Environmental Issues

Retrospective Environmental Clearances: Supreme Court Recall and Its Implications

Context: On 18 November 2025, a 2:1 majority of the Supreme Court recalled its May 2025 Vanashakti judgment, which had prohibited the granting of ex-post-facto environmental clearances (ECs). The recall reopens the legal pathway for granting environmental approvals after a project has already begun construction or operation, subject to conditions.

What Was the Vanashakti Judgment (May 2025)?

The Supreme Court’s earlier ruling had taken a strict environmental protection stance. It held that:

  • Retrospective ECs are “gross illegality” and fundamentally opposed to environmental rule of law.
  • The 2017 Notification and 2021 Office Memorandum, which allowed post-facto approvals, were struck down.
  • It emphasised that regularising illegal construction weakens the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and contradicts the precautionary principle.

Grounds for Recalling the Judgment (Nov 2025)

The majority reconsidered the ruling for three key reasons:

1. Legal Consistency

The Court noted that earlier Supreme Court cases —

  • Pahwa Plastics Pvt Ltd (2022)
  • D. Swamy vs KSPCB (2021)

— had allowed post-facto ECs in exceptional circumstances.
To avoid contradiction, the Court recalled the Vanashakti judgment for a fresh, larger review.

2. Economic Impact

The May ruling risked demolition or shutdown of projects valued at ~₹20,000 crore, including pending expansions and partially completed facilities.

3. Public Interest

Essential public infrastructure —

  • Hospitals,
  • Medical colleges,
  • Airports

— would face severe delays, affecting public welfare and regional development.

Justice Bhuyan’s Dissent: A Strong Environmental Stand

Justice Bhuyan disagreed with the recall, arguing:

1. Earlier permissive rulings were per incuriam

He held that Pahwa Plastics and D. Swamy ignored binding precedents such as:

  • Common Cause (2017)
  • Alembic Pharmaceuticals (2020)

Both emphasised that prior EC is mandatory and violations cannot be lightly condoned.

2. Precautionary Principle is non-negotiable

He stressed that post-facto ECs defeat the core purpose of environmental regulation — preventing harm before it occurs rather than legalising it after destruction is done.

Environmental Clearance Framework in India

Environmental clearances operate under the EIA Notification, 2006, issued under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Key Features

  • Mandatory prior EC for 39+ categories (mining, infrastructure, industry, power, river valley).
  • Category A projects → appraised by MoEFCC (Central).
  • Category B → appraised by SEIAA (State).
  • Expert Appraisal Committees (EAC/SEAC) conduct technical scrutiny.
  • Public hearing mandatory for Category A & B1, except defence/strategic and small-scale projects.
  • Validity: Mining (30 yrs), River valley (10 yrs), Industry/Infrastructure (7 yrs).

Conclusion

The Supreme Court’s recall highlights a fundamental tension between environmental protection and economic-development imperatives.

The upcoming review will determine whether India’s environmental governance framework prioritises the precautionary principle or accommodates post-facto approvals for broader public and economic considerations.

PUSA-44 rice variety: Root of farm fires in North India and its alternative

Context: The narrow window between paddy harvesting and sowing of wheat is at the root of farm fires in Punjab and Haryana. Pusa-44 variety is a popular variety of rice which gives enhanced production but its long duration means that farmers have a small window for getting their fields ready for sowing rabi crops, forcing farmers to fire their fields. As an alternative to the popular Pusa-44 rice variety, researchers have developed Pusa-2090 rice variety with a shorter crop duration and yield at par with PUSA-44.

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Pusa-44 Rice Variety

  • Developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and popular among farmers since the 2000s.
  • Yields 35-36 quintals per acre (up to 40 quintals on some lands).
  • Pusa-44 takes 155-160 days to grow, from the time of sowing its seeds in nurseries to harvesting the grain.
  • The high yields — more than the 30-32 quintals per acre that its nearest competitor, the Punjab Agricultural University’s PR-126, gives over just 123-125 days — is Pusa-44’s main attraction for farmers.
  •  Although taking 30-35 days longer to mature, the extra 4-5 quintals yield is worth Rs 9,280-11,600 (per acre) at the Centre’s minimum support price of Rs 2,320 per quintal for ‘Grade A’ paddy.
  • Environmental cost: The Pusa-44 paddy, transplanted in mid-June after       nursery- sowing a month before, can be harvested only towards end-October. This leaves little time for field preparation to sow the winter wheat crop, which should ideally be done before mid-November. Most farmers, then, resort to burning the loose straw and standing stubble that remains after harvesting using combines.
  • Current Cultivation Trends: Pusa-44's area in Punjab decreased from 39% in 2012 to 14.8% in 2023 but remains a first choice in certain districts. The Punjab government has banned Pusa-44, but farmers continue to grow it using saved seeds.
  • Farmer Practices: Some farmers use Super Seeders to manage stubble without burning. Others who cannot afford such equipment still burn stubble for efficiency.

