A carbon footprint is a representation of the effect human activities have on the climate in terms of the total amount of greenhouse gases produced (measured in units of carbon dioxide). So, it is a measure of the impact we make individually on the earth by the choices we make regarding our lifestyle.

Many activities generate carbon emissions, which contribute to accelerating global warming and climate change.

Total carbon footprint/emission quantification would include energy emissions from human activities - that is, from heat, light, power and refrigeration and all related emissions from cars, freight and distribution.By measuring the carbon footprint through such tools as carbon calculators, we can get a better sense of what the individual impact is and which parts of our lifestyle deserve the greatest attention.

Ban the Bag

The Indus Valley Civilisation left beautifully-crafted pottery that speaks volumes of the advances its people made. After 3,000 years, if the ruins we leave behind are excavated, chances are only plastic bags would be dug up. It may sound like an exaggeration, but these bags are not biodegradable. Apart from causing emissions when these are manufactured, noxious fumes are released while these are being burnt or disposed off.

So, be kind to Mother Earth the next time you go shopping for groceries, remember to carry a cloth bag with you.

What India Should Do

India has released the National Action Plan on Climate Change. Is it adequate? Is there more that the country can do? Here are some ways how we can make a difference.

Solar Mission

To promote the use of solar energy through solar photovoltaic and thermal systems for power generation and to also integrate other renewable energy technologies like biomass and wind.

Energy Efficiency

To mitigate GHG through sector-specific and cross-cutting technology and fuel switch options and to use more LNG and biomass fuels besides seeking tech transfer.

Sustainable Habitat

To promote energy efficiency in the residential and commercial sectors through LPG use with better manage municipal solid waste and urban public transport.

Water Mission

To promote efficient water use, augment supply in critical areas and ensure effective management of water resources. To have better management of surface and groundwater. Also conserve wetlands.

Sustaining Himalayas 

To enhance monitoring and conservation of the Himalayan ecosystems, empower local communities for management of ecological resources and promote sustainable tourism.

Sustainable Agriculture

To focus on four crucial areas - dry land agriculture, risk management, access to information and promoting the use of biotechnology and to develop drought and pest resistant varieties.

Green India

To reduce fragmentation of forests, enhance public and private investments for plantation, upscale joint forestry management and promote conservation of biodiversity. Need to afforest degraded lands.

Wetlands, an Important Ecosystem

February 2, is celebrated each year as the World Wetlands Day all over to raise public awareness about the ecosystem and promote its conservation. 

As is obvious by the name, wetlands are water bodies. But a wetland is not just any water body, but it is land that is covered with shallow water - either still or flowing, in which the water table is close to the surface. Swamps, marshes, oases in deserts, mud flats, and paddy fields are all examples of wetlands. Stretches of marine water where the depth does not exceed 6 meters at low tide are also categorized as wetlands. It is an entire ecosystem with its associated plant and animal life.



Wetlands are world's most productive environments with stunning biological diversity. Wetlands stretch from mountains to seas and include a wide variety of habitats from rivers and lakes, lagoons and mangroves to coral reefs. These habitats support a variety of species of birds, mammals, reptiles, and fish. Some are shrimp farms or fisheries, while others are purely for recreation purposes,
valuable in Eco-tourism.


However, not all wetlands are natural. Some are man-made. Fish and shrimp farms, ponds, irrigated land like paddy fields, salt pans and reservoirs are artificial wetlands.

Wetlands like mangroves provide a barricade between the sea and land and help in stabilizing the shoreline. They help in preventing soil erosion and also in reclaiming land. They are breeding ground for marine organisms like shrimps and a variety of fish. Some wetlands help in checking floods and siltation of water ways, others help in checking erosion of forests. Wetlands, which are freshwater bodies, are sources of water supply.


For thousands of years mangrove forests have provided a natural shield against cyclones and storms that have frequently hit the shores of southern India. It has now been documented that coastal trees and shrubs saved the lives of hundreds of people in the tsunami disaster.

Sunderbans in West Bengal is the largest mangrove forest in the world. India has 19 wetlands sites which are of international importance.It is interesting to note that wetlands cover a tiny portion of the earth's surface, but by the nature of their unique ecosystem, it becomes all the more important to protect and conserve them.

Solar Power: It can change the future

With energy consumption being the buzzword in developing economies around the world, fears of an energy crisis looming ahead are not totally unfounded. The non-renewable nature of fossil fuels makes complete dependence on these for future energy needs a very dicey affair. Renewable energy sources are the best bet in the scenario. And what can be a better renewable resource than the sun?

In a country like India, if the abundant amount of sunlight available is harnessed properly it could mean an end to the energy crisis. It is the most abundant source of energy. The average global solar radiation is around 5 kilowatt hours (KWH) per square meter per day with the sunshine hours ranging between 2300-4300 per year. India is in the sunny belt of the world. The country receives solar energy equivalent to more than 5000 trillion KWH per year, which is far more than its total annual energy consumption.

