Relevance: GS-2 : Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors

Relevance: GS-3 : Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation.

Key phrases: Decarbonize India's transport, FAME India, GHGs, Road Transport, Urban Mobility, Forum for Decarbonizing Transport, NDC-TIA, and PM 2.5.

Why in News?

• The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a number of challenges for the transport sector, one of which is the shift of citizens from public to private and personal modes of transport.

Carbon Emission of Transport Sector in India:

• In 2018, the transportation sector in India consumed about 70 per cent of diesel and 99.6 per cent of petrol in the country.
• India has a massive and diverse transport sector, which is also the third most CO2 emitting sector.
• India's transportation sector contributes about 10 per cent of total national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and within the transport sector, road transport contributes to more than 90% of the total CO2 emissions.
• Energy consumption by passenger vehicles increases by 3.7 to 5.5 per cent per year; energy consumption for freight transport increases by 4.6 to 7.2 per cent per year.
• Emissions from cars represent an increasing share of transportation-related PM2.5 emissions in all the models, representing about one-third of additional PM2.5 emissions in 2050.
• CO2 emissions from the transportation sector will continue to grow by 4.1 to 6.1 per cent per year, leading to an increase by seven times in 2050 relative to 2010.
• A fast increase in energy demand from road transport will further exacerbate India's dependency on imported oil.
• Under the reference scenario, PM2.5 emissions are projected to grow by 2.6 times by 2050. This would exacerbate the severe air-quality problems and create challenges in meeting long-term climate-mitigation goals.

Challenges related to Decarbonising Transport in India:

• Lack of incentive to move toward public transport.
• Charging infrastructure: The reason EVs don’t have a higher market share is due to the absence of charging stations. Without charging infrastructure, very few EVs are being sold. As very few cars are being sold, setting up the charging infrastructure is not an attractive investment.
• The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a number of challenges for the transport sector, one of which is the shift of citizens from public to private and personal modes of transport. Public transit and shared mobility services have witnessed an unprecedented impact on account of pandemic control measures and public hesitancy arising out of fear of contracting the virus.
• High cost of alternative i.e. initial cost of electric vehicle is high with respect to IC engine vehicle.
• Lack of alternative of the heavy transport vehicle which is important for goods transport in India.

What should India do for Decarbonising Transport in India?

• Sustainable and innovative urban planning through regional and urban development policies, integrated transport and spatial planning, logistics optimisation and travel demand management can reduce the need for (motorised) passenger and freight transport and incentivise more environmentally friendly transport modes. Planning can also reduce congestion and travel time, lead to fewer traffic-related injuries and deaths, may reduce noise and improve mobility and accessibility.
• High quality and safe non-motorised and mass-transit public transport infrastructure and services provide a wide range of alternatives to private motorised vehicles. A previous study on the Indian road transport sector shows that such transport modes are a viable option for decarbonising road transport, reaching up to 90 per cent by 2050.
• High quality railway infrastructure and services provide a viable alternative to road transport in non-urban areas, where distances are longer. A recent IEA report identified the Indian railway network as a cornerstone to the country’s transition. It highlights the development of the railway network in recent decades and its potential role in a pathway to full decarbonisation.
• Electrifying all road transport vehicle fleets is necessary to fully decarbonise the transport sector. Electric mobility has risen as an alternative to ICE vehicles for two and three- wheelers, public transport vehicles, LDVs and HDVs. Electric vehicles are currently the most efficient technology compared to ICEs and other carbon neutral alternatives (e.g. synthetic fuels), in turn lowering the sector’s energy needs. However, they also require an extensive deployment of renewable energy sources to be carbon neutral and thus cannot be the sole pillar to decarbonising the transport sector.

Way Forward:

• As a developing country, it is important for us to balance out the aspirations of people and economic growth with environment and sustainability. In this context, our ability to break the data silos and leverage the massive amount of available data in a meaningful manner is of pivotal importance. It would enable us to design policies that are firmly grounded in data and which are likely to be highly efficient and impactful across the entire transport ecosystem in the country, paving the way for a paradigm shift in the future of mobility in India.

Source: Live Mint

Mains Question:

Q. At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to cut India's total estimated carbon emissions by 1 billion tonnes by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2070. In this regard ,discuss policy related to Decarbonising Transport Sector in India.