Despite the fervency of the current debate over climate change, and questions over how to deal with it, the hard science of the issue has been around for more than a century. One of the earliest links between the burning of fossil fuels (coal) and a change in climate was made during the late 19th century. At that time, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius calculated that a doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide would raise the Earth's temperature some five to six degrees Celsius. Along the same lines, in 2007 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change calculated that a doubling of atmospheric CO2 would be likely to produce an increase of between two and 4.5 Celsius. The 'discovery' of these alarming statistics in recent years has led to a crucial, if belated, discussion over how to mitigate this rising temperature. Yet in this clamour for new techno-fixes, some obvious opportunities are being missed. As important as the current global negotiations are, there are a huge number of innovative initiatives outside of the climate framework that already help people to reduce their impact on the environment by addressing other aspects of their lives. Neglecting these activities in the search of new-fangled approaches is wastful, to say the least.
Though not directly involved with the issue of climate change, the work of myriad groups on sustainability, empowerment, equity and alternative models of development has used novel systems that are only now being recognised as positive approaches to dealing with the problems associated with global warming. For instance, with electricity generation from non-renewable sources (such as coal) being a major contributor to global warming, electrification through decentralised grids based on renewable energy would quickly lessen the carbon footprint of any country or community. And contrary to some criticism, such a decentralised, renewable energy grid would in fact provide assured, regular and timely electricity. This has been proved by the Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan, which has been promoting and using solar energy to power rural areas – in addition to training villagers to become 'solar entrepreneurs' in their own right – since 1972, well before climate change and renewable energy became the buzzwords they are today.
The Indian government has also been working to provide basic amenities through schemes such as the Rajiv Gandhi Grameen Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY), which aims to provide electricity to over a lakh villages across the country. The plan is to provide power to accessible villages by connecting them to the centralised grid, while decentralised grids of renewable energy will be used for 25,000 remote villages. Yet the centralised grid is already facing power shortages: the Central Electricity Authority has projected an overall energy shortage of 9.3 percent and 'peak power' shortages of 12.6 percent in 2009-10. By depending on an already-impoverished central grid, the scheme will clearly have difficulty in fulfilling its goal. In fact, the RGGVY should have taken a page from the Tilonia initiative and used renewable energy in decentralised grids to electrify all 125,000 villages, thus providing cleaner, guaranteed and timely power for the villages, while also decreasing the load on the centralised grid.
Greenhouse grassroots
Community groups opposed to nearby coal-fired power projects for displacement, pollution and damage to livelihoods have also been indirectly aiding the fight against climate change. Realising this, these groups are now using the global-warming argument as part of their protests, as with the proposed Chamalapura thermal power plant in Karnataka. In other cases, community groups have taken it upon themselves to propose renewables as an alternative. The massive recent protests in Alibaug, Maharashtra, are a case in point, where locals are continuing to resist official efforts to buy their lands in order to set up three coal-fired power plants (see pic). Instead, the farmers are calling on the state government to look at alternatives such as wind, solar and hydro power. The state government has laid low since the protests, but those opposing the thermal plants have not – recently, they fielded their own candidate for the upcoming state elections.