• Energy Research

PurposeIndia began gas imports since 2004 through liquified natural gas (LNG) route. Imports through trans‐country gas pipelines could help in bringing gas directly into the densely populated Northern part of India, which are far from domestic gas resources as well as coastal LNG terminals. The purpose of this paper is to report scenarios, which quantify the impacts for India of regional cooperation to materialize trans‐country pipelines. The analysis covers time period from 2005 to 2030.Design/methodology/approachThe long‐term energy system model ANSWER‐MARKAL is used for the analysis.FindingsTrans‐country pipelines could deliver direct economic benefit of US$310 billion for the period 2010‐2030. Besides these, there are positive externalities in terms of lower greenhouse gas emissions and improved local environment, and enhanced energy security. However, the benefits are sensitive to global gas prices as higher gas prices would reduce the demand for gas and also the positive externalities from using gas.Practical implicationsTrans‐country pipelines are of great importance to India as they add 0.4 per cent to gross domestic product over the period besides yielding positive environmental externalities and improved energy security.Originality/valueQuantification of benefits from trans‐country pipeline proposals till 2030.

The Paris Agreement introduces long-term strategies as an instrument to inform progressively more ambitious emission reduction objectives, while holding development goals paramount in the context of national circumstances. In the lead up to the twenty-first Conference of the Parties, the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project developed mid-century low-emission pathways for 16 countries, based on an innovative pathway design framework. In this Perspective, we describe this framework and show how it can support the development of sectorally and technologically detailed, policy-relevant and country-driven strategies consistent with the Paris Agreement climate goal. We also discuss how this framework can be used to engage stakeholder input and buy-in; design implementation policy packages; reveal necessary technological, financial and institutional enabling conditions; and support global stocktaking and increasing of ambition.

This paper analyses the impact of postponing global mitigation action on abatement costs and energy systems changes in China and India. It compares energy-system changes and mitigation costs from a global and two national energy-system models under two global emission pathways with medium likelihood of meeting the 2 °C target: a least-cost pathway and a pathway that postpones ambitious mitigation action, starting from the Copenhagen Accord pledges. Both pathways have similar 2010–2050 cumulative greenhouse gas emissions. The analysis shows that postponing mitigation action increases the lock-in in less energy efficient technologies and results in much higher cumulative mitigation costs. The models agree that carbon capture and storage (CCS) and nuclear energy are important mitigation technologies, while the shares of biofuels and other renewables vary largely over the models. Differences between India and China with respect to the timing of emission reductions and the choice of mitigation measures relate to differences in projections of rapid economic change, capital stock turnover and technological development. Furthermore, depending on the way it is implemented, climate policy could increase indoor air pollution, but it is likely to provide synergies for energy security. These relations should be taken into account when designing national climate policies.

Cooperation of large developing countries such as India would be important in achieving a low carbon future, which can help in restricting the global temperature rise to 2 °C. Global modeling studies of such low carbon scenarios point to a prominent role for renewable energy. This paper reports scenarios for a low carbon future in India. An integrated modeling framework is used for assessing the alternate development pathways having equal cumulative CO2 emissions. The modeling period ranges from 2005 to 2050. The first pathway assumes a conventional development pattern together with a carbon price that aligns India’s emissions to an optimal 450 ppmv CO2-eq. stabilization global response. The second emissions pathway assumes an underlying sustainable development pattern. A low carbon future will be good for renewable energy under both the development pathways, though the share of renewable energy will be higher under a sustainable pathway. Renewable energy faces competition from low carbon technologies like nuclear and carbon capture and storage in the electricity sector. Solar, wind, biomass, and biofuels emerge as the four competitive renewable energy choices for India. Renewable development however depends critically on the reduction in the costs and in the ability to integrate the intermittent renewables within the existing systems for which technology transfer and capacity building hold the key.

