways to communicate.
As an investor, you can only minimize the damage that you do, and not change the scenario.
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GREEN TAKE
1
Reduce:
Be it 3R’s or 6R’s, the first step would be to reduce the excessive use of materials and energy. It can start from the consumers' shopping list. The customers should try to buy only those products which have utmost importance in their present life as well as in future. As mentioned by Daniel Goleman in Ecological Intelligence, the customer should be well-informed about the product from its manufacturing process till its marketing and most importantly about its impact on the environment and health. The customer should reduce the consumption of those products which cannot be recycled or reused and are hazardous for our planet. Reduction of such unwanted products can bring a great change in our environment as well as in our budget. From the manufacturer's side, they should make an effort to reduce manufacturing of goods to an appropriate number. The companies should boycott those raw materials which are not eco-friendly. They should not only think from business point of view, but also from an ecological point of view.
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2
Research
It is the need of the hour to take into consideration all information regarding the products. The customer should be well aware and alert. There are some websites like GoodGuide which provide relevant information of products and their companies. Those goods which have undesirable impact on all spheres of life are toxic and are against the recycling practice should be avoided under any circumstances. Detailed research of things you buy should be considered as it can help you to get all necessary information of the brands and its contribution towards a green and clean environment. The designers should also research for designing earth-friendly goods.
GREEN TAKE
3
Refuse
This mantra clearly defines the avoidance of harmful toxic materials and asks the customers to be responsible enough to care for our planet and select only eco-friendly materials. Designer Ashlie Mauldin has given a good example of organic cleansing materials which are toxin-free. This technique guides the manufacturers to avoid raw materials which lead to harmful emissions and are responsible for global warming and climate change. Before adopting any techniques, materials or substances, the designer should carry out a study about the process and make sure about its eco-friendly status.
TO GREEN
EARTH
5
4
Reuse
This one suggests the most valuable habit of reusing the materials. This is part of the recycle program. The consumers, if possible, should opt for those goods which can be reused in everyday life, such as carrying the same sustainable shopping bag repeatedly rather than asking for new plastic bags which contaminate the ecological system with its toxic substances. The companies should also support by participating in the reuse practices. For example, the tyre retreading in auto world.
In the past, three mantras were quoted for green and clean environment; they were “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”. These 3 R’s were the main factors followed for cleaning our planet. But as the years passed, need was felt for adding new mantras or new R’s seeing the need of the new generation. With increasing pollution and global warming, the expansion in 3 R’s became necessary. This theory, if followed, can have a phenomenal impact on the environment, creating a clean and healthy atmosphere to live in. BY SAILEE KARNIK
6
Recycling
Recycling simply means to mold the waste materials into new useful products. It is the most efficient way to curb emissions of hazardous substances and reduce the garbage dump as well as e-waste. Most simple example to explain this concept is the recycling of plastic bottles and paper, thus practicing a better way to save trees.
Repair
The sixth concept to save our planet is repairing the disabled or malfunctioning machines and goods. The dumping of good and working products, which leads to over purchasing of new materials, should be avoided if possible. Instead, repairing and reusing the goods is a better way to go green. The manufacturing units should repair the malfunctioned machines instead of buying new ones; this practice can turn eco-friendly as well as pocket friendly over time. Consumers should repair the old goods instead of over-purchasing and pressurizing the budget and thereby adding to the waste material. Seeing the rise of sincerity of consumers as well as manufacturers towards our planet, there is a clear possibility of increasing the number of R’s in this concept. At present these 6 R’s, if followed diligently by all, will be a dream come true for the environmentalist and people for a cleaner and greener environment.
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OPINION
BY INDIAN INDUSTRIAL FEATURE NEHA KUMARI spending nations on construction in the world. We manufacture more than 250 million tons of cement and are only second to China. A recent report called "Global Construction 2020" estimates that India will be the third largest global construction market after China and USA. In order to improve the standard of living of the common man, one of the key challenges that India is facing today is to overcome the infrastructure bottlenecks. Consequently, the federal government announced the 11th five-year-plan which allocates 9% of the GDP to infrastructure projects. The National Planning Commission of India has estimated an allocation of $515 billion which is equivalent to Rs.23 trillion to infrastructure sectors over the next five years. This includes construction of roads, highways, airports, bridges, ports, railways as well as water supply and sanitation amongst few others. The 12th five-year-plan projects an investment of 10% of the national GDP into infrastructure which equates to a staggering $1 trillion or Rs.45 trillion.
