IGIDR Annual Report 2008-2009 - Indira Gandhi Institute of ...

Research Activitiesbiopower, etc., has emerged as an important option.Different forms of bioenergy are being produced andused in various countries with predominance ofbioethanol and biodiesel. For example, in Brazil, USA,Sweden, Australia, Thailand, and India bioethanol isblended with gasoline, in the range of 5-20%, and usedas transport fuel. If managed properly, developmentand use of bioenergy may accrue several benefits inEast Asia both on environmental and socio-economicfronts. A judicious selection of bioenergy would helpin reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions.Further, biomass is mostly produced by local farmers,and increased demand for it may improve theiremployment and income. Increased income maycontribute to the improvement of their quality of life.On the other hand, accelerated use of bioenergy couldhave several negative impacts and aggravate problemsof shortage of water, food, fodder, land, etc. in theregion. Some biomass resources are utilised as food,fodder or for other domestic activities in developingeconomies. Increased demand of biomass for energygeneration may cause an imbalance and prices of foodcrops such as sugar, corn, wheat, etc. may rise,affecting economically weaker sections of the societyin the East Asian region. This project investigatesvarious aspects of ―Sustainable Biomass Utilisation inEast Asia.‖ An elaborate research was conducted by amulti-disciplinary working group (WG), consisting ofthe Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and EastAsia (ERIA) experts in energy, environment, socialsciencesand economics, within the East Asian region.The WG highlighted the crucial issues and suggestedsome necessary steps for achieving a sustainabledevelopment of biomass utilisation in the region. In hisindependent chapter Vinod K. Sharma (―Social Aspectsof Bioenergy in India,‖ in Sustainable BiomassUtilisation Vision in East Asia (ed.) MasayugiSagisaka, April, 2008, jointly published by the JapanExternal Trade Organisation, Institute for DevelopingEconomies and Economic Research Institute forASEAN and East Asia) focuses on various technical,socio-economic and policy issues of development ofBioenergy in Asia-Pacific Region.Binay Kumar Ray and B. Sudhakara Reddy (in―Understanding industrial energy use: Physical energyintensity changes in Indian manufacturing sector,‖IGIDR-WP-2008-011) demonstrate that in India, theindustrial sector contributes about 30 % of grossdomestic product (GDP) (manufacturing accounting for80%) and consumes about 35 % of total energy.Between 1990 and 2005, the aggregate commercialenergy consumption per year grew by approximately3.87 per cent. This growth can be attributed mainly topopulation increase and economic growth. Theincrease in energy consumption led to increasedenergy-related environmental problems, a situationwhich would have been further aggravated by therelatively low efficiency of energy use, which isindicated by the increasing trend of energy intensity.The present study dwells upon the major issues facingthe industry in promoting sustainable energydevelopment and analyse some of the policy optionsand possible strategies that the country could considerto attain the objective of sustainable energydevelopment. Since energy consumption has negativeenvironmental consequences, the study of the impact ofenergy use on the environment is also of immenseinterest. In that respect the present study dwells on theneed for strategic technology management ofsustainable industrial energy consumption. It aims toidentify the CDM potential, as well as investigate themitigation options of energy-related CO2 emissions inthe sector. A decomposition analysis is performed toidentify different factors that affect changes in energyconsumption and CO2 emissions, the intensity levels;and to learn the potential of energy efficiencyimprovement.For over two decades, scientific and politicalcommunities have debated whether and how to act onclimate change. B. Sudhakara Reddy and Gaudenz BAssenza (in ―The Great Climate Debate,‖ EnergyPolicy, 2009, Vol 37, pp. 2997-3008) revisit thesedebates and synthesize the longstanding arguments.Firstly, the paper provides an overview of thedevelopment of international climate policy anddiscusses clashing positions, represented by scepticsIndira Gandhi Institute of Development Research 19