Abstract Transformation of Asia's transport sector has vital implications for climate change, sustainable development and energy indicators. Papers in this special issue show how transport transitions in Asia may play out in different socio-economic and policy scenarios, including a low carbon scenario equivalent to 2 °C stabilization. Accounting for heterogeneity of national transport systems, these papers use diverse methods, frameworks and models to assess the response of the transport system to environmental policy, such as a carbon tax, as well as to a cluster of policies aimed at diverse development indicators. The analysis shows that CO2 mitigation in a transport system is achieved more effectively by aligning mitigation policies with sustainable development policies and measures such as mandates for mode share and choices such as urban design, information and communication systems, and behavioral measures. Authors therefore advocate policies that target multiple dividends vis-a-vis carbon mitigation, energy security and local air quality. Whereas four papers focus on emissions mitigation policies, one paper examines challenges to adapt fast growing transport infrastructures to future climate change induced risks. Collectively, the papers exemplify a set of policies and measures that can deliver co-benefits, and, also, demonstrate the use of methods, frameworks and models to delineate the optimal mix of such policies and measures.

Increasing population and urbanization is creating a steadily increasing demand for transportation in the cities of many developing countries, coinciding with rapid economic growth leading to increasing demand for higher standards of living and faster and more efficient modes of transportation. The decisions made today regarding transport infrastructure will affect long‐term travel behavior, with corresponding impacts on the economy, society, and the environment, the last impact being one of the most important in times of steadily rising environmental concern. The successful experiences of Curitiba in Brazil and Bogotá in Colombia have served as a source of inspiration for other cities in Latin America and elsewhere. In 1973 Curitiba became the first city in the world to introduce an integrated land use and transport infrastructure approach with an integrated transport network based on bus rapid transit (BRT). The BRT systems of Curitiba and Bogotá have subsequently been adopted all over the world with some variations. Implementation of two recent BRTs, Mexico City and Ahmedabad in India, are examined in this paper. WIREs Energy Environ 2015, 4:564–574. doi: 10.1002/wene.162This article is categorized under: Energy and Development > Economics and Policy Energy Research & Innovation > Climate and Environment

Abstract The anticipated economic and population growth in India will increase demand for material resources, energy and consequently carbon emissions. The global ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 °C by the end of the century calls for rapid and unprecedented action. As the most carbon-intensive sectors, India's steel and cement industry will require a more transformative shift, both on the demand and supply side. Strategies from both supply and demand-side are analysed for steel and cement sector to understand consequences for energy and emissions using two modelling approaches i) energy system and ii) material flow models. A portfolio of technically feasible options to reduce the material, energy and CO2 intensity is explored under four alternate scenarios spanning till 2050 differentiated by their mitigation ambition and development paradigm. Results show that current policies in India will provide adequate incentives for achieving the climate targets India has submitted within its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) however, dematerialisation, reuse and recycling will be necessary for achieving the global ambition of 1.5 °C. The study concludes that a stringent carbon policy in combination with strong sustainability principles can reduce CO2 emissions by 68% in the steel and cement sector in 1.5 °C Scenario compared to NDC Scenario.

This paper analyses the technology choices of countries that prioritized transport as a sector in Asia under the Technology Needs Assessment project. The countries used a wide variety of criteria to prioritize technologies which were related to the benefits technologies would provide, costs of technologies and availability of technology charactersitics. Non-motorized transport, mass transit and technologies that improve vehicle energy efficiency emerged as the three most preferred technology choices for the countries. These technology choices can be appropriate candidates for nationally appropriate mitigations actions (NAMA) given their strong contribution for developmentand therefore a methodology based on input-output decomposition analysis isproposed for analysing economy wide CO2 emissions reductions. The methodologyhas been applied for the transport sector of Lebanon where alternative fuels,improvement to cars (private and taxis) and buses for public transport were prioritized by stakeholders. The economy-wide CO2 emission reduce by 2,269 thousand tons by 2020 if the prioritized technologies are implemented in Lebanon. Fuel mix effect and structural effect would reduce CO2 emission by 2,611 thousand tons, while the final demand effect would increase the CO2 emission by 342 thousand tons.