ICT's Potential To Reduce India's Carbon Footprint: Report

The Digital Energy Solutions Consortium India (DESC India) and CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development have released a report titled, ICT’s Contribution to India’s National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC).

India has announced a goal of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25% by the year 2020 compared to 2005. The Planning Commission is also in the process of defining a low-carbon growth map for the country. The DESC Report explores potential GHG reduction opportunities via ICT (Information & Communication Technology) solutions in the focus sectors of the three mitigation-related missions of NAPCC– National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency (NMEEE), National Mission on Sustainable Habitat (NMSH) and National Solar Mission (NSM).

“Till date, no report in India quantified the specific savings possible using ICT solutions. The DESC Report does precisely that, allowing industries to quantify their potential energy as well as monetary savings by adopting ICT-based solutions. The one-time high implementation costs will be amortized over a period of time, leading to a win-win solution for users as well as the nation. Users benefit via lower costs in the long run, while the nation benefits by moving closer to its carbon emission targets,” said Rahul Bedi, Chairman, DESC India.

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“This Report emphasises the urgent need to embed ICT in mitigating climate change in India, and calls for specific policy interventions to facilitate such embedding. The Report also provides 2020 and 2030 CO2 reduction scenarios, specific ICT solutions, and policy levers that go beyond fiscal incentives,” said Seema Arora, Principal Counsellor and Head, CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development.

“Analyzing demand as well as supply-side barriers, the Report lists specific remedies to promote large-scale implementation of ICT-based technologies. The insights and policy recommendations could help the government and industry to develop a strategic roadmap in overcoming barriers to ICT adoption and using ICT for climate change mitigation,” said I Vijaya Kumar (IVK), Co-chair, DESC India.

Barriers to ICT adoption cited in the Report include: high technology costs, inadequate energy benchmarks, weak regulatory norms on carbon emission standards, inadequate standardization, and low R&D support, among others. To overcome these hurdles, the Report recommends key actions while developing strategies for increased ICT adoption in the three missions. These include: creating a platform for green jobs, undertaking steps to develop ICT skills, rationalisation of direct and indirect taxes, funds allocation, encouraging R&D via institutional and financial support, and facilitating standardization, among others.

Although ICT-based solutions can play a key role in India’s transition to a high-energy efficiency, low-carbon emission economy, a conducive ecosystem for ICT adoption must first be developed. Targets for ICT solutions in key sectors should also be identified, such as Railways, Power Transmission and Iron & Steel. These three have more than 90% GHG emission savings potential in NMEEE mission sectors.