Pusa-2090 (Alternative to Pusa-44)

  • A new, improved shorter-duration rice variety bred from Pusa-44 and CB-501.
  • Maturity period of 120-125 days, same as PR-126, but with higher yields (34-35 quintals per acre).
  • Combines Pusa-44’s high yield potential with CB-501’s early maturity traits.
  • Given the lower yield penalty vis-à-vis Pusa-44, and duration comparable to PR-126, farmers may find it viable to cultivate Pusa-2090.
  • Agricultural Benefits:
    • Yields similar to Pusa-44 with a significantly shorter growing period.
    • Lower irrigation needs (5-6 less than Pusa-44), contributing to water savings.
    • Stronger culm reduces lodging risk compared to PR-126.
  • Milling Quality Considerations:
    • PR-126 paddy isn’t liked much by millers because the rice recovery from it is hardly 63%, whereas the government’s required norm is 67%. If Pusa-2090’s grain quality matches that of Pusa-44, there will be acceptability for it from the millers’ side too
    • Pusa-2090 offers a viable solution to reduce farm fires and improve crop management in Punjab and Haryana.

What are sponge cities ?

Context: China has been hit by devastating floods in July, inundating cities and causing deaths and infrastructural damage, as well as raising questions about the effectiveness of its 2015 sponge city initiative to reduce urban flood risks.

sponge cities

About Sponge Cities

  • It describes urban areas with abundant natural areas such as trees, lakes, and parks or other good designs intended to absorb rain and prevent flooding.
  • It can alleviate urban flooding, water resources shortage, and the urban heat island effect and improve the ecological environment and biodiversity by absorbing and capturing rainwater and utilizing it to reduce floods.
  • There are three main facets to developing such systems: protecting the original urban ecosystem, ecological restoration, and low-impact development.
  • It is part of a worldwide movement that goes by various names: green infrastructure in Europe, low-impact development in the United States, water-sensitive urban design in Australia, natural infrastructure in Peru, and nature-based solutions in Canada.
  • Associated techniques include permeable roads, rooftop gardens, rainwater harvesting, rain gardens, green space and blue space such as ponds and lakes. 

Need for Sponge Cities

  • A growing number of urban areas are experiencing devastating floods as climate change brings heavier rainfall and growing flood risk.
  • A recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report said 700 million people already live in areas where rainfall extremes have increased, a number expected to grow as global temperatures rise.
  • They can hold more water in rivers, greenery, and soil instead of losing it to evaporation, meaning they are more resilient to drought.
  • Natural ways to absorb urban water are about 50% more affordable than man-made solutions and are 28% more effective.

Significance of Sponge Cities

  • In the long run, it will reduce carbon emissions and help fight climate change. 
  • It can reduce the frequency and severity of floods and improve water quality.
  • Helps in preventing beach pollution by capturing stormwater
  • Associated strategies like green space can improve quality of life, improve air quality and reduce urban heat islands.

China's Sponge Cities

  • A sponge city is a new urban construction model for flood management, strengthening ecological infrastructure and drainage systems, proposed by Chinese researchers in early 2000 and accepted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the State Council as urbanism policy in 2014
  • The "sponge city initiative" undertaken by the Chinese government involves the construction of water-absorbent infrastructure in 30 different urban centers. This initiative aims to effectively manage and utilize 60% of the rainfall in these cities. 
  • The strategy includes creating ponds, wetlands, and installing permeable surfaces on roads and public areas, facilitating the natural infiltration of stormwater into the earth. 
  • China's goal is for 80% of its urban regions to have the capacity to absorb and recycle a minimum of 70% of rainwater by the year 2020.

With rapid urbanisation in India and increasing urban floods, it is time for India to move towards sponge cities.

New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG)

Context: The recently concluded Bonn climate conference in Germany, expected to outline the political agenda for the crucial end-of-year Conference of Parties 28 (COP28) in Dubai, was critical for reviewing and reforming the climate finance architecture. The conference has exposed a gaping hole in the funding needed to pay for climate action.

What is NCQG?

