Nearly 60 pc greenhouse gas emissions from energy sector: Govt

NEW DELHI, December 21: Energy sector contributes for nearly 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, followed by electricity, industry, agriculture and other sectors, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said today. Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Javadekar said greenhouse gas emissions from energy sector constituted 58 percent, followed by electricity 37.8 percent, industry 22 percent, agriculture 17 percent, transport 7.5 percent, cement 6.8 percent, iron and steel 6.2 percent, waste 3 percent of the net Carbon Dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions. "As per a report on India: Greenhouse Gas Inventory-2007 the net Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission from India in 2007 with Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) were 1727.71 million tons of CO2 equivalent. Out of which, CO2 emissions were 1221.76 million tons, methane emissions were 20.56 million tons and Nitrous Oxide emissions were 0.24 million tons," the Minister said. He said a scientific study to assess the impacts of climate change has been undertaken. Javadekar said a report titled Climate Change and India: 4X4 Assessment- A Sectoral and Regional Analysis for 2030s, published in 2010, projected a variable rate of change in agriculture production including reduction in yield of crops namely, rice, maize and sorghum and increase in the yield of coconut for western ghats, coastal and north-eastern regions with increasing temperature. "Further, it is anticipated that there may be an all round decrease in apple production in the Himalayan region, and the line of production may shift to higher altitude," he said in a reply to another question on climate change.