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Protecting People from Extreme Heat - New Factsheet on Heat Health in India

2012-02-08T23:54:29Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

While the Coliseum in Rome is covered with snow, residents in Ahmedabad’s city center will be experiencing 90° Fahrenheit (32° Celsius) temperatures this weekend. I am currently in Ahmedabad, meeting with our partners from the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) to plan for the fast- approaching extreme heat season, when temperatures can spike to 122° Fahrenheit (50° Celsius). We are working with our on-the-ground partners, PHFI and the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar (IIPH), and local officials to protect local communities from the harmful health effects of extreme heat by implementing strategies to improve preparedness for the Ahmedabad’s increasing heat.

Our newly-released factsheet, Fighting Climate Effects: Protecting People from extreme Heat in One of India’s Fastest-Growing Cities, discusses our project’s goal to promote improved health by implementing interventions to help reduce heat-related health vulnerabilities, designing an early warning system for dangerous heat events, and developing targeted climate change adaptation strategies. The factsheet highlights the recommendations developed to address extreme heat vulnerability, progress that has been made to date and ongoing work to develop an early warning system and a climate change preparedness plan for Ahmedabad.

Addressing Heat Vulnerability in Ahmedabad

The factsheet provides recommendations developed by expert scientists, government administrators and health officials at a 2011 kick-off workshop held by PHFI, IIPH, and NRDC to address heat-health vulnerability, including:

Researching impacts of heat stress, community resources, and existing heat-coping measures through in-depth discussions with four groups: vulnerable people living in slums, workers in high-risk occupations, city department staff, and health care providers; and then analyzing data on local temperatures and corresponding deaths.
Identifying the most vulnerable populations in Ahmedabad through surveys assessing current heat awareness and susceptibility, and distributing an informational pamphlet on reducing extreme heat’s health risks to families with young children and the elderly.
Developing an actionable early warning system in Ahmedabad and integrating it into a local climate change preparedness plan to warn the population of impending extreme heat events.
Targeting heat-risk-reduction outreach to the most heat vulnerable groups, including young children, elders, people with heart or lung illnesses, families living in poverty, and workers in high-risk occupations.
Conducting best-practices workshops with Ahmedabad city departments, medical providers, workers in high risk occupations, and community leaders to implement extreme heat strategies, build local capacity, and improve internal information sharing and communication.

Early Progress

Following those workshop discussions, NRDC and our partners collaborated with Emory University’s School of Public Health in the summer of 2011 to conduct Ahmedabad’s first heat vulnerability assessment survey. The in-depth survey assessed 12 slums on household member health history, heat-exposure adaptation, heat-stress knowledge, and access to resources.

As a result of PHFI, IIPH, and NRDC’s communication with the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Ahmedabad officials are now developing a climate change state action plan, and specifically, accelerating efforts to protect communities from extreme heat. Also, local officials announced plans to install 10 weather gauges to examine historical weather trends, determine high-risk areas, and warn local communities about impending heat waves.

Looking Ahead

In 2012, we will continue to support the development of an early warning system and a climate change preparedness plan for Ahmedabad. NRDC, PHFI, IIPH and local partners will hold a heat sensitization workshop and focus group for medical providers in Ahmedabad in March 2012. The subsequent focus group will allow participants to share experiences to date and discuss concrete heat adaptation protocols to implement. This ongoing research and intensive outreach regarding the importance of heat adaptation has the potential to save lives from the increasingly severe effects of climate change.

Co-authored by Meredith Connolly, NRDC Energy Law & Policy Fellow

BEE Raising the Bar: Increased Appliance Efficiency Standards Rolled Out Across India

2012-02-07T21:40:50Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

It may be blizzarding in Europe but here in India, including Hyderabad and Ahmedabad, cars, office buildings, and hotels are blasting their air conditioners. Last week, NRDC’s president, Frances Beinecke, Radhika Khosla and I toured the building boom in High Tech City, Hyderabad, where we saw more and more split air conditioning (A/C) units being installed. Although Southern India, and especially Hyderabad, is currently leading the nation’s market for energy efficient split air conditioners (as A/C window units are losing popularity), India still has a long way to go to become energy efficient.

Last month, as sales of air conditioning units skyrocket for homes and businesses across India, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) took an important step by raising minimum energy efficiency standards for A/C units and refrigerators. The more stringent rating system means that former top 5-star rated products now carry a 4-star rating and former minimum 1-star rated products are no longer available on the market.

BEE operates under the Ministry of Power and implements the energy efficiency standards and labeling program in India. BEE’s primary objective is to reduce energy intensity in the Indian economy through sustained adoption of energy efficiency measures. BEE aims to achieve this goal by enforcing minimum efficiency standards for all sectors – including buildings, lighting, appliances, and agriculture – and providing consumers with an informed choice about energy saving through labeling products with a consistent 1-5 star rating system.

Improving appliance efficiency offers long-term cost and energy savings to consumers. More efficient A/C units can also reduce the increasing peak demand and strain on electricity supply infrastructure in India, while curbing global greenhouse gas emissions. A/C producers in India point to BEE’s new, stricter standards as necessitating price hikes on frost-free refrigerators and split A/Cs, as more expensive raw materials are needed to make their products energy efficient. These higher prices may reduce consumer demand initially, but are offset by the low energy spent on their consumption over the efficient appliance’s life cycle.