  • At the 2009 CoP, the commitment of ‘$100 billion per year till 2020’ to developing nations from developed countries was set.
  • Therefore, under Article 9, the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement agreed to set a New Collective Quantified Goal (NCGQ) for climate financing before 2025.
  • The deliberations were aimed at strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty, including by making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.
  • The NCQG work programme runs from 2022–24 and includes four technical expert dialogues (TEDs) each year and a High-level Ministerial Dialogue.
  • The NCGQ is termed as the “most important climate goal” because,
    • It pulls up the ceiling on commitment from developed countries.
    • It is supposed to anchor the evolving needs and priorities of developing countries based on scientific evidence and
    • It should respond “to the ever-increasing sums of funding, necessary for Loss and Damage in response to failed and/or delayed financial support.

Why do we need a new financial goal?

  • The finance provided by developed countries may be inflated and misleading.
  • The $100 billion target set in 2009 was seen more as a political goal since there was no effort to clarify the definition or source of ‘climate finance’.
  • The economic growth of developed countries has come at the cost of high carbon emissions, and thus they are obligated to shoulder greater responsibility.
  • Funds available for climate finance have increased quantitatively, but they are inaccessible, privately sourced, delayed, and not reaching countries in need.

Challenges to NCQG:

  • Developed countries argue that NCQG must be viewed as a “collective goal” for all developed and developing countries. 
  • This argument pushes the “net zero” pathways onto developing countries, which cannot feasibly pay for mitigation, adaptation, loss and damage, along with sustainably developing key elements of infrastructure.
  • The technical expert dialogues (TEDs) didn't establish a clear roadmap for reaching an agreement by 2024.
  • In 2021, the standing committee on finance of UNFCCC concluded in its first needs determination report (PDF) that developing countries will need $5.8–5.9 trillion up to 2030 to finance actions listed in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
    • However, instead of identifying a single aggregate figure, the NCQG could also set separate targets (or subgoals) for focus areas such as mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage.

WMO Annual Update: Projections for Next Decade's Temperature Trends

Context: The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has released its yearly update on its forecasts for temperature trends over the following ten years.

Key points

  • The annual mean global near-surface temperature for each year between 2023 and 2027 is likely to be 1.1°-1.8°C higher than the average from 1850-1900. 
  • There is a 66% chance that the global near-surface temperature will exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, in at least one year before 2027 though it is unlikely that the five-year mean will exceed this threshold. 
  • At least one of the years, from 2023 to 2027 will be the hottest on record — exceeding the 14.84°C reported in 2016 (it was about 0.07°C warmer than the previous record set in 2015). 
  • The five-year mean for 2023-2027 was very likely to be higher than that in the last five years (2018-2022). 
  •  The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is likely to be positive in December to February 2023-24, meaning that the Central Equatorial Pacific Ocean is likely to be at least half a degree, more likely over a degree above what is normal.
  • Hotter oceans also mean stronger cyclones. For Example- Cyclone Mocha, which barrelled through Myanmar this week and claimed at least 60 lives and wrought severe damage.

Forecast for  India

  • The WMO update does not have specific inputs for India; however, the overall trend in indicators suggests that India, dependent as it is on rain-fed agriculture and with its long coastline, will be severely tested due to changes in the global climate. 
  • India’s abilities at forecasting cyclones and weather anomalies have improved but developing resilience is far more challenging. Greater investments in bolstering disaster-related infrastructure are the need of the hour.

 Paris Agreement 

  • The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, in 2015.

Important Provisions of Paris Agreement 

  • Long-term temperature goal (Art. 2) – limiting global temperature increase to well below 2 degrees Celsius, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees.
  • Mitigation (Art. 4) – The Paris Agreement establishes binding commitments by all Parties to prepare, communicate and maintain a nationally determined contribution (NDC) and to pursue domestic measures to achieve them.
  • It also prescribes that Parties shall communicate their NDCs every 5 years and provide information necessary for clarity and transparency.
  •  Finance, technology and capacity-building support (Art. 9, 10 and 11) – The Paris Agreement reaffirms the obligations of developed countries to support the efforts of developing country Parties to build clean, climate resilient futures, while for the first time encouraging voluntary contributions by other Parties. 

Global Stocktake (Art. 14) – A “global stocktake”, to take place in 2023 and every 5 years thereafter, will assess collective progress toward achieving the purpose of the Agreement in a comprehensive and facilitative manner.

