Comment by Riaz Haq on November 10, 2021 at 6:01pm

#Toxic foam coats sacred river in #India as #Hindu devotees bathe in its waters. The white froth, a mixture of sewage and industrial waste, formed over the last week in sections of the Yamuna River --a tributary of the holy Ganges River. #pollution #COP26 https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/10/india/india-toxic-foam-intl-hnk/inde...

A layer of toxic foam coated parts of a sacred river near India's capital on Wednesday as Hindus gathered on its banks to celebrate a religious festival and some devotees bathed in the waters.

The white froth, a mixture of sewage and industrial waste, formed over the last week in sections of the Yamuna River -- a tributary of the holy Ganges River -- which flows about 855 miles (1,376 kilometers) south from the Himalayas through several states.
The pungent foam contains high levels of ammonia and phosphates, which can result in respiratory and skin problems, according to experts. Its arrival coincided with Chhath Puja, a festival dedicated to the sun god Lord Surya. Earlier this week, some Hindus were seen wading through the toxic foam to bathe and pray in the river.
Devotee Gunjan Devi said Tuesday she had no choice but to bathe in the polluted waters.
"The water is extremely dirty but we don't have many options," she said, Reuters reported. "It is a ritual to take a bath in a water body so we have come here to bathe."
According to the Press Trust of India, 15 boats have been deployed by the government to remove the foam, but experts fear it has already caused significant damage.
"The river in Delhi's stretch is an ecologically dead river," said Bhim Singh Rawat, from the South Asia Network on Dams, Rivers and People (SANDRP). "It doesn't have fish or fresh water birds. That has been the case for years now."

For decades, sections of the Yamuna have been plagued by the dumping of toxic chemicals and untreated sewage. In several sections, the river appears dark and sludgy, while plastic waste lines its banks.

The river is most polluted in areas surrounding Delhi, owing to the city's dense population and high levels of waste. Only 2% of the river's length flows through the capital, but Delhi contributes about 76% of the river's total pollution load, according to a government monitoring committee.
Rawat, from SANDRP, said the polluted river is impacting people living in several cities downstream, including Faridabad, Noida and Agra. "Thousands of villagers take irrigation water from the river, they take buckets to the river for bathing and drinking," he said.
In 2017, similar looking foam appeared on Varthur Lake in the southern city of Bangalore. Strong gusts of wind carried the frothy chemical cocktail onto roads.
The same year, a lake in Bangalore erupted into flames, which experts believe was due to traces of petroleum in the water.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 11, 2021 at 4:10pm

Ever thought burps and farts of cattle are posing a danger to our planet Earth? These digestive processes expel methane, a colourless and odourless gas which is approximately 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to warming the planet. There are approximately 1.6 billion cattle on Earth. And one of the biggest sources of Methane gas is cattle such as cows that produce it during digestion, according to a source. But no worries as an innovative solution to tackle this problem has come along. Zelp, a UK based firm has created a face mask which filters burps of the cows. As per the source, the mask is able to reduce the methane emission up to 60 per cent.

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The mask is also found to be comfortable for the cows, as they can also be adjusted according to the head size. It is applied to them after they are weaned, usually at 6-8 months of age. At the tip of the mask, a sensor detects the percentage of methane that is expelled when the cow exhales. When methane levels get too high, the mask channels the gas towards an oxidation mechanism inside, which contains a catalyst that converts methane into CO2 and water, and expels it from the device. "The technology detects, captures and oxidises methane when it is exhaled by the animals," said Francisco Norris, one of the two brothers who founded the firm. "Around 95 per cent of the cattle's methane emissions come from their nostrils and mouths," Norris added. Zelp has conducted behavioural trials and observations with institutions in the UK and Argentina, including the Royal Veterinary College, which have indicated that the wearable has no impact on the animal's behaviour and feeding.

https://thelogicalindian.com/uplifting/mask-for-cows-25911

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 11, 2021 at 5:11pm

India has abstained from signing a pledge that aims to cut down the emission of greenhouse gas— methane by 2030. The United States and European Union have jointly pledged to cut down methane emission by 30 per cent compared with 2020 levels, in an attempt to fight rapid climate change. The 'Global Methane Pledge' was launched at the ongoing COP26 summit in Glasgow and was signed by as many as 100 countries. In another major development, 133 countries have signed a Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use — a declaration initiated by the United Kingdom to "halt deforestation" and land degradation by 2030. India has kept an arm's length from this ambitious environmental goal as well.

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China, Russia, and India are the top three emitters of greenhouse gas. Though the top three methane emitters have decided not to be a signatory, six on the list of the world's top 10 methane producers—the U.S., Brazil, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Mexico—have taken the pledge.

