GEF - Does it Really Work?

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) sees itself as "an international partnership of 183 countries, international institutions, civil society organisations and the private sector that addresses global environmental issues".

For those who are familiar with the nuts and bolts of International Development, GEF is an important source of funding. Since its establishment in 1991-92, the organisation has provided over $18.1 billion in grants and mobilised an additional $94.2 billion in co-financing for more than 4500 projects in 170 countries.

India is one of the 170 countries that has been implementing GEF projects. How effective has it been here?

Relative to the global figures, India's share seems to be rather modest - 102 projects worth USD 0.732  billion in GEF grants and USD 7.7 b in 'additional co-financing', which is mostly from the country's own resources.

The range of projects is quite impressive though. 73 national projects, 27 regional ones and two under the 'Special Climate Change Fund' (SCCF). Take a loser look and you get the impression that the actual output and impact of many projects is vague and nebulous.

Take for instance one of the earliest GEF projects implemented in India - Biomass Energy for Rural India (BERI) implemented during 2000 - 2012. The project was supposed to build 60 x 20kW biomass gasifier units to supply electricity for 2,500 households in 28 villages of Tumkur district in Karnataka. It was expected to replace so many million tons of carbon di-oxide equivalent (CO2e). However, after 12 years of effort, the cost of producing electricity from biomass (INR 7.8/kWh) was so high - more than double the cost of regular supply from the state grid (INR 2.85/kWh) - that the project ended up like a damp squib.

One of the most visible changes in India in terms of energy efficiency, has been the replacement of incandescent bulbs with CFLs, and then LEDs. We have now reached a stage where most shops don't even stock the cheaper, inefficient bulbs. LEDs have become the first preference for the whole spectrum of users - street vendors have switched from kerosine fired lanterns to LEDs, town municipalities have switched streetlights en masse from sodium-vapour to LEDs.

Did GEF have any role to play in this sweeping change? Or was this initiative led completely by the local governments?

One of the 73 projects seems to have had an important role in this transformation - the GEF-ADB project for supporting Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL). This agency was instrumental in aggregating demand, and promoting bulk production of LED bulbs which led to a sharp reduction in the cost of energy efficient bulbs. LED bulbs now command a 75% share of the lighting market in India.

Over 300 million LED bulbs and 6.35 million LED streetlights have been distributed and installed through EESLs initiatives across India. This one intervention is estimated to have reduced India's carbon footprint by no less than 60 million CO2e - a part of the country's commitment to reduce its footprint by 33-35% from its 2005 levels, by 2030.

Not all projects may work as expected, but the gains from the ones that do certainly seems to make GEF's interventions worthwhile.




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REFERENCES & LINKS

- GEF Projects - https://www.thegef.org/projects

- Climate Change FAQs - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/apr/27/co2e-global-warming-potential

- LEDs powers India's dtive for household energy efficiency - https://www.thegef.org/news/seeing-light-leds-power-india-s-drive-household-energy-efficiency

- Video - From Small to Big Impact - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SXP63nGYmI

- BERI Project 2000 - https://www.thegef.org/project/biomass-energy-rural-india

- BERI Terminal Report (2013). - https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/project_documents/10_UNDP_TE_Biomass_Final_Evaluation_report_2013_0.pdf

An Award Ignored

Strange are the ways of the Indian media.

A few days ago, an Indian scientist-entrepreneur based in Japan won the country's top environment award for 2017, and it was barely mentioned here. Bits of the news appeared on the web-editions of India Today and DNA, both apparently sourced from a newsfeed site called UNIIndia.

Dr. Shrihari Chandraghatgi, CEO of EcoCycle Corporation, was awarded the Environment Award for 2017 in Japan for "developing cutting edge technologies to address burning environmental problems". This award is the highest honour given every year jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Japan, National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), Japan and The Nikkan Kogyo Shinbun (a media group). What is more,  Chandraghatgi is the first foreigner to win this award.

What exactly is the cutting edge technology developed by Chandraghatgi to address 'burning environmental problems"? According to information available at his company website, EcoCycle has developed a unique technology for environmental remediation and recycling of organic solvents in semiconductor industries. It uses microorganisims to clean the soil and groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents and hexavalent chromium. The company has also developed unique on-site emission analytical techniques for semiconductor industries.