World Metrological Organisation

  • WMO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with 193 Member States and Territories. 
  • Its mandate is in the areas of meteorology (weather and climate), operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences. 
  • The Secretariat, headquartered in Geneva, is headed by the Secretary General.
  • India is a member of WMO. It has been the member since 1949 
  • WMO reports 
  • Green House Gas Bulletin 
  • Status of World Climate

"Forest Fury: Nationwide Protests Ignite as Forest Rights Act Falters Across 12 States"

Context: More than 100 indigenous, forest-dwelling, and tribal delegates from 12 States across the nation spoke out against State governments and the Centre on Monday after a two-day convention on forest rights in Delhi, criticizing their failure to implement the Forest Rights Act of 2006.

About Forest Rights Act of 2006

Historical Background

• Tribals and other traditional forest dwellers have been residing in deep forests since eternity.

• Along with their stay, they have also come to develop unique mutualistic relationship with the forest in terms of their dependence on forest resources.

• As the British rule started hunting for resources, they constrained the entry of Indians, especially tribals into the forests. Hence, fury of acts and policies such as the Indian Forest Act of 1927 curtailed centuries‐old, customary‐use rights of local communities.

• This continued even after independence till much later until enactment of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

Forest Rights Act, 2006

  • The act recognizes and vest forest rights and occupation in Forest land in forest Dwelling Scheduled Tribes (FDST) and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (OTFD)who have been residing in such forests for generations.
  • The act also establishes the responsibilities and authority for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance of FDST and OTFD.
  • It strengthens the conservation regime of the forests while ensuring livelihood and food security of the FDST and OTFD.
  • It seeks to rectify colonial injustice to the FDST and OTFD who are integral to the very survival and sustainability of the forest ecosystem.

The Act Identify Four Types of Rights

  • Title rights: It gives FDST and OTFD the right to ownership to land farmed by tribals or forest dwellers subject to a maximum of 4 hectares. Ownership is only for land that is being cultivated by the concerned family and no new lands will be granted.
  • Use rights: The rights of the dwellers extend to extracting Minor Forest Produce, grazing areas, to pastoralist routes, etc.
  • Relief and development rights: To rehabilitate in case of illegal eviction or forced displacement and to provide basic amenities, subject to restrictions for forest protection
  • Forest management rights: It includes the right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource which they have been traditionally protecting and conserving for sustainable use.

Who can claim these Rights?

  • Members or community of the Scheduled Tribes who primarily reside in and who depend on the forests or forest lands for bona fide livelihood needs.
  •  It can also be claimed by any member or community who has for at least three generations (75 years) prior to the 13th day of December 2005 primarily resided in forests land for bona fide livelihood needs.
  • Gram Sabha is the authority to initiate the process for determining the nature and extent of Individual Forest Rights (IFR) or Community Forest Rights (CFR) or both that may be given to FDST and OTFD.

Importance

  • Recognized and provided the rights of Tribals and OTFD over forest resources.
  • The Act has also helped in the reduction of Naxal problems. Because Land (Jameen) has been one of the three demands of this movement.
  • Recognizing the community rights over forest resources paves the way for management of forest by the dwellers.

Challenges

  • Administrative Apathy:
    • The existing laws related to Environment and Wildlife protection are not compliant with FRA, 2006
    • Many incidents where Supreme Court had to intervene to enforce the provisions of the act.
  • Lack of Awareness:
    •  Specially among the tribals. This creates a demand reduction for the rights.
    • The forest bureaucracy has misinterpreted the FRA as an instrument to regularize encroachment instead of a welfare measure for tribals.
  • Reluctance of the forest bureaucracy to give up control
  • As more and more people legally settle on forested lands, the forest officials fear loss of control over these lands.

Institutional Roadblock

  • Rough maps of community and individual claims are prepared by Gram Sabha which at times often lack technical knowhow and suffers from educational incapacity.
  •  Intensive process of documenting communities’ claims under the FRA makes the process both cumbersome and harrowing for illiterate tribals

Way forward

  • Tribals have been living in harmony with forests and the biodiversity therein. The MoU recognizes important role tribal and forest dwellers can play in protection of forests and biodiversity.
  • Government views MFP rights to curb Naxalism since states most affected by Naxalism are also home to people dependent on forest produce.
  • Recognition of CFR rights would shift forest governance towards community conservation that is more food security and livelihood oriented.
  • Large-scale awareness campaigns are required at local level informing both tribal and lower-level officials.
  • Developing a detailed strategy of training and capacity building of people responsible for implementing the FRA, such as Panchayats, Gram Sabha, village level Forest Rights committee etc.
  • Relevant maps and documents should be made available to the Forest rights committee and claimants to simplify the task of the Gram Sabha in identifying and filing claims for individual and community rights.
  • Providing clarity on the time limit for settling claims the act does not specify any time limit for resolving claims. In most of the areas, both the officials and beneficiaries are unaware of this fact.
  • Centre should take more proactive role in pushing states to honour a law that could change the lives of millions.

