RISING INDIA - Demographic change in the world’s soon-to-be most populous country

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A Club of Development Finance for Energy and Climate Finance Covering 19 Countries

The International Development Finance Club is a network of 19 development finance institutions with mandates for national, sub-regional, regional and international activities around the world. Each institution has a critical role in co-developing with governments enabling regulatory and policy environments, bridging critical funding gaps, building technical competencies, strengthening institutions and catalyzing investment in new economic and social sectors. The members of the IDFC are key players in collaborating with the governments, private sector and civil society and towards advancing the sustainable development agenda. The IDFC members have a successful and measurable track record of integrating climate change issues and related risks into their development mandates.

Its members are based in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas

America	Asia	Africa	Europe
Brazil (BNDES) Chile (BWE) Columbia (Bancoldex) Honduras (BCIE/CABEI) Mexico (Nafin) Venezuela (CAF)	China (CDB) India (SIDBI) Indonesia (Eximbank) Japan (JICA) Korea (KoFC)	Morocco (CDG) South Africa (DBSA)	Croatia (HBOR) France (AFD) Germany (KfW) Greece (BSTDB) Russia (VEB) Turkey (TSKB)

Target Sectors

Alternative energy, greenhouse gas reduction, sustainable energy finance environmental sustainability

Name of program under which funds are provided

Climate Finance (http://www.idfc.org/Our-Program/climate-finance.aspx)

Nature of funding

IDFC website does not have details on specific funds, however the members of IDFC as mentioned in a tabulated form above is of interest. The member countries provide funds and IDFC can be an importance source in understanding financing. In front of the country name, the development financial institution is mentioned in brackets and may be consulted for funds. Work programs are designed for each year which give information regarding funds. 

Examples of projects

PLAC+e Program (CAF): Promotion and participation in creation of emission reduction market and sequestration of greenhouse gases (GHG), identifying and financing clean and alternative energy project, and energy efficiency projects in Latin America, strengthening framework for GHG reduction and alternative energy market development. See: http://www.idfc.org/Case-Studies/plac+e-program.aspx

Other projects include- Carbon Efficient Index –ICO2 (Brazil), Energy Conservation (Vietnam), Energy for the Fture (Namibia), Amazon Fund and so on.   

Everyday Carbon Footprints in Response to COP21 Paris

As an engineer , I have listened carefully to the global and local environmental challenges from colleagues, friends, holistic leaders,  intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations with avid interest. Moving forward, the environmental threats to society and economy has led several environmental governance efforts starting from The Stockholm Conference in 1972 to the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Paris starting from today. The Paris meeting held between November 30-December 11, 2015 shall chart the way forward in adoption of a new climate agreement to be implemented post 2020. 

It is interesting to see our many harmless everyday actions contribute to emissions of carbon dioxide and other climate altering greenhouse gases. The information below is extracted from Times of  India and gives a great Monday start with understanding how best we impact the environment and natural resources, prompting in improved synergies in lifestyle.   

Digital footprint

1. A short email adds 4 gm of CO2 equivalent to (gCO2e) to the atmosphere. 

2. Hitting "send" on 65 mails results in carbon output equivalent to driving an average sized car for a kilometer. 

3. Email with large attachment puts 50 gCO2e into air, ten of such messages are equivalent to burning 1.2 kilograms of coal. 

4. Receiving a spam message-even if you dont open it-has an environmental impact of 0.3 gCO2e. 

5. A web search on an energy efficient laptop leaves a footprint of 0.2 gCO2e, for an old desktop this is 4.5 gCO2e. 

6. Annual global carbon footprint from spam = Greenhouse gas out of 3.1 mn passenger cars using 7.6 bn litres of gasoline in a year. 

Paper OR Plastic

1. Plastic grocery bags have a carbon footprint of 10 gCO2e, paper is even worse at 40 gCO2e each. 

2. Bottled water has nearly 1150 times the emissions attached to it than a glass poured from tap. 

3. A 500 mL bottle is responsible for 160 gCO2e compared to 0.14 gCO2e for tap water. 

4. A large cappuccino comes with a footprint of 235 gCO2e, partly from raising the cow which produced the milk. For a black tea or coffee for which just enough water was boiled, the figure is 21 gCO2e. 

