Mission carbon neutrality: Maha pollution board begins preparing emission inventory of 43 cities

A greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory is a list of emission sources and the associated emissions quantified using standardised methods. An emission inventory helps cities prioritise the pollution source that need to be targeted, the amount of action to be taken and the manner in which fund will be channelised. The project aims at lowering the Carbon Footprint in 43 AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) cities in the state.

The MPCB has appointed a Pune-based agency to conduct GHG emissions inventory of the 43 AMRUT cities, including the coastal city of Mumbai, and industrial cities such as Chandrapur and Pune as part of the “race to zero” UN climate change campaign. The GHG emission will be estimated based on guidance provided in GHG Protocol which is the Global Protocol for Community-scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories – an accounting and reporting standard for cities.

The pilot project will begin in five cities and the process will be completed within three months, said an official. The MPCB official said that the inventory will help the authorities prepare a plan to reduce the carbon emission to zero.

“In order to have carbon neutrality, the first step is to take inventory of the carbon emission in the city. The inventory will help ascertain which are the different sources of carbon emission and accordingly, an action plan for reducing the city-wise carbon emission will be prepared. We have appointed an agency which has started the city-wise inventory,” said an official from the MPCB.

Karthik Ganesan, Fellow and Director – Research Coordination from Council on Energy Environment and Water, said, “It is an important exercise to shine a light on what action cities can take. However, there is no clarity as to whom you attribute certain emissions. For instance, if a car is getting re-fuelled in a city, now it is emitting the pollutants on the city road or outside the city limits. How does one capture that? That kind of data source doesn’t exist.”

He further added that a statewide emission inventory will help in highlighting the emissions inequity between cities and the action required by each.

The activities will be categorised into different sectors such as Stationery Energy Combustion, Transportation, Waste Management, Industrial Processes and Product Use (IPPU), Agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) and Others.

The emission in every city will also be categorised into three different types – GHG emissions from sources located within the city boundaries, emissions occurring as a consequence of the use of grid-supplied electricity, heat, steam and/or cooling within the city boundary, and all other GHG emissions that occur outside the city boundary as a result of activities taking place within the city boundary, said the MPCB.

“The entire project is expected to be completed in six months and a pilot project will be completed within three months. The pilot of the project will consist of detailed reports of five to six cities as selected by the MPCB,” said the official.