The threat of rising sea levels

Context: The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has found in a new report, entitled ‘State of the Global Climate 2022’, that the world’s sea level is rising at an unprecedented rate.

What is average sea level?

  • It is the position of the air-sea interface, to which all terrestrial elevations and submarine depths are referred. 
  • The sea level constantly changes at every locality with the changes in tides, atmospheric pressure, and wind conditions. 
  • Longer-term changes in sea level are influenced by Earth’s changing climates.
  • Consequently, the level is better defined as mean sea level, the height of the sea surface averaged over all stages of the tide over a long period of time.

How sea levels are changing now?

  • According to the WMO report, the sea level has been rising in the three decades for which satellite altimeter data is available (1993-2022). But, while the rate of sealevel rise was 2.27 mm/year in 1993-2002, it shot up to 4.62 mm/year in 2013-2022.
  • Long-term changes in global mean sea level (GMSL) are predominantly driven by three processes:
    • Ice Melt: Due to the warming atmosphere and ocean, ice sheets and mountain glaciers are melting, resulting in the addition of fresh water into the ocean.
    • Thermal Expansion: Ocean water expands as it absorbs trapped heat, causing sea levels to rise. As increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases drive global warming, 90% of the ‘extra’ heat is stored in the oceans. This leads to ocean warming. And as the ocean heats up, it undergoes thermal expansion, which in turn leads to a rise in the GSML
    • Land Water Storage: Water that is either removed from land (through groundwater pumping, for example) or impounded on land (through dam building, for example) can cause a net change in the total water found in the ocean.
  • According to the report, in 2005-2019, loss of glaciers and ice sheets contributed 36% to the GSML rise. Ocean warming — the phenomenon of rising mean ocean temperatures — contributed 55%, and changes in the storage of land water contributed less than 10%.
image 87
State of Global Climate report 2022:

The WMO State of the Global Climate report 2022 focuses on key climate indicators – greenhouse gases, temperatures, sea level rise, ocean heat and acidification, sea ice and glaciers. It also highlights the impacts of climate change and extreme weather.

Drought, floods and heatwaves affect large parts of the world and the costs are rising

Global mean temperatures for the past 8 years have been the highest on record

Sea level and ocean heat are at record levels – and this trend will continue for many centuries

Antarctic sea ice falls to lowest extent on recordEurope shatters records for glacier melt
General factors behind sea-level changes:

Short-term Effects: Variations of sea level on periods ranging from minutes to weeks that arise from processes like storm surge, wave runup, wave setup, astronomical tides and freshwater input.

Variability in Ocean circulation: This includes large-scale climate signals like the seasonal cycle, El Niño-Southern Oscillation, North Atlantic Oscillation, and Pacific Decadal Oscillation. This also includes longer-term changes in ocean circulation that may occur in the future and global sea level rise associated with long-term warming of the ocean and associated expansion.

Glaciers: Glaciers outside of the ice sheets account for about 1% of total ice trapped on land. These changes are expressed regionally through gravitational, rotational and deformational (GRD) changes that have a characteristic pattern, or fingerprint.

Land Water Storage: Changes associated with the transfer of water between land and ocean. This includes variability in the global water cycle, groundwater withdrawal, and water impoundment.

Ice Sheet: The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets contribute to global sea level rise.

Subsidence: Movement of the land at the coast (could also be uplift) in response to a range of physical processes including groundwater and hydrocarbon withdrawal, tectonics, and glacial isostatic adjustment. These changes can vary widely in both time and space and can be associated with human activities.

What can be the possible impacts of Sea level rise?

  • Changes in land – ocean configuration which in turn can alter the heat absorption rates.
  • Reduced land for human activities - as rising seas swallow more of the land cover, particularly in coastal areas, coastal communities will face an “acute shortage of land for human use”
  • Increase in cyclones - As the GSML continues to rise, along with a rise in ocean temperatures, the chances of cyclones could increase, affecting coastal communities and leading to large economic liabilities for tropical countries such as India and South Africa, which have high population densities.
  • Increase in salinity - more sea water could seep into the ground, leading to the groundwater — which is usually freshwater — turning more and more saline. 
  • All these factors will affect the agriculture, infrastructure and Settlements.