R
ecent studies and surveys have shown that sustainability legislation and initiatives will impact Indian industrial sectors, which includes power generation, construction, textile, financial and automobile industries the most. India's construction sector is assessed at approximately Rs.4000 billion.As a result of government spending, private investments as well as foreign direct investment, India is among the top ten
Companies say that regulatory requirements are now a more important factor driving the sustainability initiatives in the corporate world, while the competitive advantage provided by such initiatives are viewed as less important. The most important driver behind corporate initiatives is the business value provided by them, as cited by 29% of respondents. In a previous survey in 2008, 28% noted business value as a major driver. The textile industry has emerged as the most impacted sector due to one or more such regulations, followed by power generation, construction and real estate, chemical, automobile and pharmaceuticals among others. Apart from compliance requirements, regulatory initiatives will also lead to cost escalation as much as offer means for newer revenue streams for industries.The second driver was compliance with regulatory requirements (27%). In 2008, it was chosen by only 11% of those surveyed. The change, the report notes, is partially due to the US Environmental Protection Agency's mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reporting, along with the expectation that the US will eventually have formal carbon regulations. The third main driver was the competitive advantage, which was chosen by 33 % of those surveyed in 2008. One more factor that has to be taken care of is the finance schemes. These are found to be among the next most prevalent initiatives because of their concentration on three sectors - power generation, financial institutions and renewable technology. Schemes are
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OPINION
SECTORS introduced in the form of both soft loans and subsidies and aimed at leveraging entrepreneurial and private capital’s role in India’s power generation sector. Most of these are also tied to Indian government’s ambitious target of electrification and renewable power generation in the coming years. Energy conservation and improving efficiency in the Indian power sector requires special attention since the sector has been suffering from a chronic supply shortage, lack of capital investment for additional capacity and environmental problems associated with coal-based power plants. The issues that strike the largest challenges to companies are their carbon footprints and sourcing renewable energy, reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The most noticeable action being taken by companies is the carbon emissions reduction (51%). Many companies are also purchasing more green electricity (24%) and carbon credit offsets (19%) than in past years. The top area where companies are seeking energy efficiency improvements is in building management (53%) followed by manufacturing process re-engineering (39%). One more important aspect when it comes to industrial sustainability is market differentiation. Differentiated Green companies pursue sustainability in a strategic way throughout the value chain of the business. The term “differentiated green” means companies who pursue green strategies beyond just the clearing of negative PR hurdles, and cost saving and creating a larger and more loyal customer base. The transition to Differentiated Green is an evolutionary process. Typically, companies that are pursuing Differentiated Green strategies are already practitioners of Efficient Green. They are successfully reducing their costs and environmental impact with green programs — thus gaining internal and external credibility. Going for green requires significant investment of time, effort and capital, which may not make sense for all companies. But more companies are moving in this direction by going beyond Efficient Green objectives and initiatives.
not a destination. The more we try to embed it in our work, the more the world would become a pleasant place for all. The demand for going green and achieving success is difficult, but the potential rewards can be very enriching. Those companies whose leaders approach sustainability from an inclusive strategic perspective of cost competitiveness and value creation will open the doors to a more profitable future.
For example one such company is Kaiser Permanente (healthcare company based in Oakland, California, US). It is practicing Differentiated Green in the way it is building new hospitals. It is spending more on materials such as rubber flooring (instead of vinyl) and PVC-free carpeting, to construct health care facilities that are actually healthy. The company expects to obtain long-term paybacks in terms of more efficient operations, a healthier patient population and increased market share. Sustainability is a journey,
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FEATURE
A FAD? BY NEHA KUMARI
G
reen marketing, which was once everybody’s mission and a means to gain more popularity among consumers, was probably just a fad. With the considerable fall in the prices of Certified Emission Reduction (CER) certificates, Indian companies are bracing themselves for tough times ahead. The brokers involved in CERs have downsized their carbon desk and the ones who are holding these are hunting for buyers. What does a CER mean actually? Well, a CER is a generic term for any tradeable certificate or in simple terms, a permit that represents the right to emit a tonne of carbon dioxide or the mass of another greenhouse gas equivalent to a tonne of carbon dioxide. Green marketing is a term used for companies positioning their products as environmentally friendly or energy efficient. Many different brands in a wide range of industries use green marketing as a way of standing out among competitors. One of the main focuses of green marketing is customer benefits. But if these products are priced very high, then it will lose its market acceptability.
Evolution: Green marketing has evolved throughout these years and involves three phases. The
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first phase was called ‘Ecological’ green marketing. It was concerned in dealing with the environment problems and providing remedies for it. The second phase, known as the “Environmental” green marketing, focused on clean technology that involved designing innovative new products which would take care of pollution and waste issues. The third phase was the “Sustainable” green marketing, which came into prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000. Resources being limited and the human needs rising beyond limits, it becomes a severe responsibility of the markets to utilize the resources efficiently and also achieve the organization’s objective simultaneously. Growing interest of consumers all over the world regarding protection of the environment is changing their behaviors. So green marketing, which speaks of sustainable and socially responsible products and services, seems inevitable.
