The Hindu Business Line : Reining in carbon emissions

Planet earth is suffering from the consequences of industrial revolution initiated by the developed countries that had dumped carbon deposits and industrial wastes unreservedly into riverbeds and ocean floors without taking adequate precautions.

The recently held G-8 Summit declared that the emerging economies also need to address the issue by reducing the carbon intensity in their pursuit of economic development.

Our Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has also promised to reduce carbon intensity. Though it is a welcome policy declaration, its implementation is difficult.

Now, the real issue in the emerging economies is not about the reduction of carbon emissions but the funding of the associated technology. The investment should be borne by the long-time polluters in the developed world. Developing nations can only look at the application-oriented technology within their limited budgets.

The Prime Minister is expected to implement the laws passed by in this connection and the violators should be punished. He can also encourage scientific research in application-oriented technology and their adoption in SMEs.

T.S. Sundareswaran, New Delhi

The practicability of fulfilling the Prime Minister's promise of reining in the per capita carbon emissions appear to be doubtful. As the country is on the throes of economic development, it involves sustained expansion of industrial activities.

Vehicles discharging effluent gases will add to the problem. There are no viable methods of absorbing or nullifying their effects. The number of vehicles entering the roads rising exponentially, there will be a quantum jump in the emission of carbon-based gases.

Another area of concern is the rapid growth of domestic consumption of cooking gas, which also produces carbon gases. This will be difficult for the Government to control.

The solution lies in developing suitable technologies to create energy sources which do not produce gases. It is also necessary to develop technological means to effectively de-carbonise the emitted gases and employ them in all sources producing gases.

T.R. Anandan, Chennai

Climatic change is a global concern. This year, in the G8 Summit German Chancellor, Ms Angela Merkel, took some initiatives putting proposals for cutting emissions to half of 1990 levels by 2050.

Though the US President, Mr George Bush, rejected them, he admitted for first time that America wants to be part of the global deal. The emerging economies placed the onus of dealing with climatic change on the developed nations asking them to make significant cuts in greenhouse gas emissions first.

And our Prime Minister's promise to rein in per capita carbon emissions is a bold and bona fide one. At the same time India need not be worried because of its large population, as the carbon emission per capita is only one-fourth of the global average and just 4 per cent of that of the US.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

At the G-8 Summit, the Prime Minister's assertion that in spite of India's large population, the per capita carbon emission is only one-fourth of the global average and just 4 per cent of that of US clearly sends strong signals to the developed nations that instead of exerting pressure and authority on the developing economies, they should first try to reduce carbon emissions in their own countries.

Among the rich countries, the US tops the list in per capita carbon emission, followed by Russia, EU, Japan and China.

However, on our part, regulations may be made so that new building complexes, shopping malls, automobiles, power plants and the like are designed and constructed in such a way that the carbon emission is as low as possible.

Budget 2007-08 has given excise duty exemption to bio-diesel. The alternative fuel when used in automobiles has been found to be emitting lower levels of carbon. Hence the production and usage of this fuel may be encouraged to lessen the harmful effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Since developed nations emit more greenhouse gas than the lesser developed and developing nations put together, they should own the moral responsibility for polluting the earth and co-operate with these nations to reduce the carbon emissions.

S. Nallasivan, Tirunelveli

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