Bamboo based bio-refineries

Context: National Thermal Power Corporation, the largest power-generating utility in India, and Chempolis India, a leading Finnish bio-refining technology provider, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the feasibility of setting up a Bamboo-based Bio-Refinery in Bongaigaon, Assam. 

Major Highlights

  • Chempolis will work with NTPC to conduct the feasibility study for the project which shall utilize bamboo for the production of 2G Ethanol, Bio-Coal for thermal power plant & other value-added products. 
  • The proposed Bio-Refinery is planned as an integration project with NTPC Bongaigaon Power Plant, where all utility requirements such as steam, power, etc., shall be supplied from the power plant and the Bio-Coal produced by the Bio-Refinery shall partly replace coal in the power plant, effectively converting 5% of the generation of the power plant to green. 
  • Significance: The project will support NTPC’s decarbonization efforts, create job opportunities and build a sustainable model by promoting the use of locally available resources. 

What is a Bio-Refinery? 

  • Biorefineries are processing facilities that convert biomass to energy and other value-added products such as biofuels, biochemicals, bioenergy/biopower, and other biomaterials. 

National Policy on Biofuels

  • The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas published the “National Policy on Biofuels" in 2018, which was further amended in June 2022.
  • The policy's objective is to reduce the import of petroleum products by fostering domestic biofuel production. 

Salient Features of the National Policy on Biofuels

  • Oil Companies shall sell Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) with a percentage of ethanol up to 20% throughout the country from 01st April 2023.
  • A target of 20% blending of ethanol in petrol is proposed by Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025-26.
  • An indicative target of 5% blending of biodiesel in diesel /direct sale of biodiesel is proposed by 2030. 
  • The Policy categorises biofuels as:
    • "Basic Biofuels" viz. First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel
    • "Advanced Biofuels" - Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels
    • “Third Generation’’ (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG etc. to enable the extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
  • It expands the scope of raw materials for ethanol production by allowing the use of Sugarcane Juice, Sugar containing materials like Sugar Beet, Sweet Sorghum, Starch containing materials like Corn, Cassava, damaged food grains like wheat, broken rice, Rotten Potatoes, unfit for human consumption for ethanol production.
  • It allows the use of surplus food grains for the production of ethanol for blending with petrol with the approval of the National Biofuel Coordination Committee.
  • With a thrust on Advanced Biofuels, the Policy indicates a viability gap funding scheme for 2G ethanol Bio refineries of Rs. 5000 crores in 6 years in addition to additional tax incentives, and a higher purchase price as compared to 1G biofuels.
  • It encourages the setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, Used Cooking Oil, and short gestation crops.

Plastic Rocks on Island Off Brazil

Rocks made of plastic debris have been discovered on the volcanic Trindade Island of Brazil.

What are Plastic rocks?

  • Technically they are called as plastiglomerate.
image 27
  • It is formed when plastic trash melts and fuses together with natural materials such as basaltic lava fragments, sand, shells, wood and coral, resulting in a plastic-rock hybrid.
  • When the plastic melts, it cements rock fragments, sand, and shell debris together, or the plastic can flow into larger rocks and fill in cracks and bubbles.
image 28
  • Researchers say the new material is likely to last a very long time, possibly becoming a permanent marker in Earth’s geologic record.

About Trindade Islands:Location – It is located 1140 Km from Southeastern state of Espirito Santo of Brazil in South Atlantic Ocean.

image 29
  • Ecological significance: Trindade Island is one of the world’s most important conservation spots for green turtles, or Chelonia mydas, with thousands arriving each year to lay their eggs. The only human inhabitants on Trindade are members of the Brazilian navy, which maintains a base on the island and protects the nesting turtles.
  • Plastic threat: It mainly comes from fishing nets, which is very common debris on Trinidade Island’s beaches. The (nets) are dragged by the marine currents and accumulate on the beach. When the temperature rises, this plastic melts and becomes embedded with the beach’s natural material.

What is Plastisphere?

  • The plastisphere consists of ecosystems that have evolved to live in human-made plastic environments.
  • The Plastisphere is a diverse microbial community living on bits of plastic floating in the ocean. These communities are distinct from the surrounding water, suggesting that plastic serves as its own habitat in the ocean.
  • It’s like a biofilm—a sticky material that traps all sorts of microorganisms, protozoa and fungi. They can multiply and create a unique biome around the plastics.