India does not have a significant semiconductor industry. Much of its requirements are imported. While this may have been a reason for the rather tepid response here, it fails to see the larger picture. In one of the interviews, Chandraghatgi gives an open offer aimed at India - "Now it is my turn to work in India where large scale health problems are reported because of consuming toxic groundwater. If any organization, government or NGO, wants to take up such cause with concern of public health, I am ready to provide my technology and vast experience free!"

Will this offer be taken up in right earnest? Or will we continue to wear our blinkers and look-up towards the West - USA, Europe - technological breakthroughs that are relevant to India?

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REFERENCES & LINKS

* (20Jun17) -UNI - "Agri. Microbiologist Dr Shrihari Chandraghatgi gets Japan Award" http://www.uniindia.com/agri-microbiologist-dr-shrihari-chandraghatgi-gets-japan-award/states/news/906665.html
- Dr Shrihari is currently helping Ministry of Industry, Thailand in forming environmental regulations and educate with remedial technologies.
- In 2017 he established a NGO, Kibono Hikari literally means Ray of Hope to help under privileged children in India with educational and medical support.

* (21Jun17) - IndiaToday - "Indian Agri-Microbiologist given Environment Award in Japan" - http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/indian-agri-microbiologist-given-environment-award-in-japan/1/983894.html

* (21Jun17) - DNA - http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-indian-agri-microbiologist-given-environment-award-in-japan-2479336

* (2015) - Son's donation for Scoriosis treatment - http://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/baby-anjummehboob-patel-shrihari/articleshow/47062930.cms?

* EcoCycle Corporation, Japan - http://www.ecocycle.co.jp/e_organization/e_organization.html

Zero Energy Building

A rather unusual looking building came up in South Delhi a couple of years ago. Amidst other, conventional government buildings in the Jor Bagh area, "Paryavaran Bhavan", the new office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), looks as though its wearing a graduation cap.

A  closer look reveals that the cap is actually an elongated, cantilevered roof which holds a vast array of solar panels. This seven-storied tower covering 32,000 sq.m, and accommodating over 600 government officials is India's first "Net Zero Energy" building. The solar panels generate 930 KWp of power, which is more than enough to meet its annual energy requirements of 1.4 million Units at 9KWh. The building actually generates a surplus of about 70,000 KWh which diverted back into the grid.

According to MoEF, this "Multi-storied Building with 100% Onsite Power Generation", is the first of its kind in India. Apart from those solar panels on the roof, it uses a Chilled Beam System of air conditioning which saves more than 50% in energy consumption. The building incorporates a Geothermal Heat Exchange System as well as seven "Machine Room Gearless Lifts (OTIS) that converts braking energy into electrical energy (regenerative brakes, as in automobiles). The building also has its own plants for water and sewage treatment -- in other words, it neither takes any energy from outside, neither does it dump its waste into the city's drains.

Who were the people behind such a pioneering effort? How did the usually hidebound CPWD, with its record of making dreadful looking public buildings actually undertake this leap of faith and technical flourish?

Unfortunately, there seems to be nothing in the 'public domain' that either chronicles, or celebrates this achievement. The CPWD website (accessed 19 April 2017), does have a  button titled "Click Here for Old PPTs", and this does lead to a list of projects that includes this building. None of the URLs work.

Dig a little deeper at other websites (ICFILD, CSE) and you would find that CPWD did indeed lack in-house expertise for such a project. So the government did the the next best thing - it employed competent consulting agencies for each of the specialized aspects of this project. CPWD then brought in its formidable project management skills and completed this building in just two years' time (Jan. 2011-Oct 2013). Among them was Deependra Prashad's DPAP -  the architecture firm that designed this building.

Is this new approach going to be the new norm in public works? Have we finally graduated to better designed public buildings?


