Resource Efficiency for
Urban India
Cities
are regarded as ‘Engines of Inclusive Growth’ as all global
transformations and opportunities culminate in cities. The trends of
rapid urbanisation and socio-economic and environmental implications
unveil the importance of cities. India is urbanising at a decadal growth
rate of 31.16 per cent (Census 2011) and is expected to reach the 50 per
cent mark by 2050 (United Nations 2012). Not only the urban population
has increased, but urban areas have also grown from 2,774 towns in 2001
to 7,935 in 2011 (Census 2011). By 2030, it is expected that there will
be 68 cities with a population of more than one million, 13 cities with
more than 4 million people and 6 megacities with populations of 10
million or more (UNDP 2012). However, in India this trend of rapid
urbanisation has been unplanned and haphazard. The impacts are being
witnessed in the form of inadequate maintenance of urban infrastructure,
poor delivery mechanisms for public services and over exploitation of
the natural resource base.
Natural resources such as metals and
minerals, water, biomass, land and non- renewable resources are the key
inputs required for urbanisation. Restoring and maintaining the health
of these resources by incorporating resource efficiency is a key element
of sustainable development. It is not only needed to adequately feed
current and projected populations, but also to provide a better quality
of life to our future generations. UNEP has identified the term
‘resource efficiency’ to encompass:
• the technical efficiency of resource use
(measured by the useful energy or material output per unit of energy or
material input),
• the resource productivity, or the extent
to which economic value is added to a given quantity of resources
(measured by useful output or value added per unit of resource input);
• the extent to which resource extraction or
use has negative impacts on the environment (increased resource
efficiency implies reduced the environmental pressures that cause such
impacts).
The quality of urban life and its resource
footprint are strongly linked and the increasing need for basic
infrastructure construction to support it signifies that there will be
increasing pressure on the earth’s carrying capacity (UNEP: 2007).
Resource Consumption of Building Materials
in India
A sustainable city is defined as a city
which is inclusive, resilient and decoupled from use of resources. The
rapid urbanisation entails increasing consumption of natural resources
like land, energy and building materials to meet the rising demand of
construction along with rise in CO2 emissions. Buildings use 40% of
energy, 30% of raw materials, 20% of land and water each, whilst
accounting for 40% of CO2 emission, 30% of solid waste generation and
20% of water effluents (UNEP- 2010). India is in the process of
implementing programmes aimed at enhancing its urban transformation.
Majority of the construction under this urban transformation would be in
the residential sector, estimated to have an increase of 4,972 million
m2 of area from 2005 to 2030 (ASCI-NRDC, 2010). This would involve huge
investment of resources and finances which could result in conflict over
scarce and limited resources. Already 67% of the cement (consumes 75% of
limestone) produced is used by the housing sector in the country (NSDC,
2009). 91,666 million tonnes of sand was consumed for building 42
million units of housing in 2011 (Krishna, 2013). Further, the current
brick making process uses about 350 million tonnes of fertile top soil
annually to meet the brick demand (Development Alternatives, 2012). Fly
ash on the other hand is a waste product. As per estimates by the Fly
Ash Bricks and Blocks Manufacturers’ Federation (FABMAFED), about 20
billion cubic feet (0.566 billion cubic metres) of topsoil could be
saved annually if the existing 140,000 red brick furnaces in the country
switched to using fly ash. Over the last two decades, the production of
fly ash-based products has increased from 0.70 million tonnes in 1998-99
to 12.02 million tonnes in 2014-15, which constitutes 11.72 per cent of
the total fly ash utilised in that year (Central Electricity Authority,
2015).
Cities have the potential of delivering
cost-effective policy responses to ensure resource efficiency as they
are the hubs of innovation that can promote clean energy systems,
spatial development and waste management strategies (OECD, 2010).
Linkage of Resource Efficiency with
Sustainable Development Goals 2030
The 2030 Agenda for sustainable development
defined by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have also assigned
an important position to resource efficiency. This is directly reflected
in Goal 12 on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns
specifically in terms of substantially reducing waste generation through
prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. Eight other goals (Goals 2,
6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 14 and 15) also directly refer to resource efficiency or
sustainable use of resources.
The development model being followed by the
country is characterised by extensive reliance on natural resource
extraction, thus putting enormous pressure on natural resources leading
to increased costs, higher rate of forest degradation and reduced
availability of agricultural land. The Government of India adopted the
National Environmental Policy in 2006, with an overall objective to
conserve environmental resources through their efficient use, encourage
intergenerational equity and ensure application of principles of good
environmental governance.
Given that resource efficiency has links to
the attainment of SDGs and the aspirations for GHG (Green House Gas)
emissions reduction in the Paris Agreement; in the global context,
resource efficiency should also rank among the top priorities for
enabling sustainable development now and in the future. The flow of
materials and resources along globalised supply chains and product life
cycles strengthens the need for a global perspective of resources as
well as a need for integrating various policy areas for promoting
resource efficiency. The formulation of the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) offers us an opportunity to redefine India’s development by
not only focusing on the ends, but also on the means to achieve it. ■
Rishabh Misra
rishabheco@gmail.com
References:
1. www.un.org/en/.../desa/population/.../the_
worlds_cities_in_2012_data_booklet.pdf.
2. www.un-documents.net/ocf-07.htm
3. Sengupta N (2008). Use of cost-effective construction technologies in
India to mitigate climate change. Current Science, 94(1) 10.
4. https://www.nrdc.org/file/4482/download?
token=mBl5nV1g
5. AIDC.2012. Constructing Change:
Accelerating Energy Efficiency in India’s Buildings Market.
6. Development Alternatives. 2015. Decoupling Energy and Energy use from
Growth in Indian Construction Sector
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