Research Papers

Impacts of electrification with renewable energies on Local Economies: The case of India

Imai Kenichi, Palit Debajit
| 2014

For India, it is crucial to promote rural electrification to raise the well-being of the people since electrification provides a wide range of opportunities for people to change the social, economic, and environmental aspects of their lives for the better. In its rural areas, which have a larger number of households and higher populations than its urban areas, two types of electrification are in progress. One is electrification by connecting to the conventional grid. The other is electrification with renewable energies such as solar, biomass, hydro, and so on.

Impact of total organic carbon (in sediments) and dissolved organic carbon (in overlying water column) on Hg sequestration by coastal sediments from the central east coast of India

Parthasarathi Chakrabortya, Brijmohan Sharma, Babua P.V. Raghunath, Yaoa Koffi Marcellin, Jaychandrana Saranya
| 2014

Total organic carbon (TOC) (in sediment) and dissolved organic matter (DOM) (in water column) play important roles in controlling the mercury sequestration process by the sediments from the central east coast of India. This toxic metal prefers to associate with finer size particles (silt and clay) of sediments. Increasing concentrations of DOM in overlying water column may increase complexation/reduction processes of Hg2+ within the water column and decrease the process of Hg sequestration by sediments.

Identities and Access to Energy: A Case From India

Kumar Atul
| 2014

Cross cutting identity issues plays a significant role in shaping individual identities. These identities are quintessentials determinants of access to energy services, which in turn are interlinked with equity and development. The variations in levels of access to energy across identity groups are largely governed by rural-urban disparities, gender difference and poverty levels within rural and urban areas.

Identifying public preferences using multi-criteria decision making for assessing the shift of urban commuters from private to public transport: A case study of Delhi

Jain Suresh, Aggarwal Preeti , Kumar Prashant , Singhal Shaleen, Sharma Prateek
| 2014

Shifting urban commuters to public transport can be an effective strategy to deal with the energy and environmental problems associated with the transport sector. In order to enhance public transport the mode of choice for urban commuters, public expectations and requirements should be at the centre of the policy-making process. This study uses pair-wise weighing method (i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process) to derive priorities for different criteria for shifting urban commuters to the public transport system based on their opinion.

Hyperspectral imagery for disaggregation of land surface temperature with selected regression algorithms over different land use land cover scenes

Ghosh Aniruddha, Joshi P K
| 2014

Land surface temperature (LST), a key parameter in understanding thermal behavior of various terrestrial processes, changes rapidly and hence mapping and modeling its spatio-temporal evolution requires measurements at frequent intervals and finer resolutions.

How sustainable are forestry clean development mechanism projects? - A review of the selected projects from India

Aggarwal Ashish
| 2014

This paper analyses social, economic and ecological issues affecting sustainability of the four selected forestry clean development mechanism (CDM) projects from India. Data from the group discussions and stakeholder interviews suggest that three out of the four projects are economically unsustainable for local people because of high opportunity cost of land and labour, and delayed and low benefits.

High density polyethylene and silane treated silicon nitride nanocomposites using high-density polyethylene functionalized with maleate ester: Mechanical, tribological and thermal properties

Deepthi M V, Sailaja R R N, Sampathkumaran P, Seetharamu S, Vynatheya S
| 2014

In this study, attempt has been made to improve the overall performance of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) composites by blending with silane treated silicon nitride (SN) using HDPE grafted dibutyl maleate as compatibilizer. A small quantity of surface modified nanoclay has also been added in order to improve the mechanical properties. The mechanical properties show that both silane modification of silicon nitride accompanied by nanoclay addition has led to the substantial enhancement in mechanical properties.

Green Economy in South Asia: Challenges and Opportunities.

Mishra Arabinda, Shailly Kedia, Madhumita Mishra
| 2014

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) defines a “green economy” as one “that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while signifi cantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities”. It makes a tantalizing claim that “a green economy grows faster than a brown economy over time, while maintaining and restoring natural capital”. Rising oil prices, the financial crisis of 2008, and the ever growing debate around global ecological crises, including climate change, can be seen as key triggers for the pursuit of green growth worldwide.

Going beyond incomes: Dimensions of cooking energy transitions in rural India

Sehjpal Ritika , Ramji Aditya , Soni Anmol , Kumar Atul
| 2014

Most studies on household energy choices have considered income and education as suitable proxies for socio-cultural contexts, primarily because the available data on household energy is from census surveys which are mainly household consumption surveys, not focused energy surveys. Acknowledging the existing data constraints, a more focussed household energy survey was designed for rural India with the aim of better understanding determinants of current energy use patterns, energy choices, to measure the impacts of these factors, and importantly, arrive at key policy insights.