What is Marine snow?

  • Marine snow is a term popularized by scientific explorer and diver William Beebe in the 1930s. It’s made up of nutrient-rich, organic material that falls like snow from the ocean’s surface to the sea floor.
image 30
  • The marine snow phenomenon explains why there’s life at the bottom of the ocean.
  • Also, how carbon can move from top to bottom in the ocean can also be partly explained through marine snow.

IREDA gets 'Infrastructure Finance Status' by RBI

Reserve Bank of India has granted 'Infrastructure Finance Company (IFC)' status to Indian Renewable Development Agency (IREDA). Earlier, IREDA was classified as 'Investment & Credit Company (ICC)'.

About Infrastructure Finance Company Status (IFC)

  • Infrastructure loan means a credit facility extended by NBFCs to a borrower for exposure in the following infrastructure  sub-sectors, listed by the Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure sub-sectors.
  • IFC is a non-deposit accepting loan company with following features:
    • Minimum 75%o of total assets of an IFC-NBFC should be deployed in infrastructure loans.
    • Company should have minimum net worth of Rs 300 crore.
    • Minimum credit rating of IFC should be 'A' or equivalent.
  • IFCs may exceed concentration of credit norms.

About Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure Sub-Sectors

Department of Economic Affairs under Ministry of Finance notifies the Harmonised Master List of Infrastructure Sub-Sectors.

CategoryInfrastructure Sub-Sectors
Transport & LogisticsRoads & bridges Ports & their dredging Shipyards Inland Waterways Airport Railways (Track, Rolling Stock and Terminal Infrastructure) Urban Public Transport (except rolling stock in case of urban road transport) Logistics Infrastructure including Multimodal Logistics Park comprising Inland Container Depot Bulk Material Transportation Pipelines (Oil, Gas, Slurry, Water Supply & Iron Ore pipelines)
EnergyElectricity Generation, Transmission, Distribution Oil/Gas/LNG storage facility & strategic crude storage Energy Storage Systems
Water & SanitationSolid Waste Management Water treatment plants Sewage collection, treatment & disposal system Irrigation (dams, channels, embankments etc.) Storm Water Drainage System
CommunicationTelecommunication (Fixed Network) Telecommunication towers Telecommunication & Telecom Services Date Centres
Social & Commercial InfrastructureEducation institutions (Capital Stock) Sports Infrastructure Hospitals (Capital Stock), Medical Colleges, Para-Medical Training institutes & Diagnostics Centres. Tourism Infrastructure (i) Thee-star or higher category outside cities with population of more than 1 million (ii) Ropeways & Cable Cars Common infrastructure for Industrial Parks and other parks with industrial activity such as food parks, textile parks, SEZs, tourism facilities and agriculture markets. Post-harvest storage infrastructure for agriculture and horticulture produces including cold storage. Terminal markets Soil-testing laboratories Cold Chain Affordable Housing Affordable Rental Housing Complex Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre

Benefits of Infrastructure Finance Company Status (IFC)

  • Help IREDA to access wider investor base for fund mobilisation, resulting in competitive rates for fund raising.
  • Allow IREDA to take higher exposure in Renewable Energy financing.
  • Increase investor's confidence in IREDA.
  • Enhance brand value of IREDA.
  • Generate positive outlook in market towards IREDA.

About Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA)

  • IREDA is a Mini Ratna (Category-1) enterprise under administrative control of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE).
  • It is a public limited government company established as a Non-Banking Financial Institution in 1987.
  • Functions: Promoting, developing and extending financial assistance for setting up projects related to new & renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency/conservation.
  • Motto of IREDA: Energy for Ever.

Sectors to which IREDA lends:

  • Solar Energy
  • Wind Energy
  • Hydro Power
  • Biomass Power & Cogeneration & Biomass (Briquetting, Gasification & Bio-methanation from industrial, Effluents)
  • Energy Efficiency & Cogeneration
  • Wate to Energy
  • National Clean Energy Fund (NCEF)
  • Miscellaneous (Loan to government bodies, Bridge Loan, GECL)
  • Others like Energy Access, Ethanol, Transmission, Hybrid and Electric Vehicle

Waste Management Technologies (SHESHA & RAPID COMPOSTING)

A Start-up Entrepreneurship Workshop was organized by Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) – BARC, DAE Convention Centre.

