Delhi eyes key role in carbon trading

Delhi, the first state in the country to embrace CNG, a cleaner fuel, is once again taking the lead when it comes to cutting green house gas emission.

The city plans to cut carbon dioxide, the main component of green house gases, emission by 7.70lakh metric tonnes by 2010, leaving behind Mumbai and Chennai.

The step would not only clean up the city’s air but also bring revenue worth crores of rupees earned through carbon trade.

Already, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and the Delhi government have listed their projects with the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Under its programme to earn carbon credits, the Delhi Metro has adopted a braking system in its trains that produces electricity when brakes are applied. “This electricity is tapped and fed into the utility’s power grid, reducing carbon emission,” said S.A. Verma, head of the environment arm of DMRC.

Under other projects, the government plans to generate electricity from daily waste. Like, the MCD plans to generate 26MW electricity every day from waste dumped at landfills in Ghazipur, Okhla and Timarpur. In all, 3,250tonnes of garbage per day would be treated to generate power.

Over this, power would also be generated from 200tonnes of garbage generated by the Azadpur fruit and vegetable market every day.

That’s not all. In the coming years, the city also intends to earn carbon credits from its vast green cover and Metro riders, whose number is seen rising as more and more people shun private vehicles and board the public utility.

The government is preparing a report to claim carbon credits from 176sqkm forest cover, or about 11.87 per cent of the city’s geographical area.