Energy recovery from waste in India:an evidence-based analysis

The uptake of Waste-to-Energy (WtE) in India has not been successful and the majority of plants have failed to sustain operations. There is a lack of detailed on-the-ground research examining the causes of plant failures and the issues regarding the WtE supply chain. Thus, this study set out to identify how WtE practices in India can be improved by gathering and evaluating empirical evidence. Local government officers, industry practitioners and academics involved in waste management in India were consulted. Quantitative data were collected on three case study plants: an incinerator, a gasification plant and a plant co-firing waste with coal. The gathered information was evaluated by making a comparison with two European waste incinerators. The major problem with WtE in India has typically been perceived to be poor source segregation; however, the case study plants highlight that severe contamination has been occurring during transport and storage. In comparison to the European incinerators, the WtE plants in India had a low capital cost (around 1–2 million €/MW), but total particulate matter emissions were a hundred times higher, ranging from 65 to 75 mg/Nm3. We conclude with recommendations for delivery contracts, financial incentives and regulations on dumpsites, ash disposal and stack emission measurements

Cities and climate change mitigation: Economic opportunities and governance challenges in Asia

Cities are central to the fight against climate change, but the IPCC recently noted that many cities — and particularly those in the developing world — lack the institutional, financial and technical capacities needed to switch to low emission development paths. Based on detailed case studies of three Asian cities, this paper finds that the adoption of low emission development strategies (LEDS) at the urban level could be economically attractive. However, it also argues that without a coordinated multi-level, cross-sectoral governance framework these opportunities for low carbon urban development are likely to be left unexploited. As these governance conditions are frequently not in place, we argue that these case study cities, and cities in similar contexts, are likely to miss even the economically attractive low carbon development opportunities and become increasingly locked in to higher cost, higher carbon development paths. Due to their growing size and importance, we conclude that the presence or absence of governance arrangements that enable the adoption of low carbon development strategies in Asian cities will have global implications for climate change

Fishers perceptions of ecosystem service change associated with climate-disturbed coral reefs

Understanding ecosystem service change necessitates an understanding of the social and ecological dimensions of ecosystem services and how they contribute to the well-being of different people. These empirical research gaps persist across the tropics and in coastal environments, posing a challenge for small island states that depend on ecosystem services associated with near-shore ecosystems like coral reefs. Perception-based approaches allow for a rapid appraisal of what constitutes ecosystem service change, providing insights into why these changes matter, and how experiences of change differ between individuals. To capture perceptions of change in four ecosystem services associated with coral reefs (habitat, fishery, coastal protection and recreation services), we conducted 41 semi-structured interviews with coral reef fishers from Seychelles, where reef ecosystems have been severely impacted by climate disturbance. We gathered quantitative and qualitative data to understand (a) if and what changes in reef-associated ecosystem services have been perceived; (b) if fishers’ characteristics are associated with differences in perceived changes and (c) which changes matter most in fishers’ lives. Using a three-dimensional approach to well-being, we sought to identify whether reasons behind the importance of change connect to fishers’ well-being. There have been noticeable changes across all four ecosystem services investigated. Changes include social, ecological and behavioural dynamics. Every fisher perceived at least one ecosystem service change but fishers who dive/snorkel or work from larger boats perceived a higher number of ecosystem services to have changed. Education, age and participation in snorkelling/diving were associated with fishers who identified changing habitat services as most important, whereas fishers from families with fewer livelihood alternatives and from smaller islands identified changing fishery services as most important. Different aspects of the subjective, relational and material dimensions of well-being were implicated in why changing services matter. Despite known ecological shifts in reef condition, this research is one of few studies to empirically show how changes across multiple ecosystem services are being perceived. These perceived changes are complex, engage both the social and ecological dimensions of services, and connect in multiple ways to how fishers feel about their lives, their relationships and material well-being. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article