It sounds like BEE is turning its attention to the exploding cell phone market next, with energy efficiency guidelines for mobile phone chargers in the works. Compliance with these soon-to-be finalized ratings will initially be voluntary, but could become mandatory in the future. I am encouraged by India’s holistic approach to addressing its ever-increasing energy demand which include energy efficiency measures through the National Mission for Enhanced Energy Efficiency, as well as renewable energy development through the National Solar Mission.

Co-authored by Meredith Connolly, NRDC Energy Law & Policy Fellow

Paving the Road to Rio+20 with Meaningful Dialogue at DSDS 2012

2012-02-06T20:58:38Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

The countdown to the June 2012 Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development picked up speed last week at the annual Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS). The DSDS, whose timely theme was “Protecting the Global Commons: 20 years post Rio,” brought together a diverse representation of leaders from around the world for annual deliberations, including the Prime Minister of India, Hon. Manmohan Singh, and California’s former governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. NRDC’s President, Frances Beinecke, spoke at the conference about the urgent need to act now to address imperative environmental and developmental issues, complementing NRDC’s efforts to have a meaningful Rio+20 Earth Summit through our “Race to Rio” campaign.

The recent release of the heavily critiqued “zero draft” of the output document for the Rio+20 Earth Summit, entitled “The Future We Want,” supplied a pertinent backdrop to the Delhi deliberations. By identifying issues for discussion during the UN Earth Summit (almost all of which were embedded in the DSDS 2012 agenda), DSDS provided an earlier forum for deliberations and agreements among diverse stakeholders regarding actionable outcome-based policy suggestions for Rio+20. This summit also presented an opportunity to build partnerships to chip away at a legacy of appeasing multilateral objectives buried in – as my colleague Jacob Scherr put it – “too much jargon and repetition and too many abstract incremental promises and far off goals.”

DSDS should help catalyze new partnerships with institutional actors working on Rio+20 within India too. We have found that these smaller and more personal interactions allow for a greater understanding of individual stakeholder motivations, and in turn help forge action coalitions in the policy realm. Focusing on commitments to short-term and medium-term actions by national and sub-national governments, entrepreneurs and civil society groups is one way to ensure concrete goals and targets are achievable. NRDC’s submission to the United Nations for Rio+20 lists about 40 such action items Similarly, in the climate change and clean energy space, which is the focus of NRDC’s India Initiative, another colleague, Jake Schmidt, has laid out how the vague promises in the “zero draft” for Rio +20 can translate into results on the ground by delineating specific initiatives against each broad goal.

Specifically, we believe India’s sustainable development opportunities and policy commitment can be more effectively implemented through concrete action-items, including the following:

A participatory and responsive approach to environmental governance that includes all societal and economic sectors. Such approach should include takeaways from the Planning Commission of India’s recent initiative, which created key inputs toward the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-2017) through a series of national consultations that include the poor and marginalized.
Use of information technology to increase accountability, which will leverage the fact that almost half of India’s population has access to mobile phones.
Promotion of off-grid, localized renewable access solutions to energy poverty, especially with regard to cooking and lighting, which will also slow climate change.
Focus on grass-roots-up actions through smaller, decentralized projects that involve communities and/or sub-national government bodies, thus making accountability more local.
Tap into the potential of youth for a greener economy in a country with a median age of 25 years (in contrast to 35 years in China), with 11 million people expected to join the working population annually over the next two decades.
Work with short-term achievable climate and energy objectives that can be tracked, and delivered in the short- and medium-term, including consumption and production goals.
Build on-the-ground and directed adaptation capacities for vulnerable communities.

In past DSDS conferences, policymakers have spoken of India’s sustainability policy in the national and international context. However, as a recent appraisal of India’s environmental goals and clean energy targets shows, national implementation tends to fall short of policy intent. Twenty years after the original Earth Summit at Rio, DSDS 2012 provided a productive platform to help generate action-items for India to contribute to, and benefit from, the Global Commons.

Co-authored by Sangeeta Nandi, NRDC India Initiative Volunteer

Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future - New Factsheet on India's Solar Mission

2011-12-13T03:13:35Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

With impressively low bids, as low as Rs. 7.49 /kilowatthour (kWh), or about 15 US cents/kWh, in India’s recent reverse-auction under its Solar Mission Reverse, I’m in India with my colleagues Vignesh Gowrishankar and Sameer Kwatra this week at to make sense of this emerging market. At Intersolar and during our stakeholder discussions, NRDC and our partner, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) just released a new factsheet, Laying the Foundation for a Bright Future: India’s National Solar Mission that discusses the Mission and initial progress in installed solar power projects. The factsheet highlights the strong government policy and private sector support needed to achieve grid parity and achieve this Mission’s 20 gigawatts of grid-connected solar energy by 2022.

Growing Potential:

In India, the state of Rajasthan, receives twice the intensity of solar radiation for more than twice the number of days than Germany, the current installed-solar power world leader. India’s solar power has the potential to save 95 million tons of CO2 annually by 2022. India aims at both solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technologies through a variety of applications for lighting, space-heating, cooling, water heating, and cooking. India’s power demand is constantly increasing due to the consistent growth of rapidly urbanizing cities. This crucial need and opportunity for solar energy utilization will result in tremendous reduction of India’s dependence on imported fuel.