Besides, it is a renewable and clean energy source. Taking both environmental and economic cost, solar energy works cheaper than fossil fuel resources. Once we master techniques to harness solar energy, it can be a vital source of power on all planets.

Solar energy could be a viable source of power generation for the next 1000 crore years. There are many technologies available for conversion of solar energy into solar power. For instance, solar photo-voltaic (SPV) technology, photo galvanic cells, solar steam generators (solar concentrating power), solar tower or solar chimney, radio micrometers and thermopile are some of them.

Electric motors: Can it replace combustion engines?

Imagining a future where clean air is no longer a dream and our cities are not smog filled concrete jungles, could well become a reality in the coming years if the world begins to increasingly adopt the use of cleaner options like alternate-fuel vehicles.

The rise in economic activity and the burgeoning population have led to a tremendous demand in the transport sector, especially in urban India. By 2020, India's urban population is expected to grow five fold to a staggering 200 million while pollution is expected to grow seven times. With this tremendous growth has emerged a very critical issue of keeping air and noise pollution in urban areas under control.

If we can have three lakh electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads by 220 including three wheeler, cars and scooters, we would have reduced pollution by 16 lakh metric tones, saved ` 3700 crores in foreign exchange earnings and substantially reduced healthcare costs.

Small electric buses, three wheeler and electric scooters are ideal for city mobility in India but it could take between 5-10 years before they become viable for commercial use.

The electric vehicle uses electric energy which is stored in batteries that feed the electric motor. Driving an electric vehicle is easier and more relaxing than a traditional one because it has no speed-gear and functioning noise. It is enough to turn the key and press the acceleration pedal; you need only two driving pedals- 

accelerator and brake.

The need to reduce air pollution along with the availability of new advanced batteries have allowed EVs to reappear as a clean alternative to internal combustion vehicles. Electric drive systems are virtually non-polluting and extremely energy efficient. While internal combustion vehicles can convert about 20% of the chemical energy in gasoline into useful work, 75% or more of the energy from a battery has productive power in an electric vehicle.

Electric motors can also provide power at almost any engine speed. While internal combustion engines must be revved up to high rpm to achieve maximum power, electric motors provide nearly peak power even at low speeds. This gives electric vehicles strong acceleration performance from a stop.

The emergence of newer batteries has driven the cost and performance of EVs. There are several major types of automotive batteries available and under development, from advanced lead acid batteries like those that start our internal combustion engines to lithium polymer batteries. Although recharging could be consideration, home recharging systems are available giving EVs an added advantage.

Apart from being environment-and -user friendly, there are several other reasons for alternate fuel cars to flourish in India. Firstly, electricity for EVs can be produced from various sources for which India has natural resources and does not need to depend on the import of oil. Although EVs will not replace LPG, CNG or petrol and diesel for intercity use, the infrastructure required for EVs in the form of electricity distribution infrastructure is already available in all our cities and minimum costs are required to install additional capacity. EVs are zero polluting, easy to handle and have low maintenance costs. EVs will not degrade with time and they are always zero polluting unlike conventional vehicles where the pollution increases with engine degradation, poor maintenance and adulterated fuel.. India also has the maximum market potential for EVs owing to an established auto component infrastructure, low manufacturing and R&D cost, mechanical hardware availability, high urban congestion and the presence of domestic market. The industry could significantly gain from rising exports by 2010, and with appropriate government support, could transform the landscape of urban India by reducing pollution, improving public health, creating employment opportunities and impacting society.

In order to do that, a holistic approach involving the government, public and auto majors is needed to promote EVs in India. Appropriate government policies during the next five years and adequate support from business houses and institutions, for instance, purchasing a fixed percentage of vehicles for their fleets and offering subsidies and tax exemptions, will go a long way in promoting the industry in India.

Finally, people have to become more informed about these technologies. The media must play its role in educating the public about alternate fuel vehicles and their advantages.

We will talk more about this in my next blog.

Please mind this.

Let us today read about Romulus Earl Whitaker, a herpetologist, wildlife conservationist and founder of the Madras Snake Park, The Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust, and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust.

Romulus Whitaker, an American-born, 65-year-old Indian citizen, is a reptile expert and environment film-maker. What drives him is a boundless enthusiasm for the wonders of nature, and a determination to save them. "It is fascination with the endless natural mysteries, questions on why critters do what they do, and empathy and sympathy in the face of the destruction all around," he explains from his base in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. "I haven't had to do a nine-to-five job ever in my life, and that is a very envious situation to be in if you like the wild. Life has been much like a river in that it picks you up and carries you along. I have got into things as they come towards me."