Downfall of green marketing: But what has happened to green marketing in recent times? Despite so many efforts by companies as well as consumers, it still remains an underachieved field. It received some attention in 1970s, but it was really only in the late 1980s that the idea of green
marketing started spreading around. Like any new marketing phenomena, it was soon the subject of a great deal of market research. A survey by a reputed research body showed that the consumer interest in green products was increasing and they were willing to pay for green features. Stories of companies such as the Body Shop, Ecover, Volvo, 3M and McDonald’s were quoted more in the green business literature to ascertain how and why green marketing initiatives could pay. ‘Green is in, no question about it’ was the phrase that many writers were using then. Despite this optimistic picture, by the mid1990s new market survey data began to emerge which was less clear about the growth of green consumerism. The followup report on the environment recorded only a very slight increase in green consumers since 1990, and identified a significant gap between concern and actual purchasing – a picture replicated in subsequent management research. The frequency and prominence of green claims was also found to be declining. There was a sharp downfall in green marketing in the latter half of 2008. With brands - sustainable or not - jumping on the ‘green’ bandwagon in late 2007 and early 2008, the fever-pitch of claims and
FEATURE
counter-claims was bound to hit a wall. C o m p a n i e s t h a t bl i n d l y a s s u m e d consumers would purchase anything that proclaimed green, natural, organic, earthfriendly were in for a surprise. Green marketing till today remains a niche activity. Most of the product suppliers have opted out since it isn’t making any real difference as such. There is no significant shift in the kinds of goods and services companies are selling. And it definitely is not doing any good to the climate change, water and food security, bio-diversity and energy prices. The real problem it seems is a lack of standardization to authenticate the claims of being green. It is found that only 5% of the m a r ke t i n g m e s s a g e s f r o m g r e e n campaigns are entirely true! The investors and the corporate companies need to view environment as a major long term investment opportunity. The marketers need to analyze the benefits from this new green movement. Here are a few reasons why one should adopt green marketing. i) Opportunity: About 25 per cent of the consumers in India are ready to pay for green products. Nowadays, firms marketing
goods with environmental concern have realized a competitive advantage over firms marketing environmentally non-responsible options. There are numerous firms which have striven to become more environmentally responsible. For instance, attempting to satisfy their consumer needs better, Surf Excel detergent advertised with the message ‘do bucket paani roz bachana’. ii) Social responsibility: Many firms have now started realizing that they belong to a much wider community and therefore must behave in an environmentally responsible fashion. They must achieve not only green objectives, but also profit related objectives of the organization. The HSBC became known as the world’s first bank to go carbonneutral last year. Other examples include Coca-Cola, Walt Disney World in Florida, which has an extensive waste management program and infrastructure in place. iii) Government pressure: Certain government regulations relating to green marketing are designed to protect consumers in several ways. Reducing the production of harmful goods or by-products, modifying consumer’s and industry’s use is enforced on the marketers. Apart from these, ensuring that all types of consumers have the ability to evaluate the green
composition on goods can control the amount of hazardous wastes produced by the firms. iv) Cost reduction: Reduction in the production of harmful waste may lead to substantial cost savings. Many firms maintain a symbiotic relationship whereby waste generated by one company is used by another as a cost-effective raw material. Efforts are made by individuals and firms to reduce their climate footprints at city, state, regional and global levels. Among these are the commitments of governments to reduce emissions through the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its 1997 Kyoto Protocol. India comes under the third category of signatories to UNFCCC. India signed and ratified the Protocol in August, 2002 and has emerged as a world leader in reduction of greenhouse gases by adopting Clean Development Mechanisms (CDMs) in the past few years. Until ‘green’ becomes a standard for products and processes, and until or unless consumers themselves take initiatives, the term will only remain in picture as a competitive differentiator.
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OPINION
S
teve Jobs wanted to make an impact on the world, and he unquestionably did so by introducing ‘Apple’, which was no less than a treat for so many gadget-loving people around the globe. The presence of Apple has done wonders to the entire electronics sector. Everyone remains excited to know what new product Apple is going to launch and when they will get access to it. Beautifully designed products, from iPad to iPods to computers, Apple has it all! So far so good. But is Apple also maintaining a green touch to all of its technologies? In 2007, Jobs himself answered this question in a six-page statement called “A Greener Apple.” He said, “Upon investigating Apple’s current practices and progress, I was surprised to learn that in many cases Apple is ahead of most of its competitors in these areas.” Apple has failed to communicate the things they have done well, he concluded.