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Agents Emitting Methane Livestock emission—from manure and gastroenteric releases amounts to 32 per cent of human-caused methane emission. With the ever-increasing global population, the demand for animal protein has also increased worldwide. Another contributor to agriculture methane is paddy rice cultivation, where the flooded fields prevent the oxygen from penetrating the soil. This accounts for another 8 per cent of human-made emissions. How To Cut Down Methane Emission It has been said cutting methane emissions is the quickest way to tackle climate change since the gas has accounted for roughly 30 per cent of global warming since pre-industrial times and has been rapidly multiplying. UNEP Food Systems and Agriculture Advisor James Lomax says the world needs to begin by "rethinking our approaches to agricultural cultivation and livestock production." It includes leveraging new technology, shifting towards plant-rich diets, and embracing alternative sources of protein. Lomax says that it will be key if humanity is to slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to 1.5°C, a target of the Paris climate change agreement.


https://thelogicalindian.com/environment/india-methane-emissions-31820

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 11, 2021 at 5:24pm

Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent) - Country Ranking
Definition: Methane emissions are those stemming from human activities such as agriculture and from industrial methane production.


https://www.indexmundi.com/facts/indicators/EN.ATM.METH.KT.CE/rankings

Rank Country Value Year
1 China 1,752,290.00 2012
2 India 636,395.80 2012
3 Russia 545,818.60 2012
4 United States 499,809.30 2012
5 Brazil 477,076.80 2012
6 Indonesia 223,315.70 2012
7 Pakistan 158,336.60 2012
8 Australia 125,588.20 2012
9 Iran 121,298.10 2012
10 Mexico 116,704.60 2012

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 11, 2021 at 5:58pm

Global methane deal signed by 105 countries (including 8th largest emitter Pakistan) but missing major emitters
Biggest contributors to pollution, such as China, Russia and India, not part of agreement to cut emissions by 30% this decade


https://www.ft.com/content/65a346e4-1ce8-4027-9427-a3347691e8bd

More than 100 countries have signed up to a global initiative to crackdown on methane pollution over the coming decade, but a handful of major emitters remain outside the deal sealed at the UN climate summit.

Several big contributors to global emissions, including China, Russia and India, are not signatories to the “global methane pledge”, spearheaded by the EU and US.

However, the number of countries supporting the initiative has grown from just six members when it was initially announced in September, to 105 at its official launch at the Glasgow world leader talks.

The pledge commits countries to reducing their emissions of methane — a potent greenhouse gas emitted from the energy, agriculture and waste sectors — by 30 per cent by the end of the decade from 2020 levels.

US president Joe Biden described it as a “game-changer”, as he launched the initiative on Tuesday, alongside new rules on US emissions. “One of the most important things we can do in this decisive decade to keep 1.5 degrees [global warming] in reach is to reduce our methane emissions as quickly as possible,” he said.



Methane has 80 times the warming potential of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period, making it key to efforts to tackle global warming. The initiative has estimated that a 30 per cent fall in methane emissions by 2030 would reduce global warming by at least 0.2C by 2050.

Temperatures have already risen by an estimated 1.1C since pre-industrial times.

“Putting methane at the top of the agenda for these talks is a critical move that will improve the lives of millions at home and around the world by holding off climate chaos,” said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund. “It will be one of the major success stories of the Glasgow talks.”

The agreement coincided with the release of new plans by the White House to crack down on US oil and gas industry pollution from methane.


Those rules, proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, go beyond any previous regulation of methane in the US, forcing operators of both new and existing infrastructure to monitor and fix leaks of the gas.

The announcement delivered an environmental victory to President Biden, after his plans to enact extensive climate spending suffered a new setback due to resistance from Joe Manchin, the pivotal centrist West Virginia Democrat.

Biden had hoped to pass legislation pumping more than $555bn into tackling climate change ahead of the Glasgow summit. Manchin said on Monday he had lingering “concerns” about the $1.75tn package and he could not guarantee he would vote for the bill.

Slow progress domestically has undermined the US abroad as it seeks to cajole other world leaders into making greater climate-related commitments at the COP26 summit.




But the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers hit out at the proposals, saying they risked putting hundreds of smaller producers out of business. “Rushing this proposal to meet a global conference agenda does not make for good environmental or economic policy,” said Jason Modglin, its president.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 11, 2021 at 6:51pm

From Food & Agriculture Organization (FAO)

https://www.fao.org/dairy-production-products/production/en/

Milk production
Approximately 150 million households around the globe are engaged in milk production. In most developing countries, milk is produced by smallholders, and milk production contributes to household livelihoods, food security and nutrition. Milk provides relatively quick returns for small-scale producers and is an important source of cash income.