  • AIC-BARC is established under the ambit of the Atal Innovation Mission (AIM), NITI Aayog to create a start-up eco-system based on spin-off technologies of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
  • AIC-BARC has been set up in line with the “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat”
  • In the workshop, two technologies namely SHESHA (for wet waste management) and Rapid Bio-composting (for dry waste management) were introduced by BARC scientific experts.

SHESHA TECHNOLOGY:

  • SHESHA is a novel, compact helical-shaped waste converter aimed to manage the biodegradable waste generated in small housing societies, restaurants, etc. in-situ, thus allowing decentralized processing of the biodegradable waste. 
  • The system has tremendous potential to process the waste as well as the generation of good quality fuel and manure required for soil applications. 
  • The name Shesha has been given on the basis of the serpentine shape of the digester (its resemblance to the snake Shesha) as well as the Sanskrit name of waste.

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Advantages:

  • Helical-shaped digester made from low-cost PVC pipes.
  • Saving major costs of construction and MS dome required for conventional designs.
  • Suitable for skid mounting on vehicles or wheels required for processing waste from smaller societies/residential complexes.
  • Have inbuilt suitability for biogas recycling for methane enrichment.
  • Suitable for online monitoring of process parameters.

RAPID COMPOSTING TECHNOLOGY

  • ICAR -IISS (Indian Institute of Soil Science) developed this technique in collaboration with ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal and ICAR-NBAIM, Mau.
  • It is based on cellulolytic fungi named Trichoderma koningiopsis isolated from tree bark. 
  • It is safe for the environment and for human handling. 
  • The formulation is capable of composting kitchen waste, agricultural waste, garden waste (dry leaves including coconut leaves) and temple waste. 
  • This method, being completely aerobic in nature, is devoid of foul odour and hence has greater acceptability in society.

STEPS FOR BIO COMPOSTING

  • Collection of biowaste materials
  • Segregation of non-biodegradable materials
  • Waste materials mixed with fresh cow-dung
  • Inoculation with a consortium of organisms
  • All materials mixed together and fed to rapo-compost bioreactor
  • After one month the humified organic manure was allowed for curing
  • Sieved (4 mm sieves) and stored at 25% moisture condition

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Climate Insurance

Every year, an estimated 26 million people are pushed into poverty by natural disasters which cause an average of $300 billion in economic losses. 

Quick-disbursing financial protection instruments, such as contingent credit and insurance, can reduce humanitarian impacts and save money by enabling rapid crisis response and relief efforts. In Ethiopia, for example, every $1 secured ahead of time for early drought response can save up to $5 in future costs.  

Over the past 10 years, 26 countries in three regions—Africa, the Pacific, and the Caribbean and Central America—have joined sovereign catastrophe risk pools.

What is climate risk insurance?

Climate risk insurance is a type of insurance designed to mitigate the financial and other risk associated with climate change, especially phenomena like extreme weather.

Merits:

  • Insurance solutions can help bolster early action in the face of a disaster, and speed up recovery to restore livelihoods and rebuild critical infrastructure so that people, communities and economies can rebound.
  • Climate risk insurance can help protect individuals, small businesses or entire countries from permanent damage caused by the impact of extreme weather events.
  • Allows countries which are affected by climate change to become more independent; rather than waiting for months, or even longer for international aid to arrive.
  • High-premiums in high risk areas experiencing increased climate threats, would discourage settlement in those areas.

Global example: In 2015, for example, thanks to the insurance policy it purchased through the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI), another World Bank-supported risk finance instrument, Vanuatu received $2 million to support recovery just seven days after cyclone Pam devastated the country. While it may not seem like much, the payout was eight times larger than the government’s emergency budget

Issues:

  • Critics of the insurance, say that such insurance places the bulk of the economic burden on communities responsible for the least amount of carbon emissions.
  • For low-income countries, these insurance programmes can be expensive due to the high start-up costs and infrastructure requirements for the data collection.
  • A considerable problem on a micro-level is that weather-related disasters usually affect whole regions or communities at the same time, resulting in a large number of claims simultaneously.

Way ahead?

  • No one size fits all approach: Localized assessments are imperative in order to understand the needs of vulnerable communities and identify how they can be best prepared in the event of a shock like a natural disaster.
  • Climate risk insurance is no stand-alone solution: It must also always be closely linked with preventive risk management strategies, ensuring losses and damages caused by a natural disaster are kept to a minimum.
  • Affordability: To make insurance affordable, the product can be partly – or fully – subsidized by governments or other donors. Regional risk pools can be created.

Transparency about how money is paid out, collaboration with organizations that have deep roots in the communities, alongside ensuring the participation and inclusion of women must be focussed.