Publications
Climate Resilience in Water Resource Management in India: A Conceptual Framework for Action
Policy brief
| September 18, 2024
The water sector in India is facing increasing variability and unpredictability of water resources due to climate change. This is compounded by inadequate infrastructure for water storage and distribution, and the insufficient integration of climate resilience into water management policies. This is highlighted by the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report. Key threats include extreme weather events, rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, and sea level rise, impacting agriculture, industry, ecosystems, and overall water security.
Accelerating Biodiesel Blending in India
Policy brief
| September 18, 2024
India’s dependency on imported fossil fuels is mounting incessantly. The petroleum products consumption in the country has increased about 38.2% from the past decade, resulting in a substantial expenditure on oil imports.Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that can be produced from non-edible sources, waste oils, animal fats, etc. India’s government is emphasizing energy security with a target of reducing the usage of fossil fuels and import burdens.
Remote sensing-based vegetation indices in agroforestry plantation monitoring
Research Paper
| September 18, 2024
Agroforestry offers a vital solution for addressing challenges in India's agricultural sector, which is burdened by fragmented landholdings, environmental degradation, and economic vulnerability. With 86.1% of farmers being small and marginal, integrating agroforestry into agricultural practices presents an opportunity for enhancing livelihoods through additional income streams and contributing to climate resilience.
Plastics in the Indian economy: a comprehensive material flow analysis
Research Paper
| September 11, 2024
Plastic is valued for its flexibility to be utilized in different applications, yet it poses a significant threat to our environment because of mismanaged plastic waste. India’s compound annual growth of plastic consumption has been around 7% for a decade. Despite this significant growth, there has not been a comprehensive study of Indian plastic flows since 2000. This work presents a 20-year update, detailing plastic production, consumption by all plastic types and sectors, and the overall material flow for 2018–19 to fill the gap in the data on post-consumer plastic flows.
Green Public Procurement for Advancing Sustainable Development in India: Policy Nudges for Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production
Policy brief
| August 9, 2024
Green Public Procurement (GPP), a sub-component of sustainable public procurement, seeks to achieve environmental sustainability by leveraging the government sector’s purchasing power. GPP can be defined as the deliberate and systematic integration of environmental objectives into the procurement process of goods, services, and works by public agencies. This policy brief employs a case study-based approach to identify strategies for promoting GPP in India.
Revolutionizing farming: The role of remote sensing-based vegetation indices in smart and precision agriculture
Research Paper
| August 8, 2024
This article explores the transformative impact of remote sensing-based vegetation indices (VIs) in precision agriculture. By using advanced geospatial technologies, VIs such as NDVI, EVI, GCI, SAVI, and NDWI enable us to monitor crop health, assess water stress, estimate yields, and determine optimal harvest times with unprecedented accuracy. These indices, derived from optical remote sensing and SAR data, provide critical insights for optimizing resource use, enhancing crop productivity, and reducing environmental impact.
Discussion paper on India’s Journey to Net Zero: A Conceptual Framework for Analysis
Research Paper
| May 20, 2024
At COP 28 in November 2023, the IPCC warned that with current policies, global warming was set to cross 3°C. At COP 26 held at Glasgow, Prime Minister also announced that India would become net zero by 2070. India's declaration to achieve net zero emissions by 2070 and updated NDCs to achieve fifty percent of its installed generation capacity from non-fossil sources and a 40-45% reduction in the by 2030 marks a momentous step in the global battle against climate change. This announcement signifies India's leadership in forging a low carbon economic development model.
Microwave assisted grafting kinetic of alginate/sericin with acrylic acid‑co‑acrylamide encapsulation of NPK fertilizer and assessment of release characteristics
Research Paper
| May 17, 2024
In the present study grafted sericin/sodium alginate based encapsulated sustained release NPK fertilizer has been developed. Grafting of sericin/sodium alginate with acrylic acid-co-acrylamide has been performed by using microwave based grafting technique. The ratio of sodium alginate and sericin has been optimized for optimal release of NPK fertilizer, and it was found 0.7:0.3 ratio gives optimum release of encapsulated NPK fertilizer. The developed beads were characterized by studying bead size, encapsulation efficiency, swelling characteristics and cumulative release characteristics.
Silica nanobiocatalyst: Advancements toward sustainable and innovative applications
Research Paper
| April 26, 2024
Nanobiocatalyst is a useful technological development that brings together modern nanotechnology and biotechnology and offers benefits for enhancing the activity, stability, and performance of enzymes in bioprocessing applications. Nanosupports used in nanocatalysts have a number of advantages over conventional materials, including a robust framework, tunable morphology, increased surface area, excellent pore geometry, inherent properties, and distinctive optical properties for the supporting matrix.