In the last three decades, world milk production has increased by more than 59 percent, from 530 million tonnes in 1988 to 843 million tonnes in 2018.
India is the world’s largest milk producer, with 22 percent of global production, followed by the United States of America, China, Pakistan and Brazil.
Since the 1970s, most of the expansion in milk production has been in South Asia, which is the main driver of milk production growth in the developing world.
Milk production in Africa is growing more slowly than in other developing regions, because of poverty and – in some countries – adverse climatic conditions.
The countries with the highest milk surpluses are New Zealand, the United States of America, Germany, France, Australia and Ireland.
The countries with the highest milk deficits are China, Italy, the Russian Federation, Mexico, Algeria and Indonesia.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 12, 2021 at 7:05am

#India, World's 3rd Biggest Emitter, Wants $1 Trillion To Raise Targets to Cut Emissions. Even as 121 nations have submitted their official #climate pledges to the #UN in documents know as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), India has not. #COP26 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-10/india-holds-back...

The world’s third-biggest emitter also opposes a push at the COP26 climate talks to phase out coal and end subsidies for oil and gas.

India has named its price in high-stakes climate talks: if the rich countries want it to cut planet-warming emissions, they need to come up with $1 trillion of public cash by the end of the decade.

The demand comes after India’s surprise announcement at the opening of COP26 negotiations in Glasgow, Scotland, that it would set an ambitious new goal to reach net-zero emissions by 2070. In his speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that rich countries should provide as much as $1 trillion in climate finance.

On Wednesday, Indian officials clarified their demands. They want $1 trillion in funds just for India by 2030 — ten times more than the unmet $100 billion a year for all poor countries sought under previous deals. Over a decade, that would mean advanced economies have to give India the same amount of funds they’ve promised for all poor countries.

India is asking for such a large sum because it’s also taking into account loss and damage, Environment Secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta said in an interview, referring to what poor countries see as a debt owed by nations who are responsible for the bulk of greenhouse gases accumulated in the atmosphere. Rich countries’ current $100 billion a year target is only meant to fund decarbonization measures and infrastructure that helps protect against more extreme weather events.

Even as 121 countries have submitted their official climate pledges to the UN in documents know as nationally determined contributions, India has held back. “Let’s be clear,” an unnamed delegate told the Hindustan Times, “India will not update its NDC till there is clarity on climate finance.” The Indians want a clear promise on making the funds available “as soon as possible,” an official told Bloomberg Green.

India also pushed back on proposed language in the final Glasgow agreement that countries will “accelerate the phasing-out of coal and subsidies for fossil fuels.” Gupta said the nation will only move away from the dirtiest fossil fuel if it gets the financial support it’s asking for.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said after a meeting with the Indian delegation in Glasgow that he “won’t promise” $1 trillion for India, and still needs to look at the details. In the meeting, Kerry committed the U.S. to joining the International Solar Alliance which is headquartered in the Indian city of Gurugram.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 18, 2021 at 10:30am

Cement sector pledges to decarbonise Pakistan

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/906340-cement-sector-pledges-to-de...

KARACHI: Pakistan Business Council (PBC) hosted a virtual session with British High Commission and Embassy of Italy to discuss the pathways for the decarbonisation of the country's cement sector.

This webinar comes at a time when the world leaders have huddled in Glasgow to discuss sustainability and growth without compromising everyone’s collective future. Speaking at the moot, Mike Nithavrianakis, British Deputy High Commissioner and Director of Trade, said, “Next to water, concrete is the second-most consumed substance on earth; on average, each person uses nearly three tonnes a year”.

According to Nithavrianakis, the concrete industry uses about 1.6 billion tons of Portland cement to produce 12 billion tons of concrete a year and accounts for 7-8 percent of greenhouse emissions. Ehsan Malik, CEO PBC, said, “The investment in infrastructure and the construction packages of the government will entail substantial increase in the use of cement in Pakistan, so we need to think about climate-resilient ways of production”.

Muhammad Ali Tabba, CEO Lucky Cement Limited and President of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association said, “In a bid to achieve green growth going forward, the industry globally will have to adapt to climate change challenges and rework business models to ensure environmental stewardship and robust growth and the cement industry in Pakistan is committed to playing its role”. Faustine Delasalle, Co-Executive Director, Mission Possible Partnership and Director, Energy Transitions Commission explained, “There are essentially three routes, which need to be taken to meet the increasing demand whilst reducing emissions in the cement sector”. “The first being a need to relook at using materials efficiently, the second being improving energy efficiency and the third being employing new technologies to cut emissions,” Delasalle added.