Building Support:

The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), the Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), and the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) work to implement the mission, identify renewable-energy-financing incentives and facilitate Power Purchase Agreements. MNRE responded efficiently to initial company dissatisfaction with the first batch of projects in Phase I, through increased financial closure timeline and increasing the maximum capacity of projects. Additional government incentives instituted include feed-in tariffs, generation-based incentives, manufacturing incentives, off-grid applications, and creation of demand through the increase of state utilities investment in solar power purchase.

Early Progress:

India’s largest industries, such as Reliance and Lanco, and emerging solar leaders, such as Welspun and Azure Power, are actively involved in driving down prices and competing for bids. Some manufactures, such as Moser Baer and TataBP Solar, are advancing the learning curve by investing in manufacturing capacity. Even though 143.5 megawatts of solar power has already been installed – a big leap from 19 megawatts – there is still a long way to go to see whether the projects are commissioned on time.

This factsheet illustrates Indian government instituted financial security through the Payment Guarantee Scheme for solar developers to ensure financially stable Phase I projects. Additional Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Karnataka developed local oversight through state-level solar policies. Even Delhi incentivizes homeowners to solar power use with 25-year grid-access at $0.37 (Rs. 17) per kilowatt hour.

Over the past few months, NRDC and CEEW convened in discussions with key Indian government and industry leaders in solar energy, to further develop our independent assessment and analysis of India’s National Solar Mission. Funding incentives to solar power operators, financial institutions, state and local governments, utilities, NGOs, and entrepreneurs encouraged over 150 solar companies to apply for the second batch of projects under Phase 1 of India’s National Solar Mission. Some of the key themes that have emerged from our discussions including the Mission’s bidding process and reverse auction, goal of creating domestic manufacturing, project bankability and financing, and project implementation, including land acquisition and electricity evaluation.

The ability to be cost competitive will determine the scaling up of solar power in India. Increasing support from both government and industry will contribute to the success of responsiveness to India’s growing demand for clean solar energy. We’ll be continuing our assessment of the Solar Mission to propel India’s efforts to attain clean energy solutions and our global challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

(Co-authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC Academic Intern)

A Breakthrough in Building Resilience Against Extreme Heat in India

2011-11-16T00:51:22Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

Our partners in India tell me that it’s an unusually warm November, requiring fans and air-conditioning during the day. While these warm winter temperatures are uncomfortable, the scorching summer temperatures – starting as early as March – pose life-threatening risks to local populations. Thankfully, there has been a recent breakthrough in our work to guard against extreme heat threats. Last week, the Ahmedabad government and the Indian Metrological Department announced plans to install ten new weather gauges, a huge improvement over the single gauge currently in the city.

The local government plans to provide land in ten locations across six zones of the city for automatic rain gauge, temperature recorder, and humidity measurement units. Measuring the heat and humidity throughout Ahmedabad will enable the local government to warn local communities of impending heat waves, which is critical to protecting the most vulnerable residents from heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and heat-related deaths.

The local government’s plan to install these new gauges is a remarkable step forward since my visit last month and marks tremendous progress since our initial discussions over a year ago. Last December, our partners, the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) in Gandhinagar, and I met with local and state officials about developing strategies to protect communities from extreme heat, including climate change-related temperature increases. During the initial conversations, we had difficulty identifying the location of single existing weather gauge and discovered that local hospitals and community leaders were unaware of impending temperature increases and even accurate, current temperatures. A few months later, in March 2010, we convened local leaders and international health experts to kickoff our discussions to develop research and strategies for extreme heat. Our workshop’s key outcomes included installing additional temperature gauges to measure temperature, implementing a system to warn the public of increasing temperatures, and gaining a better understanding urban heat island effects.

Ahmedabad officials are proposing the following locations for ten gauges as shown on the map below: Sarkhej (A), Ognaj(B), Chandkheda(C), Astodia(D), Vasna(E), Narod(F), Memco(G), Odhav(H), Bapunagar(I), and Vatva(J). The local government is also planning to develop a community-based extreme heat warning system.

Proposed location of weather gauges in Ahmedabad (via Google Maps)

By installing the additional weather gauges, Ahmedabad is taking a crucial step toward establishing an effective heat health early warning system. Along with partners PHFI and IIPH, we will continue to engage with local officials and stakeholders to ensure and support progress in safeguarding a vulnerable population from extreme heat.

(Co-Authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC India Initiative Intern)

Heat and Health: Local Weather Gauges and Early Warning System Efforts Moving Forward In India

2011-10-27T00:16:45Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

As the second peak heat season hits in India this month, I had the opportunity to meet with local groups and government officials to advance plans to install much-needed weather gauges and develop an early warning system to protect local communities against the life-threatening effects of extreme heat. The severe October heat experienced by Ahmedabad this year, following a deadly summer heat wave, underscores the need for local preventative measures to warn and protect the most vulnerable population.

Heat stress is a growing health concern in India and is the direct cause of many heat-related maladies, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and heat-related death. Heat stress also increases the distribution and transmission of disease, specifically climate-sensitive waterborne and diarrheal illnesses.

To build resilience in local communities against climate change and extreme heat, local officials in Ahmedabad are planning to install six new weather gauges to monitor temperatures throughout the city. The city currently only has one temperature gauge. This valuable data will allow the city to warn the local community about severe heat in different neighborhoods in a systematic way, thus reducing the number of victims of heat stress. This data will also be used to frame future strategies to guard against extreme heat waves and climate change.

