India GHG emissions report 2007
May 2010

The only official estimates for India’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were those from a 1994 National Communication to the UN Climate Convention, and were the figures oft quoted in all international climate change negotiations. Although India is currently preparing its second national communication for the base year 2000 (a requirement of the UNFCCC), informed decision-making has been in need of recent data.

A recent report brought out by the Indian Network of Climate Change Assessment (INCCA), instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), provides GHG emission data for the year 2007.

Results indicate that emissions have gone up by nearly 58 percent between 1994 and 2007. From 1.2 billion tonnes of CO2e in 1994 to 1.7 billion tonnes in 2007. The jump in emissions are driven largely by a boost to industrial activity, energy production and transport.

Energy
Emissions from energy (including electricity, transport, residential and others), accounted for the major proportion of 58% of total emissions, while industry and agriculture were the other major contributors, at 22% and 17%.

These new 2007 GHG estimates now make India the fourth largest emitter in the world, after China, the United States and Russia.

In 2007, the energy sector in India emitted 1100.06 million tons of CO2. Of this, 65.4% came from electricity generation - not surprising since nearly 70% of India’s electricity is generated from thermal power plants, using coal (90%), natural gas (8%) and oil (2%).

Rapid economic growth has fueled the demand for transport services, and India has consequently seen a boom in road transport and aviation sectors. The total number of registered vehicles has increased from 5.4 million in 1981 to 99.6 million in 2007, and the major proportion of these (88%), is motorcycles and cars.
The transport sector as a whole is estimated to account for 142.04 million tonnes of CO2e, with 87% of emissions coming from road transport. Interestingly also, the highest growth in vehicles has been in the two-wheeler segment, while buses have claimed a consistently low proportion since 2000.

In 2007, the residential sector emitted 137.74 million tonnes of CO2e, and the commercial sector considerably less, with 1.64 million tonnes of CO2e. A major portion of emissions in rural areas comes not from use of electrical appliances, but biomass combustion.

Industry
The industry sector is a major contributor to GHG emissions (22%), and in 2007, CO2e from this sector was 412.55 million tonnes. 31.7% of emissions came from mineral industries, while metal industries accounted for 28.4%.

Agriculture
The agriculture sector is the next big contributor, at 17%, owing mainly to methane emissions from livestock and rice paddy cultivation. Enteric fermentation (from livestock) accounted for 63% emissions from this sector, and 21% from rice cultivation.

This report will go towards two-yearly submissions on national reporting and action on climate change, and claims that this makes India the first non-Annex I country to submit its emissions report to the UNFCCC outside of the mandated requirements. 

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