Haripriya Gundimeda

A Framework for Assessing Carbon Flow in Indian Wood Products

This paper uses a lifecycle analysis to trace the fate of carbon bound in wood products until most of the carbon is released back into the atmosphere. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to find the effect of change in terminal use (recycling, land filling and burning of discarded products), half-life of wood products and decay rate of carbon in landfills. Of the total carbon harvested from forests in India, about 90% is released into the atmosphere in the first year, due to burning of fuelwood; at the end of 100 years, about 0.8% still remains in the wood products. The sensitivity analysis shows that the length of the lifespan of wood products has only a marginal effect on the amount of carbon sequestered but has significant effect on the amount of carbon in products in use. Thus an important conclusion from this scenario is that by increasing the durability of the wood products, carbon can be locked over a period equal to the time needed to grow the timber for these products. Further, the carbon storage is affected more significantly by the decay rate of carbon in landfills than the proportion of products recycled. The study also shows that wood products can be important stores of carbon, but only if they can substitute for a unit of carbon emitted by burning fossil fuels. Such a lifecycle analysis has the potential to account completely for carbon stock changes in the wood products, where and when they are occurring, and explain how they are occurring.

Forests, sustainability and poverty in India

The Indian economy has grown rapidly at 6–8 per cent per year since 1995 and planners aim to sustain an 8 per cent growth rate in the next years. Growth has created considerable optimism about India and its place in the world. After many years of little change, poverty appears to be on the decline with an estimated 5–7 per cent reduction in the late 1990s (Sundaram and Tendulkar, 2003a, b, c; Deaton, 2005). Life expectancy increased from 59 years in 1991 to 64 years in 2008 and the primary school completion rate was at 96 per cent in 2008 (World Bank, 2012). Economic growth has resulted in a boom in the manufacturing and service sectors, large investments in infrastructure and energy projects, and a soaring middle class.

Does Environmental Quality Influence FDI Inflows? A Panel Data Analysis for Indian States

Increased integration between the developed and developing countries has seen substantial decrease in trade-related barriers. In addition, there is a debate that developing countries tend to lower the environmental standards to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI). In this context, the objective of this article is to examine the relationship between FDI and environmental status in different Indian states. Using data for the period 1996–2006 covering 16 states in India, we test for the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) that is, if air quality has a role in influencing FDI in Indian states. Our result does not support that FDI flows into the states with poor air quality. Other economic, demographic and geographic variables play a significant role in attracting FDI.

Energy and environmental benefits of family biogas plants in India

The potential of family biogas plants in providing viable solutions for clean rural energy, indoor air quality, fast-depleting reserves of fossil fuels, and mitigating global warming impacts of residential cooking is widely acknowledged. As a result, many developing countries such as India, China, and Bangladesh have integrated family biogas plants in their national energy planning and policies. The main objective of this paper is to analyse the life cycle energy performance and global warming mitigation potential of fixed dome and floating drum biogas plants, two most popular designs used in India. The results indicate that global warming mitigation potential of dung-based fixed dome family biogas systems drop by −26% and −60%, when replacing liquefied petroleum gas and firewood supplied by renewable sources as cooking fuel. On the other hand, the performance of floating drum biogas system using household kitchen waste improves significantly with an increase in waste input quantity.

Interstate river conflicts: lessons from India and the US

In both India and the US, the majority of rivers are interstate and the states retain substantial legal power over water resources. In the US, negotiation of river compacts has not eliminated controversy, due to their inflexibility over time. In India, court-appointed tribunals, employed for major interstate river conflicts, have frequently relied on a vague principle of just and equitable apportionment in resolving interstate disputes. The experiences of the two countries show that conflict resolution must involve positive rewards for all the parties involved. This involves imaginative application of the principle of benefit sharing and the expansion of water markets to cover the entire river basin.

Greening offices: Willingness to pay for green-certified office spaces in Bengaluru, India

The rapidly growing construction sector in India has a large resource foot print but can offer a vast potential to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Greening the building sector is feasible through various policy measures and incentives to deal with recycling and waste treatment, reduction in energy use, emissions and the use of other hazardous substances, which have several public and private benefits. The objective of this study is to understand whether or not and by how much would the consumers be willing to pay for green buildings if the information asymmetry is reduced by information provisions of benefits from green buildings. This paper uses a choice experiment to evaluate the firms’ willingness to pay for green-certified office spaces in the Indian city of Bengaluru. The study relied on primary survey data drawn from around 115 firms working in rented office spaces in Bengaluru, who were asked to choose between status quo and different levels of green certification. The Tobit model was used for estimation, and the results show that firms value private benefits like reduction in electricity and water bills, water and waste recycling significantly. The willingness to pay of firms is negatively related to rent of the office space and positively related to annual turnover of the firm and prior knowledge on the green building certification.