An important next step in the weather gauges installation process will be the siting of gauges in Ahmedabad. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) are collaborating with the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) and NRDC to determine the best locations to monitor the temperature, humidity, and rainfall throughout the city.

IIPH and NRDC are continuing our work to develop strategies to reduce the health effects of heat stress. After conducting an in-depth heat vulnerability assessment survey of Ahmedabad residents, we are now determining what preventable factors increase individuals’ heat vulnerability. We are incorporating the data gleaned from interviews and case analysis into this research to develop guidelines for an actionable Heat Health Early Warning System in Ahmedabad.

To help make such a Heat Health Early Warning System successful, the IMD is developing means to predict heat waves before they hit. As an important first step, Dr. Kamaljit Ray, Dr. Manorama Mohanty, and Chicholikar J.R. of the IMD, presented a case study analyzing the various weather conditions that combined to cause the moderate and severe heat waves that affected the Gujarat region in May 2010. Now that the contributing factors of such heat waves have been identified, the IMD will be in a better position to forecast the conditions that may cause future heat waves as a part of an early warning system.

In the coming months, we look forward to continuing our work with our partner, IIPH, and the city officials to install the weather gauges and create an effective heat health early warning system as a part of our broader effort to build the local population’s resilience against the rising temperatures.

(Neha Mathew and Meredith Connolly contributed to this post)

India and the United States Continue Momentum on Clean Energy Partnership

2011-10-14T22:42:27Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

Clean energy experts and institutions in India are buzzing with enthusiasm about continuing collaboration on energy efficiency, solar energy, and biofuels as critical components of the bilateral clean energy program – PACE (Partnership to Advance Clean Energy). As PACE-R (the research arm) moves on to its next phase, both countries are preparing for the proposal due under PACE-D (the deployment arm).

Under PACE-R, both countries launched the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center earlier this year. The Center will fund joint clean energy projects by Indo-U.S. consortia in three priority areas: solar energy, energy efficiency in buildings and second-generation biofuels, with a total funding pool of $100 million ($25 million each from the two governments, and another $50 million in matching funds from applicants). The Center solicited grant applications over the summer and several highly-qualified expert consortiums have formed in all three areas.

NRDC and our partners ASCI and CEEW helped disseminate information about the grants, encouraged relevant individuals and groups to apply, and worked to draw some of the top talent in both countries into this pioneering effort. We brought together over 100 scientific institutions and private companies focused on advancing clean energy research in growing economies, like India. We are pleased to learn that the Center’s Secretariats received a large number of proposals, exceeding their expectations. There was exceptionally high interest in biofuels and building energy efficiency, and a good response for solar energy projects too. The Center moved on to the next stage of reviewing applications for compliance and eligibility, and will soon commence the merit review process. Depending on the length of merit review, final grants could be expected by the year’s end.

PACE-D, next on the anvil, launched its own solicitation process for clean energy technologies, systems and processes. Programs supported by PACE-D will focus more on deployment, commercialization and market access. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will administer PACE – D, emphasizing energy efficiency, renewable energy, and cleaner fossil fuels. Available funds are in the range of $21-$24 million, which is much lower than the anticipated $50 million announced earlier this year. Contracts awarded under PACE-D are expected to accelerate India’s transition to a high performing, low emissions and energy secure economy. The focus is to create and enable an environment with strengthened policy and regulatory institutions, increased finance and enhanced institutional and human capacity.

As U.S. and Indian leaders emphasized earlier this summer during the annual Strategic Dialogue, both countries remain committed to ongoing efforts to address climate change, ensuring mutual energy security, and building a clean energy economy that will drive investment, job creation, and economic growth throughout the 21st century. We look forward to effective implementation of both PACE-R and PACE-D, and hope that they will produce significant results, becoming successful models for future bilateral clean energy efforts.

(Co-Authored by Shravya Reddy)

Solar Energy: A Dynamic Growing Potential for India

2011-10-14T21:08:52Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

For the past few weeks, along with our partner the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), I met with key solar energy industry leaders in India. Following the recently released second batch of the first phase of the solar guidelines, discussion about India’s solar industry continues to boom. Government officials and private industry stakeholders overall are pleased with the progress under the solar mission, but recognize that much more needs to be done. In particular, the financing aspects and the auctioning methods remain priority topics of discussion for the next phase of the mission.

What’s clear from our initial meetings is that active engagement by all stakeholders is critical for India to meet its National Solar Mission’s target of 20,000 MW of grid. Our initial meetings confirmed cautious optimism for the solar mission and that there are divergent views on the state government plans, technology costs, and domestic content requirements.

In the next few months, through on-the-ground-discussions and research analysis, NRDC and CEEW plan to conduct an independent assessment and analysis of India’s National Solar Mission. Our assessment will analyze the solar ecosystem in India and how it is developing. Clearly, if fully implemented, India’s solar goals have a significant potential, domestically and internationally. India maintains solar power potential to save 95 million tons of CO2 annually by 2022. India aims at both solar photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal technologies through a variety of applications for lighting, space-heating, cooling, water heating, and cooking.

