India sees carbon emissions peaking in 2040-45, before slumping

India has built more than 100 gigawatts of renewable power capacity and aims to more than quadruple that by the end of the decade.

India’s carbon dioxide emissions are seen peaking between 2040 and 2045, before sliding downward, India’s environment secretary Rameshwar Prasad Gupta  told Bloomberg.

India is pinning its hopes on lower storage costs and hydrogen produced from clean energy (Reuters)

The pace of the post-peak decline will depend on the availability of technologies in areas including energy, industry and agriculture, Gupta told Bloomberg Television at the United Nations COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. He cautioned that meeting the country’s climate targets will depend on the availability of financing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised delegates at the conference earlier this week with the pledge that the world’s third-biggest emitter will reach net-zero by 2070. Gupta echoed Modi’s demand that the developed world needs to increase climate funding to support bigger targets to tackle global warming.

On the country’s low-carbon strategy, Gupta said India has few easy options left. “Probably most of the low-hanging fruits we have already exhausted,” he said, adding, “Like renewable energy without storage. Our electricity system can probably no longer sustain any more renewables without storage.”

The country has built more than 100 gigawatts of renewable power capacity and aims to more than quadruple that by the end of the decade. Yet, while accounting for about a quarter of the country’s installed capacity, renewables contribute just about 10% to the country’s power generation, with coal dominating the mix at nearly 70%.

To reverse that mix, India is pinning its hopes on lower storage costs and hydrogen produced from clean energy, Gupta said.