INTRODUCTION
Environment is sum total of water, air
and land, inter-relationships among
themselves and also with the human
beings, other living organisms and
property.
Pollution is the introduction of
contaminants into the environment that
cause harm or discomfort to humans or
other living organisms, or that damage
the environment which can come in the
form of chemical substances, or energy
such as noise, heat or light.
CAUSES OF POLLUTION
The ultimate cause of pollution is
human activity itself. Science has
evolved technologies and
technologies have helped the human
welfare. In the process, the pollution
has been a part of technology and
therefore a part of human miseries.
Human activities mainly
include:
1. Industries - directly and
indirectly.
2. Agriculture for food production
and industrial needs
3. Health care-Biomedical wastes
4. Transportation
5. Urbanization
CLEAN DEVELOPMENT
MECHANISM
The Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) is one of the
flexibility mechanisms defined in
the Kyoto Protocol (IPCC, 2007)
that provides for emissions
reduction projects which generate
Certified Emission Reduction
units which may be traded in
emissions trading schemes.
Objectives
(1) To assist countries without emissions
targets (i.e. developing countries) in
achieving sustainable development.
(2) To help those countries with emission
reduction targets under Kyoto (i.e.
developed countries) in achieving
compliance by allowing them to
purchase offsets created by CDM
projects.
PURPOSE
The purpose of the CDM is to promote
clean development in developing
countries. The CDM is one of the
Protocol's "project-based" mechanisms,
in that the CDM is designed to promote
projects that reduce emissions. The CDM
is based on the idea of emission reduction
"production" . These reductions are
"produced" and then subtracted against a
hypothetical "baseline" of emissions. The
emissions baseline are the emissions that
are predicted to occur in the absence of a
particular CDM project.
The economic basis for including
developing countries in efforts to reduce
emissions is that emission cuts are
thought to be less expensive in
developing countries than developed
countries. For e.g, in developing
countries, environmental regulation is
generally weaker than it is in developed
countries. Thus, it is widely thought that
there is greater potential for developing
countries to reduce their emissions than
developed countries.
Project participants
complete a Project
Design Document(PDD)
Design National
Authority(DNA) issues
confirmation
Designed Operational
Entity(DOE) reviews:-
•Parties have established
a
DNA for the CDM
• Non Annex- I Countries
participating are parties to
the Kyoto Protocol
•Environmental impacts
have been analysed
•Project activity confers to
all other requirements for
CDM projects
Approval
Validates
Project
Activity
Registration by
executive Board(10
members)
Monitoring
Project
Participants
Verification &
certification by DOE
Issuance of
CERs
INDIAN CONTEXT
Although the developed
countries try to play big brother
roles many a time on any given
global problems and needs,
they are also responsible for
the GHG emissions, the Kyoto
Protocol introduced the
concept of “Common, but
differentiated in reducing
emissions”.
Where as developing nation
like India are not given
emission targets, as it
produces less emission.
At the same time India
accounts for a larger amount of
mismanaged solid waste and
disposal arrangements.
The Indian government has a bilateral
agreement with the Danish
government for setting up CDM
project and honouring Kyoto Protocol.
It facilitates sustainable development
in India through CDM project
development , by ensuring that the
transacted projects meet the existing
sustainability criteria set forth in India
for such purposes.
India holds around 24% of the global CDM
market, according to UNFCCC data.
The Indian government has also proposed
the creation of an International
Methodology Development Fund, which
will scrap charges for first-time project
developers, to keep foreign investment
flows liquid. Among other reforms, the
Indian delegation says that removing the
burden of costs will allow Indian CDM to
past Phase III (2012–2020).
India, and the largest CDM
project developer, China,
has come under heavy
criticism for failing to sign
up to a legal binding
agreement to reduce
emissions.
The following aspects should be
considered while designing CDM
project activities:
1. Social well-being:
a) lead to alleviation of poverty by
generating additional employment,
b) removal of social disparities and
contributing to provision of basic
amenities to people.
2. Economic well-being: The CDM project
activity should bring in additional
investment consistent with the needs of
the people.
3. Environmental well-being:
This should include a
discussion of the impact of the
project activity on resource
sustainability and resource
degradation, if any, due to the
proposed activity, biodiversity-
friendliness, impact on human
health; reduction of levels of
pollution in general.
4. Technological well-being: The
CDM project activity should lead to
transfer of environmentally safe
and sound technologies with a
priority to the renewable sectors or
energy efficiency projects that are
comparable to best practices in
order to assist in up gradation of
the technological base.
Industrial CDM projects,
ODISHA
GHG emission reduction through technology
rennovation: TATA Refractories Ltd Belpahar,
Jharsuguda district :
PDD says:-
The project participant, Tata Refractories
Ltd (TRL), is a part of the Tata Group of
Companies that operates in diverse
business segments across India. TRL
established its refractory facility in 1958 at
Belpahar in Odisha and is presently the
leading producer of refractories in the
country.
The project involves:-
Replacement of the three units of gas
ring kilns (GRKs) with a single unit of
tunnel kiln of design capacity 2100
tonnes/month.
The tunnel kiln, which will also operate
on the same fuel, that is, producer gas,
requires lower cycle time (7.5
days/cycle)
The implementation of project activity
would thus reduce producer gas
consumption, which, in turn , would lead
to lower coal consumption for firing silica
Sustainable Development
Socio-economic well-being:
a) indirect employment generation
b) creates business opportunity for local stakeholders
Environmental well-being:
a) direct reduction in emissions of GHGs
b) conservation of non-renewable resources (such as
coal).
c) reduction in solid-waste generation
Technological well-being:
a) The replacement of GRKs with tunnel kiln will lead to
implementation of cleaner technology for silica brick-
firing.
Report from the field
The village Jamkani near Belpahar,
the site of the Tata group’s 50-year old
plant. Not impressed or overpowered
by the show, the villagers here
seemed to be terribly angry. Beyond
the village limits rose the high wall of
the plant, and stacks of chimneys.
Effluents from the plant are
discharged through a drain passing
through the wall, and directly into the
villagers’ fields. ‘It is so toxic that it
ruined their only pond,’
It was seen that the people bathing in
the stinking black water. It is known
that bathing in the pond means skin
ailments and other diseases.
According to the villagers, they do not
have any safe drinking water because
of the company. The soil is full of
fluoride, and there are many victims of
fluorosis at Jamkani.
Just as the company doesn’t know
anything about what happens beyond
its tall walls, the local people have no
idea about what is being
manufactured behind the walls and
nor any knowledge about CDM. The
situation even gets surreal: the temple
of the village deity is now almost
buried in the muck coming from a
mine nearby. The mine feeds the Tata
refractory
CONCLUSION
The CDM project aims at reduction of
GHGs but it doesn’t take into account the
biogenic emissions which has maximum
contribution towards GHGs emissions in
India. As most of the people dwell in the
rural area and depends on biogenic
sources of fuel CDM fails to a certain
extent to reduce emission. Even though
CDM promises a sustainable
development but the local people are
subsequently neglected and faces the
worst outcome of it.