The Indian government is providing funding incentives to solar power operators, financial institutions, state and local governments, utilities, NGOs, and entrepreneurs. Central government agencies have been working together to promote the solar mission. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is responsible for the implementation of the Mission. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) attains renewable-energy-financing and provides incentives to state-utilities for each unit of power that they purchase from solar power plants. The Government of India also supports and increases demand for solar energy through manufacturing incentives, off-grid applications for rural communities, and feed- in tariffs. The central government has initiated a Payment Guarantee Scheme that mitigates the risk of nonpayment to solar developers. This has provided for nearly all Phase 1 projects to achieve financial closure.

Currently, India’s largest industries, Reliance, Tata and Birla are investing in major solar projects. The Oil and Natural Gas Commission, NTPC and Bharat Heavy Electricals, major government entities, are also implementing large scale solar projects. U.S. government and industry are invested in India’s solar energy efforts. The U.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent agency of the federal government, is providing $500 million to fund new solar projects in India

Solar energy has the power to mitigate climate change and transform India’s economy. While evident to government, industry, and civil society, this potential power is still in its early stages of development. The successful achievement of India’s Solar Mission depends on continued expansion and commitment towards current robust development of solar research.

(Co-Authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC Academic Intern)

Reaching Milestones: Advancements in India's Solar Mission

2011-08-17T17:39:29Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

As India celebrates its 65th Independence Day this week, its dynamic solar mission continues to make progress. India’s solar mission recently crossed its first major milestone as it aims to 20 GW of installed grid-connected solar capacity by 2022. No small feat for India’s burgeoning solar industry, 35 of the 37 phase-I projects under the mission have successfully demonstrated financial closure, meeting the firm government deadline. With the first batch of solar PV projects expected to be commissioned by January 2012, India’s installed solar capacity will be nearly 200 MW, up from 20 MW less than two years ago. The Indian government is also expected to auction another 400 MW of capacity later this month.

The recent reverse auction shows India’s competitive and dynamic market. Over 400 projects applied for the mere 37 slots available through the phase-1 reverse auction – setting India’s solar feed-in tariffs at remarkably low levels. Leading up to the auction, many skeptics raised doubts about the viability of the projects at such low feed-in-tariffs. The Indian government demonstrated its seriousness in achieving the mission’s targets by providing a payment guarantee scheme to developers. This scheme eliminates the risk of payment default by state-utilities buying solar power and makes projects more attractive. Encouraged by these actions, Indian banks have loaned estimated $1billion in the first year. In a remarkable show of confidence in the growing solar market in India, the US Export-Import bank has granted loans worth $75 million to four solar projects in India so far and has another $500 million of solar projects in the pipeline making India the largest market for the bank.

The phase I of the solar mission has seen rapid developments in the Indian manufacturing sector as well. While recently most of the domestic Indian solar companies have been operating in the narrow band of assembling solar panels and modules, there is an increasing trend of vertically integrated manufacturing facilities. Indian conglomerate, Birla Surya, is establishing a $1.2 billion integrated unit for multi-crystalline silicon wafers and solar PV cells manufacturing with a December 2011 production start date.

Interestingly, while the solar mission guidelines released last year mandate the use of domestic content for state sponsored projects – which has been an issue of discussion between the US and India - the mandate is restricted only to those projects that utilize the crystalline silicon technology. US manufacturers like First Solar, the leader in the alternative thin film photovoltaic technology, have already signed contracts with project developers in India for providing equipment. In the next set of guidelines, the Indian government is expected to increase the minimum project size to attract big Indian players, like Tata Power, to make the solar industry even more competitive and help bring down the costs.

Solar energy has a dual role to play in India in powering its rapidly growing economy and fighting climate change. While the solar mission’s first phase seems to be off to a good start with the project-financial closures, the Indian government strong support, and dynamic-market action, fully implementing the mission’s 20 GW goal of solar power by 2022 requires even greater action. Achieving the mission’s 20 GW goal is critical to India’s path for sustainable development and to the planet as a whole.

Co-authored by Sameer Kwatra, NRDC Speth Fellow

Strengthening Local Level Heat-Health Measures in India

2011-08-17T17:26:30Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

NRDC's new tool, “Climate Change Threatens Health” shows local data and maps detailing extreme weather patterns throughout the United States and describes climate – health preparedness strategies to protect local communities. NRDC is also continuing our work in India to protect local communities from extreme heat. With our partners, the Indian Institute of Public Health and Emory University, we’ve been conducting cutting-edge research on extreme heat in local communities in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

Extreme heat events are expected to rise in India, as we extensively discussed during our March 2011 heat and health vulnerability workshop in Ahmedabad. Last summer temperatures rising to 122oF resulted in over 100 deaths in Gujarat, 90 deaths in Maharashtra, and 35 deaths in Rajasthan. Global temperature data compiled by NASA characterized 2010 as the hottest year on record. Increasing temperatures across the globe substantiate the imperative need to understand the impacts of heat on health. Ahmedabad’s community leaders and local officials already recognize the need to prepare for the health-related impacts of climate change, and we’re working with local communities to strengthen preventive measures against extreme heat.

IIPH’s Dean Dr. Dileep Mavalankar and Professor Gulrez Azhar and Emory University’s School of Public Health are working with NRDC to conduct an in-depth heat vulnerability assessment survey. This survey, the first of its kind, assesses the risks and effects of heat on health. Emory University Public Health graduate student Kathy Tran is leading the local survey in 12 randomly selected slums of Ahmedabad. The survey asks a series of questions revolving around each family’s health history, adaptation to heat exposure, knowledge of heat stress, and access to resources. Through the collected data, we’ll be examining the heat stress impacts, community resources, and traditional heat coping measures. This data will allow for further education, focus groups, and workshops to target the populations that need solutions. We’re also providing pamphlets translated into Gujarati that portray the best methods for keeping cool.

