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India is burning more coal to fuel its growth. The result: Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the country's energy sector continued to rise, accounting for 71 per cent of the country's total emissions in 2007.
It was 67 per cent in the year 2000 and 62 per cent in 1994.
Fossil fuel combustion
Combustion by fossil fuels formed over 90 per cent of the sector's emissions, with coal the dominating fuel, according to the Second National Communication report submitted to the UNFCCC Secretariat on GHG inventory and released here Wednesday. The first report was submitted on June 22, 2004, to fulfil India's obligation to furnish information on implementation of the Convention.
The report estimates the country's total GHG inventory at 1.7 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2007.
It says India's total GHG rose to 1.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent compared with the 1994 levels.
Industry's contribution to emission
While the industry's contribution to emission remained nearly constant at 7 per cent from 1994 to 2007, there was a marked decline in emissions from the agriculture sector from 29 per cent in 1994 to 23 per cent in 2000 and 19 per cent 2007.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) remained the dominant gas emitted, with its share rising from 64 per cent in 1994 to 67 per cent in 2000 and 71 per cent in 2007.
The share of methane or CH4, however, declined from 31 per cent in 1994 to 26 per cent in 2000 and 22 per cent in 2007.
The report includes results of wide ranging national-level studies and provides details of climate change scenarios and its impact on key sectors, such as water, agriculture, forestry, natural ecosystems, coastal regions, human health, energy, industry and human settlements.
India fully committed to global community
Releasing the report, the Union Minister for Environment and Forests, Ms Jayanthi Natarajan, said India was fully committed to its responsibilities towards the global community, adding it had so far had voluntarily reduced carbon emission.
The Greenhouse Gas Inventory has been reported according to the stipulated guidelines using prescribed methodologies by the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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