Leisure 

1. Watching two hours of TV on a 24-inch plasma screen pumps out 440 gCO2e-about the same as driving car for 1.6 km.

2. The footprint is 68 gCO2e and 176 gCO2e respectively for two hours watched on a 15- or a 32 inch LCD screen. 

3. A mile of cycling fueled by a meal of bananas would be responsible for 260 gCO2e for a mile powered by cheeseburgers. 

There is no such agreements for such basic modern services or products, except that our own adaptation to low carbon lifestyles. In a world, where over 70% of population will reside in urban areas  by 2050, our lifestyle choices shape the future of human advancement and civilization.   

Energy Trillema Index

Energy Trillema Index is an effective index rating developed by the World Energy Council (WEC) which gives a highlight of how well a country manages the trade-offs between the three competing dimensions, i.e. energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability.


A = very high performance
B = good performance
(A country with very high performance has been rated as AAA, while a country with good performance has been rated as BBB. Countries which do not perform well receive a score of DDD.)

In essence, the ranking offers concrete information on energy performance and contextual framework. Energy performance includes supply and demand, affordability and access, and the environmental impact of country's energy use portfolio. While the contextual framework includes information on broad circumstances associated to energy performance such as society, political strength, economic strength and stability.

You can access this information on: https://www.worldenergy.org/data/trilemma-index/

Using this link, you can click on a country to gather information on the aggregate effect of energy policy, status of energy performance, contextual framework, diversity of electricity generation, fossil fuel reserve, economic and industrial data related to energy, trends and outlook.

Example of country-specific data:

https://www.worldenergy.org/data/trilemma-index/country/india/2014/

Understand how to read this data:

https://www.worldenergy.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Country-profile-how-to-read.pdf

Energy Efficiency Measures and Solutions for Indian Industry (Part 1)

Energy efficiency options for Auto, Brick, Cold Storage and Dairy Industry:

1. Auto Components and Forging:
     (EE Equipment)                                                                   (= Indicative supplier)
1.1.Medium Frequency Heating - End-bar Heater (Forging) and Heat Treatment = Akal Induction
1.2. Micro-wave Drying (Paints) = Acmefil Engineering, Electricoil Super Thermal Engineers
1.3. Efficient Rectifier Unit for Electroplating Baths = Asma Electricals
1.4. Hydraulic Forging Hammer = Anyang Forging Press, Haian Baisie Forging
1.5. Pneumatic Double Acting Hammer = N Teryair, Pioneer Intertrade
1.6. Friction Drop Hammer = Rattan Hammers, Wellcut Tools
1.7. Rubber Oil Seal Vulcanization Molding Machine with PLC Control = Red Line Industries Tung Yu Hydraulic
1.8. Induction Billet Heater = Electrotherm
1.9. Carburizing Furnace = J.R. Furnace and Oven, AGNEE Engineering


2. Brick:
2.1. Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln/Zig Zag firing Brick Kilns = Damle Clay

3. Cold Storage and Ice Plants:
3.1. Tube Ice Plant = Chirag, Vijaya Laxmi Engineers

4. Dairy:
4.1. Methane Recovery from Effluents for Process Heating = ATE Envrotech, Referon Magic Systems

NOTE: Part 2 will  be released soon! 

Electricity Projects Must Include Adaptation Strategy in a Climate Risky World

The importance of energy for development is not a discovery and we all continue to come to a stand-still the moment our phone shuts down, or the lift in the office buildings stop. In urban areas, we are already surrounded by almost all services powered by electricity. Power blackouts and outages is yet a common phenomenon for anyone living in developing countries, in addition to 1.2 billion still deprived of electricity supply. Renewable energy adoption has grown, and continues to do so globally, but there are still challenges that are common to all forms of electricity generation models. This is to do with risks that all forms of energy systems are vulnerable to, and its importance can no longer be ignored given that there is a climate driven hazard or disaster each day whether we know it or not. 

Source: Extracted from WBCSD

The map below indicates only the natural catastrophic disasters in the year 2012 alone.  CLICK to see most recent disaster reported 24 hours a day. 

This means that building climate resilience is no more a matter of choice but one that must but a necessary step along with the risk associated to inter-dependencies of energy and water. Most electricity generation models require water, while pumping, treating and transporting water requires electricity. Potential climate change impacts for each energy resource derived from ADB gives a summary about potential impacts of climate related hazards, Impact of each hazard will vary by location and by event type itself.   

While the international and national bodies can enable a pathway for low carbon infrastructure and essential infrastructure services, energy companies need to put in place an adaptation mechanism in an increasingly hazard sensitive world. A well planned adaptive strategy is essential to prevent or reduce the catastrophic of an existing power plant, or one that you intend on building. Sustainable energy provision, as well as conventional power systems must now develop a comprehensive strategy to include risk, response and resilience approaches themselves.