core sector communique

Monitoring of GHG emission

The Ministry of Environment and Forests is planning to monitor the Green House Gas emissions in the country as well as in the Globe. The Ministry is also planning to have a dedicated satellite with the support of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for such monitoring. The Department of Space (DOS) has proposed to setup a new Institute called National Institute for Climate and Environment Studies, (NICES) in which the Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF), Department of Science & Technology (DST) and Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be involved. Besides this, as a part of Indo-French Space collaboration, Indian Space Research organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch “Megha Tropiques” satellite in polar orbit within a year. This satellite will provide data on atmospheric humidity, greenhouse gas monitoring and radiation budgeting.

Earlier the Government has conducted research on Green House Gas (GHG) emission. This research which was done through many institutes established the carbon dioxide general profile of India’s energy sector. The Government of India supported a number of organizations undertaking studies on India’s GHG emission profile and included, inter alia, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI), Integrated Energy Planning & Development (IRADe), National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) and Jadhavpur University. The Government’s role was to give a platform and to ensure that studies are fact based and objective. From the finding of the studies it was observed that there was a broad convergence in the estimate of India’s GHG emissions and per capita GHG emission in the next decades. This major study on GHG emissions was brought out in 2006 report of the Expert Committee on India’s Integrated Energy Policy.