Power sector reform in Maharashtra, India

In early 1990 the power sector in India required an initial set of reforms due to the scarcity of financial resources and its deteriorating technical and commercial efficiency. The Indian power sector is now going through a second stage of reforms in which restructuring of electric supply utilities has taken place. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) initiated reforms in 2005 by dividing the state electricity board into four separate companies. In this paper, the situations that led to the reform of the MSEB and the scope of the work required for an action plan initiated by the state electricity distribution company in the context of the proposed Key Performance Index are discussed. The post-reform status of the distribution company is analyzed with selected key parameters. The study also analyzes the electricity supply model implemented and the effect of a multi-year tariff plan as one of the key milestones of the tariff structure. The various new projects implemented by the distribution company to improve consumer services and the reform experiences of the other states are discussed, along with the future scope of the present reform process.Power sector reform Key Performance Index Electricity supply model

Assessment and mitigation of droughts in South-West Asia: issues and prospects

Drought / Monitoring / Assessment / Risks / Analysis / Decision support tools / Policy / Institutions / Social aspects / Economic aspects / Water harvesting / Asia

Use of historical data as a decision support tool in watershed management: a case study of the Upper Nilwala Basin in Sri Lanka

Watershed management / Hydrology / Land use / Flow / Catchment areas / Water balance / Case studies / Runoff / Water yield / Rainfall-runoff relationships / Forestry / Decision support tools / Data collection / Sri Lanka / Nilwala Basin

Hydraulic simulations to evaluate and predict design and operation of the Chashma Right Bank Canal

Irrigation systems / Irrigation canals / Flow control / Velocity / Canal regulation techniques / Hydraulics / Simulation models / Design / Operations / Crop-based irrigation / Distributary canals / Water delivery / Policy / Protective irrigation / Water allocation / Water requirements / Sedimentation / Water distribution / Equity / Water conveyance / Pakistan / Chashma Right Bank Canal

Advancements in IIMI's research 1992

Irrigation management / Research / Rehabilitation / Modernization / Social aspects / Canal irrigation / Performance evaluation / Privatization / Conjunctive use / Groundwater / Simulation models / Indicators / Crop-based irrigation / Policy / Rice / Nepal / Pakistan / Sri Lanka / Punjab / Kirindi Oya

Income Outlook for U.S. Farms and the Farm Economy in 2007 (Paper and PowerPoint)

Agribusiness,

Potential for reducing global carbon emissions from electricity production--A benchmarking analysis

We present five performance indicators for electricity generation for 129 countries using the 2005 data. These indicators, measured at the national level, are the aggregate CO2 intensity of electricity production, the efficiencies of coal, oil and gas generation and the share of electricity produced from non-fossil fuels. We conduct a study on the potential for reducing global energy-related CO2 emissions from electricity production through simple benchmarking. This is performed based on the last four performance indicators and the construction of a cumulative curve for each of these indicators. It is found that global CO2 emissions from electricity production would be reduced by 19% if all these indicators are benchmarked at the 50th percentile. Not surprisingly, the emission reduction potential measured in absolute terms is the highest for large countries such as China, India, Russia and the United States. When the potential is expressed as a percentage of a country's own emissions, few of these countries appear in the top-five list.Carbon emissions Electricity production Benchmarking

Long-term implications of alternative light-duty vehicle technologies for global greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy demands

This study assesses global light-duty vehicle (LDV) transport in the upcoming century, and the implications of vehicle technology advancement and fuel-switching on greenhouse gas emissions and primary energy demands. Five different vehicle technology scenarios are analyzed with and without a CO2 emissions mitigation policy using the GCAM integrated assessment model: a reference internal combustion engine vehicle scenario, an advanced internal combustion engine vehicle scenario, and three alternative fuel vehicle scenarios in which all LDVs are switched to natural gas, electricity, or hydrogen by 2050. The emissions mitigation policy is a global CO2 emissions price pathway that achieves 450 ppmv CO2 at the end of the century with reference vehicle technologies. The scenarios demonstrate considerable emissions mitigation potential from LDV technology; with and without emissions pricing, global CO2 concentrations in 2095 are reduced about 10 ppmv by advanced ICEV technologies and natural gas vehicles, and 25 ppmv by electric or hydrogen vehicles. All technological advances in vehicles are important for reducing the oil demands of LDV transport and their corresponding CO2 emissions. Among advanced and alternative vehicle technologies, electricity- and hydrogen-powered vehicles are especially valuable for reducing whole-system emissions and total primary energy.Light-duty vehicles Transportation emissions mitigation Integrated assessment

Evaluation of potential reductions in carbon emissions in Chinese provinces based on environmental DEA

The estimation of CO2 emissions reduction potential in China is an important issue for China's energy policy. In this paper, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to evaluate the carbon emission performance of 29 Chinese provincial administrative regions (Tibet and Taiwan are not included since of data lack) by computing potential carbon emission reductions for energy conservation technology (ECT) and energy structural adjustment (ESA). The results reveal that ECT promotion and reductions in inter-regional technological disparity would be effective in reducing carbon emissions in technically inefficient regions. However, most of the provincial administrative regions investigated have an irrational energy structure and exhibit an overdependence on coal consumption, so ESA is required to reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, enormous emission reductions could be achieved by promoting ECT, developing renewable energy, increasing the proportion of non-fossil energy, delivering low-carbon energy and applying ESA. Based on the estimation, some policy implications and suitable suggestions are proposed for policy makers.Environmental DEA Potential carbon emission reduction Energy conservation technology

Distributional aspects of emissions in climate change integrated assessment models

The recent failure of Copenhagen negotiations shows that concrete actions are needed to create the conditions for a consensus over global emission reduction policies. A wide coalition of countries in international climate change agreements could be facilitated by the perceived fairness of rich and poor countries of the abatement sharing at international level. In this paper I use two popular climate change integrated assessment models to investigate the path and decompose components and sources of future inequality in the emissions distribution. Results prove to be consistent with previous empirical studies and robust to model comparison and show that gaps in GDP across world regions will still play a crucial role in explaining different countries contributions to global warming.Inequality Emissions Integrated assessment