This seemingly relaxed attitude belies the original thinking and careful and considered planning behind his many projects for wildlife, for forests and for the people living in them. His current ambition, for which he has been selected as an Associate Laureate in the 2008 Rolex Awards, is to create a network of rainforest research stations throughout India, part of a vision he has been elaborating in his mind for many years. "The idea of the Romulus Whitaker rainforest research stations has been with me absolutely forever, but I didn't have the wherewithal to do anything about it. Then all these things started falling into place over the last few years. I bought a block of land at Agumbe, in southern India. Then the Whitley Award for Nature came along and helped set up the Agumbe Rain forest Research Station and get it working really well."

 A mother's tolerance for a small boy's fascination with snakes became the basis of a notable career in herpetology for Whitaker. Author of eight books and over 150 articles, he served in key reptile posts and has inspired many with 23 acclaimed environmental documentaries, such as the National Geographic film "King Cobra". In 1984, for his project to help the indigenous Irula people of Tamil Nadu make the transition from their old trade (catching snakes for the now-banned skin trade) to collecting snake venom to produce life-saving anti-venom serum, he received an Honorable Mention in the Rolex Awards for Enterprise.

Whitaker realized long ago that snakes and the other species he loves cannot survive without their habitats. So, like many others, he has evolved from naturalist to conservationist. "A lot of us get wrapped up in our own little special animal and then we wake up and start thinking it has got to be habitat and it has to be Eco-development that involves people and, now, in my case, it has crystallized into the whole idea of water resources.

 "India has a history of droughts, floods and famines," Whitaker explains. "Food production has been successfully tackled and dealt with, but we are now faced with a water shortage that will dwarf any of the past problems faced by the people. Owing to forest clearance and ill-advised dam projects, rivers are drying up, ground water reserves are being used up faster than they can be replenished and pollution is hitting most of our sources of drinking water. These are the obvious problems, but there are other, possibly much more serious threats facing our water regimes including climate change, which we must tackle on a war footing."

Ironically the water that Whitaker is intent on saving is - in the form of rain - one of the major obstacles to conservation research in many parts of India. Despite being recognized worldwide as biodiversity hotspots, relatively little is known about India's dwindling rain forests and the many species for which they are home. But monsoon downpours make it near-impossible for researchers to operate at the very time the most scientifically interesting events are occurring in the landscape and the lives of its inhabitants. At Agumbe, where Whitaker caught his first King Cobra back in 1971, annual rainfall of 10 meters or so condemns outsiders not just to swarms of leeches, along with wet clothes and tents, but also to guaranteed malfunction in all the equipment bound up in recording, communicating and calculating.

Whitaker's base at Agumbe, constructed in 2005, and now a fully functioning research, conservation and education center, is the first of seven research stations that will connect key remaining rainforest strongholds throughout India. Sita Nadi, a river that has its source near the Agumbe Station, is a major focus for Whitaker and his team, who have started a small but ambitious plan to clean up and maintain the integrity of the river, using a three-pronged approach: evaluating the problems, involving the people and implementing a practical action plan. Whitaker cannot emphasize enough the importance of the region's rain forests for water resources. "The rain forests of India are the origin of all the major rivers in the south and the north-east," he points out. "The rivers in the Western Ghats [in India's south] provide the water for 350 to 400 million people, about a third of India's population."

The Agumbe station itself consists of living and working quarters purpose built to function during the monsoon and to be self-sufficient in renewable energy. It is strategically located on about three hectares of land adjacent to a wildlife sanctuary and a national park so that field scientists have easy access to the forest. The base has hosted dozens of Indian researchers, journalists and naturalists. But the station's mission extends beyond The Agumbe station science. It is a springboard for local conservation, including the sustainable use of minor forest produce and medicinal plants. The station has educated hundreds of school children about the forest. "Children are a bit shaky about going into the forest at first, but fascination with what we show them soon gets them hooked," Whitaker says.

The network of seven stations will produce vital information, building on discoveries by Whitaker's colleagues of over 100 new species of frogs in the last decade, and the study of crabs that live in trees. The network will allow immediate exchange of expertise and research, creation of a comprehensive biodiversity database, and expanded mobile educational programmes. Five of the stations in the network, including Agumbe, will be located in the states that span the Western Ghats. A sixth station will be located in the far north-eastern state of Assam, a vital haven for large numbers of migratory birds and endangered mammals. The seventh station is in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, situated 1,200 kilometers from the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal.

Six of the seven stations already exist in various stages of development and now need vital new laboratory equipment and in some cases physical expansion to bring them up to speed for the network. Whitaker will use the Rolex award to help make this happen. Only one station, near the Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in the southern tip of India, needs to be built from the ground up. The Rolex funds will also be used to fit out the bases with automatic weather stations. "Climate change is tightly linked with the future of water resources and we need to be monitoring it now," he says.

Whitaker puts his trust not just in his own skills, but also in the aspirations of younger generations: "We are doing a lot of work with young people, bringing them to the forest and showing them what happens here and why it matters. It can be very difficult to change adult attitudes, but with the young, it is easier to get across 

the knowledge that what we are doing to the forests we are doing to ourselves."