Since our March workshop, Ahmedabad officials are also stepping up efforts to protect local communities from extreme heat. Previously only equipped with one weather gauge, the city is now planning to install six new weather gauges. The new weather gauges will provide valuable data for warning local communities about heat and framing policy measures to address extreme heat waves.

Our multi-phase project aims to mitigate the extreme effects of heat on this community in Ahmedabad. Crucial to determining the impacts of heat, are the actions and well-being of the groups of people most vulnerable within communities affected. In the coming months, we are looking forward to advancing our project by conducting focus groups, developing early warning measures, and recommending protective measures to save lives and improve livelihoods in India.

Co-Authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC Intern

(Photo by Dr. Gulrez Azhar, IIPH)

Now In Progress: Innovative U.S. - India Collaboration

2011-08-02T20:26:15Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

A product of intensified strategic dialogues, ground-breaking U.S. and India collaboration on the industry and research institution fronts, is now well underway. Earlier this month, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), Council on Energy Environment and Water (CEEW), and NRDC conducted a final stakeholder workshop on the effective implementation of the U.S. India Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center (JCERDC). Over 120 public and private institutions and industry participated in stimulating conversation through the course of the three workshops in Hyderabad, New York, and New Delhi. Participants from all workshops expressed their common goal of necessary collaboration towards research in solar energy, second generation biofuels and energy efficiency in buildings.

The New Delhi workshop was especially successful with a wide-ranging participant group. Some of the participants included Mahindra, Solar Energy Society of India, Schnieder Electric, Forum for Advancement of Solar Thermal, Avantha, Reliance Power Ltd, and several more. The participants expressed optimism about potential research project and how clean energy breakthroughs could transform both the U.S. and Indian energy markets, as well as the global market.

The New Delhi participants identified themes that were also identified in the earlier workshops, such as IP sharing arrangements, alternative funding mechanisms, and more involvement from Indian and US governments. The participants also outlined the burden of efficient fund management and administration, the importance of identifying gaps in research and a call for funding towards more than one initiative per industry sector. The conversation at the New Delhi workshop also presented a forum for new research ideas such as the possible use of sweet sorghum as a biofuel ideal for ethanol production.

As in previous workshops, participants in New Delhi expressed concerns about t he funding opportunity application design. These concerns include the scarcity of time to find potential partners, collaborate, and submit the application before the deadline. Smaller organizations especially may find it difficult to access and communicate with potential partners in the United States. In response to this, ASCI, CEEW, and NRDC as requested are connecting organizations through the JCERDC website, contact list, and stakeholder profiles. Participants also suggested that more than one consortium should be able to qualify for funding in each of the three focus areas.

Participants emphasized that clean energy research must eventually extend beyond the lab to make an environmental impact. They suggested that the JCERDC secretariats should develop a mechanism to support commercialization efforts for clean technologies, which may be included in the Partnership to Advance Clean Energy (PACE) program. The experts were keen to ensure that ultimately the public should benefit from the joint research. For example, participants discussed how solar research could contribute to creating massive employment opportunities.

As it stands, the U.S. and India are ready and eager to follow through with the JCERDC and to invest in renewable energy technology collaboration. Indian institution and industry participants underscored the strong desire to develop a clear pathway towards collaboration and progress clean energy research.

(Co-Authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC Intern)

Remarkable Opportunity for Environmental Progress for India

2011-07-16T00:29:04Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to India later this month for the strategic dialogue, she’s likely to get a friendlier reception than she did almost two years ago when she first met with then Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. Since that initial meeting, U.S. and Indian cooperation on climate change and clean energy have made significant progress – in key part because of Minister Jairam Ramesh. This week, Jayanti Natarajan replaced Minister Ramesh as the new environment minister. Minister Natarajan is now left with an immense opportunity to advance progress on critical issues in India’s rapid economic development – environment and climate change – catalyzed by Minister Ramesh.

(2009 Photo: newshopper.sulekha.com)

Minister Ramesh redefined climate change and environmental policy both domestically in India and internationally. Central to the shift was India’s 2009 announcement of intensity targets prior to the Copenhagen discussions, allowing India to be, in Minister Ramesh’s word a “deal-maker, not a deal-breaker.” Minister Ramesh was also instrumental in India’s emergence as an environmental leader, including the formation of the BASIC group with Brazil, South Africa, India and China. At Cancun, India bridged developed and developing nations towards agreement on greater transparency surrounding their emissions and actions to address global warming.

Minister Ramesh also leaves a legacy of making environmental protection a major part of India’s development dialogue. For example, considering farmers and science, Minister Ramesh led the Ministry of Environment and Forests to deny cart-blanch to for genetically-modified seed experimentation to major international conglomerates like Monsanto in early 2010. Ramesh designated “Go-No-Go” zones for coal mining. Again in a bold move, Minister Ramesh stopped Vedanta’s massive mining project in Niyamgiri. While clearly much more needs to be done to protect India’s air, water, and forests, Ramesh took environmental review to a new level by halting 64 major projects and re-reviewing 469 projects. Ramesh also established the National Green Tribunal to further involve stakeholder discussions in environmental development. He also focused on science at the Ministry by creating an Indian Network for Comprehensive Climate Change Assessment with over 120 research institutes that publish regular reports on the climate change.

