Directorate of Environment’s Post

The State of #UttarPradesh has been a pioneer in setting the stage for #airshed approach in the country in 2021-22. From then, the State has made significant progress in planning and implementation of the airshed based #cleanair actions. The State also took a #leadership under the guidance of the MoEF&CC for initiating Indo Gangetic Plain #IGP level dialogues for mainstreaming a #wellcoordinated airshed based actions across all the 8 IGP States. UP has also been stressing upon the #mitigation of #evidencebased, however not in focus, sources of #airpollution like household #cooking, #fertiliser and #livestock etc. After UP took lead, many States and #CivilSociety Organisations have started #advocating the airshed approach along with appropriate actions against not in focus yet prominent air pollution sources. The State has been very successful in developing a #longterm #robust and well consulted strategy for providing #cleancooking solutions to the households in the State leveraging the #carbonfinancing to ensure their affordability to the users. Among the other clean cooking solutions, the State has identified the potential of household based bio-digesters in view of the high #livestock population in the State and advancements in the #technology that makes the biodigester tubes very easy to install and operate. The #affordability of this solution may also be achieved with the help of the subsidy provided by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) coupled with well articulated #carbonfinancing through #voluntary carbon markets. The State is taking up this intervention at large scale and building #pathways for its effective implementation. In view of finalising the plan for its large scale implementation in the State, the Directorate of Environment, Government of Uttar Pradesh in collaboration with Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Govt of India has successfully organized a technical discussions on “Biogas Technology: Promoting Transition to Clean Cooking”. Key #objective of this discussion is to develop pathways to scale up installations of biogas units as an alternative to solid fuel/biomass based #traditional cooking in rural areas. This discussion was inaugurated by Mr Manoj Singh, Additional chief Secretary, DoEF&CC, Government of Uttar Pradesh. It was a privilege for me to guide the discussions with the insightful guidance by Ms Sangita M. Kasture, Scientist G, MNRE, GoI. The discussion brought together #experts, #policymakers, #financers, #technology #distributors. The discussions offered valuable insights into the practical challenges on the ground and the latest available technologies and suggested strategies to make renewable energy solutions more affordable for rural consumers, highlighting the growing opportunities in emerging Carbon Financing Mechanisms. The insights from the discussions will be used to strengthen strategies devised to scale up uptake of Biogas as a clean fuel for cooking purposes in the State.