Lok Sabha Question No. 1212 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-12-06
Subject: Emission of CO2
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Manoj Kumar Tiwari, Vishnu Dutt Sharma

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO.1212

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.12.2021

## Emission of CO2

## 1212. SHRI MANOJ TIWARI: SHRI VISHNU DATT SHARMA:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has made a national level assessment of CO2 emission and if so, the period thereof and the estimated emission for 2020;
- (b) the actions taken for carbon capture and storage and the progress made so far;
- (c) whether there is any plan to use the saved carbon for economic and industrial purpose and if so, details of the same and the time-bound plan for this;
- (d) whether  the  Government  has  included  carbon  sequestration  as  a  major  policy  in decarbonisation of India's energy, electricity and manufacture industries and if so, the details thereof and the plan and timelines for same;
- (e) whether the government would make available data on produced CO2 both from oil and gas fields and from industrial processes; and
- (f) whether the Government is considering any program on Seagrasses as they are very efficient for their CO2 sequestration and ecosystem stabilization capabilities and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a)  to  (e)As  a  Party  to  the  United  Nations  Framework  Convention  on  Climate  Change (UNFCCC),India  periodically  submits  its  National  Communications  (NCs)  and  Biennial Update Reports (BURs) to the UNFCCC which includes national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) inventory. As per India's third BUR submitted to the UNFCCC in February 2021, total GHG emissions,  excluding  Land  Use  Land-Use  Change  and  Forestry  (LULUCF)  in  2016were 2,838.89  million  tonne  CO2e  and  2,531.07  million  tonne  CO2e  with  the  inclusion  of LULUCF. India's total GHG emission also includes CO2 emissions from oil & gas sector and industrial  processes  and  product  use  (IPPU)  sector.  The  emissions  based  on  India's  first, second and third BURs are as following:

|   Sr. No. |   Year |   Total GHG emission (without LULUCF) (milliontonne CO 2 e) |   Net GHG emission (With LULUCF) (million tonne CO 2 e) |   CO 2 emission (million tonne) |   CO 2 emission from oil& gassector (million tonne) |   CO 2 emission from Industrial Processes and Product Use Sector (million tonne) |
|-----------|--------|-------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|         1 |   2010 |                                                        2137 |                                                    1884 |                            1574 |                                                  42 |                                                                              132 |
|         2 |   2014 |                                                        2607 |                                                    2306 |                            1998 |                                                  50 |                                                                              153 |
|         3 |   2016 |                                                        2839 |                                                    2531 |                            2231 |                                                  72 |                                                                              166 |

Further,  according  to  a  research  study  carried  out  by  the  Indian  Space  Research Organisation  using  observations  of  Orbiting  Carbon  Observatory  satellites  of  NASA,  total column atmospheric CO2 concentration over representative sites of India during January 2020 to June 2021 was found to vary on daily basis from approximately 406.3 on 31 August 2020 ppm to 416.1 ppm on 28 April 2021.

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is an emerging area of research. Its efficacy is yet to be fully established in terms  of techno-economic  feasibility.  The Department of Science and Technology (DST) works in the area of CCUS through emphasis on research and development and capacity building of both human resource and infrastructure to  evolve  appropriate  technologies  and  methodologies.The  Department  of  Science  and Technology  and  Department  of  Biotechnology  in  2018,had  launched  a  Joint  Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for inviting proposals on Innovation Challenge on CCUS under  the  multilateral  Mission  Innovation  (MI)initiative  to  undertake  joint  Research  & Development with MI member countries to identify and prioritize breakthrough technologies in the field of CCUS.DST has supported 19 CCUS R&D projects during last three years.DST also  participated  in  the  Accelerating  CCUS  Technologies  collaboration  Programme  for adopting the global practices and accessing transnational research for the transfer of CCUS technologies.

As a developing country Party under the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement, India is not  required  to  undertake  decarbonization  of  any  sector,  in  keeping  with  the  principle  of equity and in accordance with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective  capabilities.  However,  India  is  committed  to  development  along  a  low-carbon pathway  while  maintaining  its  commitment  to  sustainable  development.  To  meet  this objective,  India  has  undertaken  a  number  of  programmes,  initiatives,  schemes  and  other steps.  Through  the  National  Action  Plan  on  Climate  Change  (NAPCC)  and  its  various National  Missions,  India  is  addressing  climate  change  mitigation  and  adaptation  across  a range of sectors.  Installed capacity of solar energy in  India has increased by more than 18 times  from  2.63  GW  in  March  2014  to  47.66  GW  in  October  2021.  As  a  result,  India's current share of non-fossil sources based installed capacity of electricity generation is more than 40%.Under Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) scheme, a total of 36.78 crores LED bulbs have been distributed to enhance energy efficiency. Perform Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme for energy efficiency in industries and other energy-intensive sectors resulted in total savings of approximately 13.28 million tons of oil equivalent, translating into 61.34 MtCO2 of avoided emissions in the PAT Cycle II. Forest and tree cover has increased by 13031 km 2 between the 2015 and 2019 assessments of the Forest Survey of India. Forest and tree cover sequestered 331 MtCO2 in 2016 which is around 15% of total carbon dioxide emissions  occurring in the country.  India's  LULUCF sink (CO2 removal) is on the rise by 3.4% between 2014 and 2016 and by approximately 40% between 2000 and 2016.

India  is  making  every  effort  to  decouple  its  growth  from  emissions,  by  steadily lowering  the  emissions  intensity  of  its  GDP  over  the  years.  This  keeps  India's  GHG emissions below what would otherwise have been emitted. It is important to emphasize that there is no sector of India's economy and no aspect of its economic life that is untouched by concern to keep to a low-carbon development pathway.

(f) Based on field surveys and satellite data, the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management has estimated the total extent of seagrass ecosystem in India to be 516.59 km 2 . The CO2sequestration rate of seagrass ecosystem is estimated to be up to 434.9 tonnes/km 2 /year with an annual net CO2 sink of 0.75 million tonnes for an area of 517 km 2 .

Further,  the  Government  has  also  initiated  a  project  across  the  States  of  Andhra Pradesh,  Maharashtra,  and  Odisha  on  Enhancing  climate  resilience  of  India's  coastal communities at a total cost of US $130.269 million which includes a grant of US$ 43.419 million  by  Global  Climate  Fund  (GCF)  covering  24  ecosystems  in  these  selected  States which  aims  to  strengthen  the  climate  resilience  of  coastal  communities  by  protecting  and restoring India's natural ecosystems such as mangroves and seagrass.

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