We’re all eager to see how Minister Natarajan advances the progress made by Minister Ramesh and how she reshapes the Ministry. She is a former member of the upper house of Parliament from Tamil Nadu and former spokeswoman for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Congress Party. Trained as a lawyer, Ms. Natarajan practiced in the Madras High court while undertaking pro bono work in environment, legal aid to the poor, and women’s rights. She participated in the All India Women’s Conference and the Environmental Society. From 1994-1997, she was a member of the Committee of both Houses on Environment and Forests.

Like Minister Ramesh when he first took office, Minister Natarajan has limited climate negotiations or environmental experience. However, her background as a Congress Party spokes-person could serve India well in making environmental progress and bridging diplomatic ties both domestically and internationally. Several projects and negotiations are awaiting Minister Natarajan’s attention, including the development of an environment monitoring mechanism and reform of India’s environment clearances process. On the international front, Secretary Clinton’s visit is major opportunity to advance discussion on the phase-down of dangerous HFCs and U.S.-India cooperation on climate and energy, as well as, progress on international climate negotiations and the Earth Summit 2012. As she begins her appointment, hopefully, Minister Natarajan will continue the environmental progress made by Minster Ramesh and further develop India’s emergence as an global environmental leader.

Co-authored by Neha Mathew, NRDC India Intern

Progress on "Building Solar India"

2011-07-01T20:57:58Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

Even as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on countries to agree at next year’s Earth Summit to raise the share of renewables to 30 percent of the energy mix by 2030, India seems to be going strong to achieving those targets. A year and a half ago, India released phase I of its solar guidelines, “Building Solar India.” Now that we are midway through the first phase, it is heartening to note that the guidelines have stimulated a nascent yet dynamic solar market. In addition to the announcement of several new solar energy projects including a 500 MW solar energy park in the state of Gujarat, the latest news is a recent KPMG-India report, “The Rising Sun,” which projects that solar power could achieve grid parity in the country as early as 2017.

While much of India’s solar energy market remains untapped, especially considering that India is almost a perennially sunny country, the KMPG report predicts that under an aggressive case of supportive government policies and private sector support, solar energy could achieve grid parity as early as 2017-18 and under a base case scenario as early as 2019-2020, as described in the chart below:

Highlights from the KPMG report include:

Solar power generation capacity could reach 68 GW by 2022, well over the 20 GW target of the Solar Mission.
Solar energy could contribute to 5-7 percent of the total power demand in India by 2022.
Under both the aggressive and base cases for the next decade, solar power costs are projected to decline by 5-7 percent annually, while the landed cost of conventional electricity is projected to increase by 4-5.5 percent annual.
High-end residential consumers represent an untapped market for early adopters of rooftop solar units; government incentives could also encourage wide-spread adoption by both residential and agricultural consumers.
Telecom towers are an attractive market for off-grid solar installations and, in many instances, are cost competitive with alternatives, like dirty diesel gensets; these solar telecom towers could replace 30 percent of diesel consumption and create an industry of $12.5 billion by 2022.

The KPMG report also emphasizes among other things that solar energy, including solar water heating, could save 71 MT of coal annually, which is equivalent to more than 30 percent of India’s coal imports. Moreover, this amounts to a reduction of 95 million tons of CO2 annually until 2022, which is a significant contribution to a reduction in the GHG emissions intensity.

Although solar energy certainly holds great potential, several caveats on the path to achieving grid-parity by 2017-2020 remain. Both Indian government and industry must continue to actively support solar energy development, such as the $108 million fund to provide payment guarantee to solar power producers. Increased research and development, both in India and internationally, are also essential to lowering the costs of solar and creating breakthrough technologies. One such opportunity is the recent $50 million funding announcement by the US and the Indian governments through the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center. Successful implementation of India’s Solar Mission, as envisioned by the KMPG report and others, holds the promise to unleash clean energy innovation and deployment, and reduce dangerous GHG emissions thus helping India to meet its emissions intensity targets.

(Co-Authored by Sameer Kwatra, NRDC Speth Fellow)

Learning More About How Early Warning Systems Save Lives in Ahmedabad, India

2011-05-01T00:10:52Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

It’s getting hotter as summer rolls around, and because of climate change summers are expected to get hotter each year. In some places, like Ahmedabad, India, as temperatures spike to 115° F (46°C), hospital emergency rooms are inundated with an influx of patients suffering from illnesses/afflictions ranging from heat stroke to heart attacks. During our recent workshop with public health experts from the United States and India (sponsored by the Indo-Science and Technology Forum), it was clear that Ahmedabad’s local officials and community leaders take seriously the risk that increasing heat waves pose for the health of their communities.

During the workshop, we learned about the health impacts of extreme heat, including heat stroke, dehydration, dizziness, heat exhaustion and heat cramps, and the complications extreme heat poses for vulnerable populations such as infants, the elderly, the poor, and outdoor and industrial workers. We also learned about nascent local efforts to educate the public on how to stay cool and protect themselves. One example is the following public health announcement in the local paper:

Translated into English from Gujarati by our partner at PHFI, Puja Thakker, the announcement suggests simple steps for heat-weary residents to take, including:

To protect yourself from heat stroke some important announcements.

