Publications

Review of MBBR models for treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater

Research Paper
| May 8, 2016

The conventional waste water treatment technologies are based on processes like Activated sludge process, Extended aeration, Submerged aerobic fixed film reactor, Trickling filter or Rotating Biological Contactor. However, in the recent years there has been a shift towards adoption of Sequential batch reactor (SBR) and Moving bed biological reactor (MBBR). This paper reviews various MBBR models available in the Indian market for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater and their effect on reactor volume and media quantity.

Discussion Paper: Suggestions for an Appropriate Environmental Governance Architecture for India

Policy brief
| February 15, 2016

The Discussion Paper examines the current architecture of the main environment related legislations, namely the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986; Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980; The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; and The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981, in the context of the Constitutional provisions and the evolution of approaches to better environmental management, including those emanating from international conventions.

Discussion Paper: Modelling Urban Carrying Capacity and Measuring Quality of Life using System Dynamics

Policy brief
| February 11, 2016

An outcome of urban growth is concentration of population and businesses. As the population of an urban area increases, so do diverse concerns and problems including issues of servicing large number of people with existing, limited resources. Environmental problems, particularly pollution and water scarcity, have become more prominent and worrisome in recent times and are central issues for urban planners and decision makers. To address these complex problems, practical approaches that incorporate the concept of carrying capacity into managing urban development are needed.

Sustainability Dynamics of Resource Use and Economic Growth

Policy brief
| August 31, 2015

All economies of the world depend upon the use of renewable natural resources1 for their growth. This relationship inherently reflects that continued increase in extraction of resources is a must to sustain economic growth. Inevitably, a tipping point is reached from where the regeneration rates of the resources diminish due to depletion of the resource stock. The resource production peaks and declines which lead to a delayed feedback on the economy, ultimately restricting its ability to grow and sustain its level of output.

Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) Towards Cleaning India: A Policy Perspective

Policy brief
| August 31, 2015

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals have emphasized on the achievement of universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water and adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all 1(Box 1). India has been able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the water sector, but it has been lagging in the sanitation sector. According to the recently launched Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP)2 update (2015), about 564 million people practice open defecation in India out of 946 million open defecators of the world.

Solar PV for Enhancing Electricity Access in Kenya: What Policies are Required?

Policy brief
| July 1, 2015

Modern energy services are crucial to human well-being and to a country's economic development; and yet globally over 1.3 billion people are without access to electricity and 2.6 billion people are without clean cooking facilities. More than 95 per cent of these people are either in Sub-Saharan African or developing Asia and 84 per cent are in rural areas (International Energy Agency, 2015).

Towards a Policy for Climate Resilient Infrastructure and Services in Coastal Cities

Policy brief
| June 11, 2015

The policy brief is based on the learning that emerged from TERI's year-long study which looked at the impacts of Sea Level Rise (SLR) and other climate parameters such as storm surges and extreme rainfall on infrastructure and services of coastal cities. Granted by USAID as part of their Climate Change Resilient Development (CCRD) - Climate Adaptation Small Grants Program, the thematic area for the study was 'Climate Resilient Infrastructure Services'(CRIS) and the case study cities were Panaji in Goa and Visakhapatnam or Vizag in Andhra Pradesh.

Discussion Paper : Moving Forward with a World-class Mineral Policy for National Mineral Security

Policy brief
| June 9, 2015

The National Policy 2008 was a significant step in the evolution of India's Mineral Policy based on the experience of the Policy of 1993. The policymakers were fortunate in having at hand the recommendations of the High-level Committee (popularly called the Hoda Committee) which not only analysed the situation in the Indian context, but also looked at the international context and global best practices. The NMP 2008 comprehensively outlines the policy solutions that need to be established to address the challenges that are being faced by the minerals sector in India.

Bundling Improved Cooking and Lighting Technology for Energy Access

Policy brief
| June 8, 2015

There is no definitive understanding of what energy services are entailed in 'access to energy' for a household. The Global Tracking Framework of SE4All1 provides a comprehensive definition of energy access-positing that a household in the basic 'tier' of energy access has 'task lighting and phone charging' and a 'manufactured solid-fuel cookstove with conformity, convenience, and adequacy'. India has 75 million households without access to electricity.2 The situation with regard to cooking energy is more overwhelming-166 million households depend on solid fuels3 for their cooking needs.

Discussion Paper : Mainstreaming Gender in Improved Cookstove Value Chains

Policy brief
| June 3, 2015

Lack of convenient, reliable, and affordable access to clean cookstoves risks the lives and livelihoods of millions of women in rural India. In the patriarchal rural society, cooking and collection of fuel are tasks typically performed by women (Dutta 2003). Household air pollution, primarily from inefficient cookstoves, leads to 1.04 million premature deaths in India annually (Balakrishnan, Cohen and Smith 2014), disproportionately affecting women and young children. Women spend a considerable amount of time, effort, and money collecting fuel wood (Sehjpal et al.