The Methane Economy

The United Nations’ 2015 Paris Agreement called for the immediate sequestration of atmospheric anthropogenic greenhouse gases to help avert serious environmental degradation. India can take the lead in this because it is the second largest emitter of methane. Of all the natural greenhouse gases, methane is the hardiest. Technological advances are making it possible to crack methane into gaseous hydrogen and solid carbon on a commercial scale. Methane cracking can provide a steady supply of hydrogen for futuristic transportation and solid carbon materials — graphene, carbon nanotubes, synthetic diamonds — which are integral to the marine, aerospace and space industries. The commercial benefits apart, methane cracking will also go a long way in meeting the Paris Agreement’s climate change mitigation objectives. This paper offers some concrete recommendations that can help the government of India shape national legislation and global geoeconomic strategies

Courtesy: Shutterstock

11 July 2019

Making India a Methane Economy

BY Chaitanya Giri

India is the second largest emitter of methane in the world. But methane-cracking has enormous economic potential. It can help India become a high-technology manufacturing powerhouse by producing a steady supply of methane-derived, advanced carbon materials and hydrogen-energized transportation

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Courtesy: thinkprogress.org

25 April 2019

Differing emissions, converging commitments

BY Chaitanya Giri

Earth Day, which fell on April 22, is an apt time to take stock of carbon emissions. This infographic offers a comparative look at two countries and what their carbon emissions convey about their approach to carbon mitigation

Courtesy: ibctrain.com

2 April 2019

India & the influential SCO Energy Club

BY Chaitanya Giri

The main objective of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) Energy Club, when Russia formed it, was to market its member states’ substantial oil and natural gas reserves. This map shows some of the important natural gas pipelines, originating from Russia and its neighbouring countries that are not members of the SCO. What can India do to secure supplies from these abundant but currently inaccessible natural gas reserves?

Courtesy: Gateway House & CIGI

15 March 2019

Preparing for Climate Intervention Decision Making in the Global South: A Role for Canada and India

BY Timiebi Aganaba-Jeanty

The use of climate intervention technologies has not taken into sufficient account the social dimensions of climate intervention research, which includes citizen participation and pooling of knowledge resources. To fill this lacuna, Canada and India can examine what participation in climate intervention research means in the context of an African country to be able to evolve a more international view; urge both countries to conduct national policy discussions on climate intervention research; and increase public awareness of climate intervention technologies

Courtesy: Gateway House & CIGI

28 February 2019

Making Terrestrial Geoengineering Technologies Viable: An Opportunity for India-Canada Climate Leadership

BY Chaitanya Giri

The use of terrestrial geoengineering techniques, such as carbon capture, is necessary to keep the rise in global temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius, as per the Paris Agreement’s targets. Terrestrial geoengineering is different from atmospheric climate engineering: the latter does not remove the very source of the increased greenhouse effect, which are anthropogenic greenhouse gases. India and Canada must collaborate on carbon capture and propose multilateral regulations for unethical atmospheric climate engineering

Courtesy: Gateway House

4 January 2018

India’s opportunity in high energy prices

BY Amit Bhandari

India has benefited from three years of low petroleum prices. The tide is now turning, with oil moving from a benign $50 to $70 a barrel. This is a good time for it to start using financial instruments and asset purchases, as other countries do, to protect itself against further price rises

Courtesy: Gateway House

14 February 2017

India’s global energy footprint

BY Amit Bhandari

Trends in technology, geopolitics and geoeconomics have dramatically transformed the global energy scenario in the last two years. This means favourable conditions for import-dependent India, which must use the opportunities available to reduce its vulnerability to high energy prices. The jump in oil prices past the $60 mark suggests that India must act with alacrity. India’s Energy Footprint Map offers a profile of India’s global trade and investment in energy, and indicates what India can do to access cheap and reliable supplies

Fishermen release bait fish during pole and line fishing practice to catch skipjack tuna. Pole and line fishing is a selective and therefore more sustainable way to catch tuna as only fish of a certain size are caught, leaving juveniles to grow to spawning age and replenish the stock in the future. Small bait fish are thrown over the side of the boat to lure the tuna to the water surface. The fishermen use the acceleration of the fish as they race to get their prey, hook them and fling them onto the ship's flat deck.

Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

19 January 2017

‘Blue Diplomacy’ to boost Blue Economy

BY Rajiv Bhatia

The first ever summit of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, to be held in Indonesia in March 2017, will cast light on how India and other like-minded nations can develop oceanic resources sustainably. This event offers scope for India to mould outcomes