When heat increases that is harmful to health, residents are requested to do the following

-          avoid roaming around in the heat, if possible

-          drink lots of fluids, especially water and lime sherbet

-          pregnant women, small children should avoid being in the sun

-          do not directly face hot wind storms

-          wear loose clothing

-          don’t fast

-          use a wet cloth to dab your head

-          keep your head and forehead covered

If you are dizzy or have a headache, see your doctor.

During the workshop, U.S. participants shared their expertise on public education programs that can really save lives – encouraging people to seek out cool areas, to avoid medicines that exacerbate heat stress, and educating people on the warning signs of heat stroke. Ahmedabad officials shared some of the strategies that they are implementing to respond to heat, while scientists from both the U.S. and India strategized about how to improve data collection on heat health impacts, and devised a framework for conducting vulnerability assessments.

One of the things we learned was that a comprehensive early warning system has yet to be developed in Ahmedabad. Heat warning systems include simple actions like posting daily and projected temperatures so that mothers, children, and the elderly can take protective measures. Other steps include making sure that hospitals receive weather forecasts so that they can be ready for a wave of patients.

In the coming months, we plan to work with our partners in India as well as Emory University to reach out to the Ahmedabad community to better understand the city’s vulnerability to heat, and to build its adaptive capacity and resilience.

Climate change awareness in Ahmedabad is already strong, as you can see from this public education billboard campaign:

Photo by Dr. Gulrez Azhar, Indian Institute of Public Health

We’ll be engaging with city officials and community leaders to translate this awareness into easy action steps to protect public health. We hope to build on this work over the coming months and continue the scientific dialogue from this important heat health workshop.

To learn more about the workshop, here are links to posts from some of the participants:

“Grandma Knows Best: Traditional Approaches to Beating the Heat Offer Succor to Ahmedabad, India” Dr. Gulrez Shah Azhar and Dr. Dileep Mavalankar of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPH-G) and Shravya Reddy (NRDC) http://www.onearth.org/blog/grandma-knows-best-traditional-approaches-to-beating-the-heat-offer-succor-to-ahmedabad-india
“How India is Preparing for the Scorching Heat of Climate Change” Dr. Paul English, California Department of Public Health http://www.onearth.org/blog/india-preparing-for-increased-heat-due-to-climate-change
“What Americans Can Learn About Heat From Indians” Dr. Perry Sheffield, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City http://www.onearth.org/blog/arrival-and-already-thinking-about-heat
“Talking About the Heat... Aiming To Do Something About It” Dr. Kim Knowlton, NRDC http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/kknowlton/talking_about_the_heat_and_aim.html
“Heat and Health: Building Resilience to Climate Change in India” Anjali Jaiswal, NRDC http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ajaiswal/heat_and_health_building_resil_1.html

Heat and Health: Building Resilience to Climate Change in India

2011-03-27T20:23:25Z

Anjali Jaiswal, Senior Attorney, San Francisco

On Monday, NRDC health scientist Dr. Kim Knowlton and I are leading a climate change workshop focused on heat stress in Ahmedabad, India – which is already experiencing 39°C (103°F) temperatures this month. It’s only March and doctors are warning residents to take measures to protect themselves in what is unfortunately just the beginning of the heatwave season. The workshop, “Climate Change: Heat and Health, Addressing Vulnerability,” will bring together leading scientists and public health experts from the United States and India, as well as public officials from the city of Ahmedabad.

The rising temperatures in the city underscore the importance of one of the first heat health workshops India. We’re co-hosting the workshop with the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) and the Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH) in Gandhinagar, with the support of the Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum. Over two and a half days, participants will share their expertise and experience to lay the groundwork for a heat-health vulnerability assessment in the city of Ahmedabad.

Ahmedabad, like many parts of India, is no stranger to the powerful consequences of heat waves. In May of 2010, temperatures reached over 47°C (116°F), resulting in an estimated 75 deaths. To put this in context, these scorching temperatures are even higher than the hottest place in the U.S., Death Valley. While the challenge is great, there are many strategies that can be employed to reduce these impacts – from modifications in building construction to providing better cooling, to targeted health services for the elderly and other more vulnerable populations, to traditional cooling methods like eating raw onions and sour mangoes to keep cool.

The first step in addressing Ahmedabad’s heat-health challenge, however, is assessing the scope of its vulnerability. The Ahmedabad Heat-Stress Vulnerability Assessment is a multi-phase project that will:

Explore the health impacts of increasing heat waves in Ahmedabad’s urban environment;
Examine how heat-stress affects different demographics, and determine which populations are most vulnerable;
Understand heat-health effects, available data, and traditional cooling methods;
Develop strategies for building resilience in local communities, adapting to climate change, and mitigating negative impacts on human health; and
Identify the institutional opportunities and challenges for implementing a successful adaptation plan.

The hope is that by bringing together the best of Indian and U.S. science and public health experts and city administrators, we’ll be able to make a real difference in the ability of Ahmedabad to anticipate and respond to the growing public health challenges of climate change. With a diverse stakeholder group, we plan to ramp up the city’s resilience to rising temperatures by developing programs and policies to protect the most vulnerable.

Look for blog updates on the exciting workshop from NRDC’s Dr. Kim Knowlton, Shravya Reddy, and myself on Switchboard. Also, later this week, look for OnEarth guest blog posts from top scientists at the workshop.

(Co-authored by Gretchen Gordon, NRDC Law Clerk)