By Naveed Qazi, Sustainability Analyst Photo Source: Wire Science India’s energy transition is not only about reducing carbon emissions, or expanding renewable energy. It is also about whether Indian economy can reconcile three objectives namely sustaining economic growth, strengthening energy security, and meeting high climate commitments. With time, the debate has put India part of a broader Global South dilemma. The country also presents a unique case. Instead of many advanced economies, that embarked on decarbonisation after rapid industrialisation, India is pursuing development and green transitions simultaneously. This dual challenge makes India’s case interestingly complex. The transition will also depend on whether its institutions, markets, technology, and public policy converge in long term. Historian of energy Vaclav Smil has consistently argued societies do not replace one source of energy with another. They rather transform entire eco-systems. He further postulates that ev...

Photo source: Edhas Biofuel Refinery By Naveed Qazi, Sustainability Analyst  A s rising ethanol demand and El Nino temperature affect India’s sugarcane industry, the surplus for export is poised to likely decrease for next three seasons. Millions of tons of sugar will be off the world market, threatening supplies for importers across Asia, Africa, and Middle East. It also shows that weather risks and biofuel policies are greatly reshaping global sugar trade flows. Recently, Reuters had done interviews with over a dozen trade and industry executives, government sources, and farmers. They concluded that rising ethanol demand will leave little scope for exports for several years, prompting dealers at global houses to warn head offices of shrinking trade opportunities in India. In Indian culture, sugar is a top consumed product, mainly used in sweets and many poorer households rely on its cheap source of calories. Statistics reveal that India exported 6.8 million metric tons of sugar a...

Photo source: The Global Kashmir  By Naveed Qazi, Sustainability Analyst O ver the past few decades, a growing scholarship has emerged from Kashmir valley, which has established a profound transformation of the valley’s agrarian landscape. Their research work suggests that agricultural land is steadily shrinking, farming is becoming less attractive as a livelihood, and the rural society is undergoing a process of de-agrarianisation. There have been several contemporary studies done which lay out policy, their implications, as well as scientific reasons behind agricultural decline, leading to varying perspectives. One of the earliest scientific examinations of this phenomenon came from agricultural economists, Dr. M.H. Wani, Sajad Hassan Baba, and Shahid Yousuf of SKUAST-Kashmir in their influential 2009 study. They came to some conclusions such as huge pressure of increasing population on land and other resources of the state leading to agricultural production decline. They also pe...

Photo source: Never Blue IT By Naveed Qazi, Sustainability Analyst   A s one of the most influential technologies of our era, artificial intelligence is reshaping the sectors of public administration, financial system, scientific research, and everyday life. Behind its presence lies a deeply physical infrastructure, made up of data centres, semiconductor factories, fibre networks, and global mineral supply chains. The technology relies on an infrastructure dependent on electricity, water, land, and materials at a scale, which is not widely apparent in public debate. However, what is conclusive now through international evidence is that AI is not environmentally neutral, even if its global footprint remains partially measurable. The major starting point for the analysis on this issue would be the measured data on global digital ecosystems. The International Energy Agency reports that global energy consumption has been rising steadily, around 1 to 1.5 percent, and that electricity de...