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LINKS & REFERENCES

- MOEF Pamphlet - "A New Benchmark in Sustainable Built Habitat"
- CPWD - PPT - Technical Presentation - http://cpwd.gov.in/CPWDNationBuilding/InaugurationPM25.02.2014/Technical_Presentation.ppt
- Case Study (2014) - http://icfild.org/ire2014/seminar/06_deependra_prasad/spa_ipb_deependra.pdf
- Ramachandran, Smriti Kak (2012) - A Green Revolution in Letter and Spirit - http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/a-green-revolution-in-letter-and-in-spirit/article3820306.ece

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VITAL STATS

Capacity of power generation: 930 KWp
Annual energy requirement and generation: 14 Lakh Units 9KWh
Total area covered by solar panels: 4600 sqm
Building plinth area: 32,000 sqm
Structure: G + 7 floors + 3 basements
Solar Panels: Covering 4600 sqm, monocrystalline with 20% efficiency
Amenities: 440 TR HVAC Air Conditioning; Lifts, Fire Alarm System; DG Sets, UPS, IBMS and CCTV Systems; Fully automatic robotic car parking for 330 cars
Architecture, Planning and Execution: Central Public Works Department (CPWD)
Cost: INR 209 Cr. (USD 32.4 million)

FDI and the Export of Polluting Industries

An interesting article was posted on Academia today - "Japan's Global Environmentalism: Rhetoric and Reality".

It was a bit dated (1998) but the topic dealt with a time-period when I worked with Japanese ODA, and of how Japan deliberately advocating high-tech solutions to environmental problems in developing countries simply in order to maximize purchases of capital-intensive technology and high-tech production services from Japan.

Numerous I-wish-I-knew-that-before points turned up, for instance -

• The disastrous and ultimately aborted Narmada Dam project of theWorld Bank was closely linked to hydroelectric facilities funded by Japanese ODA (Kuroda, 1992).
• Japanese environmental problems have been transferred along with FDI in mining and manufacturing operations to developing countries like Malaysia and the Philippines (Harada, 1991; Kojima, 1994;Nester, 1990; Ofreneo, 1993; Ui, 1989).
• Kawasaki’s transfer of its iron ore sintering plant to the Philippines after environmental lawsuits were filed by local citizens near the original location in ChibaCity, Japan (Yokoyama, 1992).
• Japanese-made pollution filters do not work because the energy inputs are from low-grade coal, instead of the higher-quality fuels domestic Japanese corporations use. Therefore, dirty industries have been transferred overseas without the environmentally cleaner—but more expensive—technology which would be used if these industries were located within Japan (Harada, 1991). 
• Japanese practice of dumping of hazardous waste in the oceans, and exports of waste to Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand (Kumamoto, 1994). 
• Japan is the only OECD country not to adopt the decision on the Control of Trans-frontier Movements of Wastes Destined for Recovery Operations (Hopp and Olson,1994). 
• 15% of Japan’s landmass has been slated for resort development as a consequence of the 1987 Resort Act (Beasley, 1992), and much of this land has been used for golf courses. Recently, high land prices in Japan have fueled the expansion of golf courses across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
• In the early 1990s some of the world’s highest rates of deforestation occurred in Sarawak, Malaysia, where over 66% of logs were being exported to Japan to fuel demand for logs and pulp(Thompson, 1993).
• In fact Japan leads the world in the importation of tropical hardwoods by a large margin (ITTO, 1995). Japan also has extensive FDI in wood chip and pulp production in Chile, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the USA.
• Instead of banning tropical hardwood imports or urging its Southeast Asian neighbors to ban exports, Japan’s solution instead has been to offer environmental aid for reforestation. Reforestation, however, usually consists of particular species of imported trees (primarily eucalyptus) which are most profitable for export (Ui, 1989: 396).
• In the Philippines, Japanese aid has modernized the fishing port and market facilities and most of the large commercial fishing operations are Japanese owned (Ofreneo, 1993). As a result of over-fishing and ocean pollution,small-scale Filipino fishermen’s annual catch has been reduced dramatically (Broadand Cavanagh, 1993).
• Mitsubishi was a major contributor to Indonesian deforestation (Hurst,1990) and currently owns large shares of interests in logging companies, saw mills,and dangerously polluting industries in Malaysia (Karan and Jasparro, 1998).

The complete paper, published in Political Grography is available here.

> Taylor, Jonathan (1998): Japan's Global Environmentalism: Rhetoric and Reality, Pergamon Political Geography, 18, 1999