According to the statement, Pakistan’s leading companies are also committing to reduce carbon emissions by disclosing their pledge openly. More than 28 companies from various sectors have signed the pledge letter to the ‘Business Ambition to 1.5 Degrees’ – and are ready to embark on the journey to reduce Carbon emissions to 50 percent by 2030.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 20, 2021 at 8:17am

#Pakistan's 720 MW Karot #hydropower dam starts filling reservoir, getting ready to generate #electricity. First private-sector IPP hydropower project nearing completion under #CPEC (#China-Pakistan Economic Corridor). #energy #renewable #ClimateAction https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-11-20/Pakistan-s-Karot-Hydropower-S...

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a 3,000-kilometer-long route of infrastructure projects connecting northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Gwadar Port in the western province of Balochistan in Pakistan.

On Saturday, the first hydropower project along this corridor, the Karot Hydropower Station, closed the gates of its diversion tunnels after six years of construction, and officially started to impound water. That's the accumulation of water in its reservoir for future use.

It's a milestone event, marking the completion of around 95 percent of the project.

Engineers recounted challenges in the construction of the hydropower plant.

"We spent two years working out solutions to cope with the sandstone and mudstone underground, which interrupted our grouting work. We made it after repeated trial and error. The cement used for the construction was produced locally, so we tried very hard to control temperature rise and reduce cracks in the concrete," Zuo Yaxi, head of the Engineering Department of China Three Gorges South Asia Investment Ltd. (CSAIL), told CGTN in an interview.

The Karot Hydropower Station is located on the Jhelum River in Pakistan's eastern province of Punjab. With an installed capacity of 7,200 megawatts, it can provide over 3 billion kilowatt hours of clean energy each year, supplying electricity to about 5 million people in the country.

The project did not only provide employment, but will also bring down electricity costs for consumers.

N.A. Zubeiri, CSAIL senior consultant explained to CGTN that "during construction, about 3,000 to 5,000 people will be employed, and they're already employed here. Another important thing is that the tariff for the project is around 7.5 U.S. cents per unit. So consumers in Pakistan will get cheaper electricity from this basic project."

The project is an investment by China Three Gorges Corporation, a Chinese enterprise that's among the world's largest producers of hydroelectric power. Its subsidiary, the CSAIL, holds the majority share of the Karot Power Company that operates the plant.

The plant will be transferred to the provincial government after 30 years.

"This project is coming from private sectors. After completing 30 years, this project will be transferred to the provincial government, which means the government of Punjab will get a project of $1.7 billion for free," Zubeiri added.

The Karot Hydropower Station is the first investment project of the Silk Road Fund, and is part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Once completed, it's expected to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions in Pakistan by 3.5 million tonnes per year.

Comment by Riaz Haq on November 20, 2021 at 8:31am

Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) is executing the biggest-ever portfolio of development projects in Pakistan including Diamer Basha Dam, Dasu Hydropower Project and Mohmand Dam worth $26 billion after a span of almost five decades by adopting an innovative financing strategy on the back of a robust capital structure and strong balance sheet footing.

https://nation.com.pk/11-Nov-2021/wapda-executing-projects-worth-do...


WAPDA Chairman Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain (retd) highlighted this in the meeting with a delegation of JP Morgan comprising senior representatives namely Asif Raza, Managing Director Global Corporate Bank CEEMEA, Imran Zaidi, Managing Director Global Corporate Bank covering Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Amin M Khawaja, Chief Executive Officer Pakistan. WAPDA Member (Finance) Naveed Asghar was also present on the occasion.

Giving a run-down of 10 under construction WAPDA projects, the chairman said that these projects would enhance water storage capacity by more than 11 MAF and add another 9,000 MW of hydel electricity to the system. WAPDA has unparalleled institutional capacity to identify and implement multipurpose hydropower projects. It has adopted a multi-pronged strategy including Green Eurobonds and Syndicate loans etc for implementation of its projects. This was a radical shift from entire reliance on the Government of Pakistan. WAPDA’s business model has an important role to play in the development of a sustainable and lower-carbon economy in Pakistan, he said. The chairman said that WAPDA would continue to approach the international financial and capital market in a staggered mode, to minimise financing cost, in line with its financing requirements and would look forward to bring further investments in the hydropower sector which would go a long way to reduce carbon footprint in the power generation sector of Pakistan. He appreciated the role played by JP Morgan as the lead arranger for WAPDA’s debut Green Eurobond issuance alongside Deutsche, Standard Chartered and HBL Bank.

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