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In the closing statement, Jobs said, “Apple is already a leader in innovation and engineering, and we are applying these same talents to become an environmental leader.” Here are some actions that Apple has taken to remove toxic chemicals from their products: Apple wants people to know that it is taking aggressive steps to become the greenest business it possibly can. The official website was then updated with the inclusion of special section devoted exclusively to its green initiatives, environment achievements and overall carbon footprint. It is noteworthy here that the company was at some point criticized for its use of toxic chemicals. Apple Inc., considered by some to have the world’s top supply chain, is also the title holder of a somewhat more dubious distinction – that of the world’s dirtiest high-tech company. Answering these allegations, Apple assured the world that
OPINION it was using fuel cells from Bloom Energy, which consume methane generated by rotting waste in landfills, to power a data centre. But it promised that its next data centre would be powered purely by renewable energy. Now the products of Apple came not only in black and white but green! “Apple reports environmental impact comprehensively. We do this by focusing on our products: what happens when we design them, what happens when we make them, and what happens when you take them home and use them,” says the company’s environmental web page.
What makes Apple different Carbon footprint: The company paid much attention to its total carbon footprint, which was estimated to be approximately 14.8 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2010. It soon realised and understood that 98 percent of its carbon footprint is directly related to its products, adding to which is the emissions generated from the manufacturing, transportation, use, and recycling of its products plus the emissions generated by its facilities. For the past three years, Apple has used a comprehensive life cycle analysis to determine where the greenhouse gas emissions come from. Manufacturing: Wanting to improve the product’s performance, Jobs led the development of smaller, thinner, lighter products with a touch of green. The devices were more eco-friendly. For instance, today’s 21.5-inch
iMac is more powerful, with a much larger screen than the first-generation, 15-inch iMac, yet it has 50 percent less material and generates half the emissions. Another example: the iPad became 33 percent thinner and up to 15 percent lighter in one generation, generating 5 percent fewer carbon emissions. Also, other than eliminating toxins, the company has taken steps in designing products with highly recyclable aluminium enclosures. It works with environmentally conscious materials including recycled plastics, recycled paper, biopolymers, and vegetable-based inks. It has also found ways to reengineer secondary materials to the high standard of designs. Transportation: Reduction in material implies less packaging and thereby reduced emissions produced in transportation. Apple gives a clear example for this in the packaging for the iPhone 4: it is 42 percent smaller than for the original iPhone shipped in 2007. That means that 80 percent more iPhone 4 boxes fit on each shipping pallet, more pallets fit on each boat and
Apple has been thoroughly vocal about the aggressive steps it is taking to become the greenest business it can possibly be
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OPINION
plane, and fewer boats and planes are used, resulting in fewer carbon emissions. This helps alleviate the greenhouse gas emissions from transporting. Apple products account for 6 percent of the company’s carbon footprint.
While eliminating use of many toxins from products, the company is also designing products with highly recyclable and environmentally conscious materials
Product use: A significant contribution towards energy efficiency comes from its design of products. which account for 45 p e r c e n t o f A p p l e ’s t o t a l greenhouse gas emissions. The Mac mini uses as little as one-fifth the power consumed by a typical light bulb—even less power than a single 13-watt CFL light bulb, according to Apple. Moreover, Apple claims that its products not only meet but exceed the US Environmental Protection Agency’s strict Energy Star guidelines for efficiency.
Recycling: Design stage is the one where Apple creates compact, efficient products that require less material to produce. Materials like arsenic-free glass, high-grade aluminium, and strong polycarbonate are used which are reclaimed by recyclers for use in new products.
built-in battery in MacBook Pro line up is a perfect example. Other notebook batteries can be charged only 200 to 300 times. The MacBook Pro battery can be charged up to 1,000 times. And because this battery lasts up to five years, MacBook Pro uses just one battery in about the same time a typical notebook uses three. That saves users money, produces less waste, and increases the lifespan of the product. Apple’s willingness to reveal information about its yearly carbon emission proved to be an incredible tool for its success. This is something that other competitive companies have never done before. Apple has made public information in several categories including life cycle impact, product usage impact, and product environmental reports. Apple’s homepage says it all: “Designing green products includes considering the environmental impact of the materials used to make them. From the glass, plastic, and metal in our products to the paper and ink in our packaging, our goal is to continue leading the industry in reducing or eliminating environmentally harmful substances.” The new data centre of Apple, situated in Maiden, North California has earned the coveted LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council. Some huge projects like building the US’s largest private solar arrays and the largest operating non-utility fuel cell installation is surely to give Apple bigger strides in sustainability!
The company tries to make longer-lasting products. The
From CNET To show how things like packaging can affect the environment, Apple compares the 2006 13-inch MacBook to that of the 2009 13-inch MacBook Pro. The end result: “By reducing our packaging over 40 percent between 2006 and 2009, we ship 50 percent more boxes in each airline shipping container. That saves one 747 flight for every 32,000 units we ship,” according to Apple.
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September 2012 SUSTAINUANCE
NATIONAL MISSION
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