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Chronic Life Style Disease Cancer Diabetes Others

Chronic diseases represent long term non communicable medical conditions that are generally progressive. the contribution of most of the major non communicable disease groups to the total disease burden has increased all over india since 1990, including cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, asthma, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health and neurological disorders, cancers. Results: the life expectancy free of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer at age 50 was 23.7 years (95% confidence interval 22.6 to 24.7) for women who adopted no low risk lifestyle factors, in contrast to 34.4 years (33.1 to 35.5) for women who adopted four or five low risk factors. at age 50, the life expectancy free of any of these. As people live longer, a greater number will suffer and die from a chronic illness such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes. many factors, including gender, race, personality traits, social ties and cognitive habits, influence how they fare. Addiction is a chronic disease similar to other chronic diseases such as type ii diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. human studies of addictive behaviors have clearly implicated both environmental and genetic influences, as well as interactions between the two. Noncommunicable diseases (ncds), also known as chronic diseases, are not passed from person to person. they are of long duration and generally slow progression. the four main types of noncommunicable diseases are cardiovascular diseases (like heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes. Chronic diseases have significant health and economic costs in the united states. preventing chronic diseases, or managing symptoms when prevention is not possible, can reduce these costs. alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia, is an irreversible, progressive brain disease that affects about 5.7. Lifestyle diseases can be defined as diseases linked with ones lifestyle. lifestyle diseases are non communicable diseases.they are caused by lack of physical activity, unhealthy eating, alcohol, substance use disorders and smoking tobacco, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, obesity, type ii diabetes and lung cancer. 4 healthy lifestyle factors help ward off chronic disease. diet, exercise, low body mass index and not smoking can reduce the incidence of heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer duke med health news . doctor highlights the power of lifestyle & diet in combating diabetes & cardiovascular disease, cancer and other lifestyle related chronic diseases is the topic watch doctor unmesh korde guide you on the preventive measures one can adopt to save from the lifestyle diseases full interview lifestyle can have a huge impact on preventing and managing the chronic disease that are the leading causes of death and disability, be they heart disease, this lifestyle correction approach is beneficial for a large number of chronic lifestyle diseases including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, a disease associated with the way a person or group of people live their life, the in appropriate lifestyle lead to increases the chances of a person attacked by risk factors are things that increase the chance that a person will develop a certain disease. lots of these are lifestyle choices that we make everyday. learn the the better approach to preventing chronic diseases harnesses high level evidence based strategies, resources, and tools. better focuses on those chronic katerina maximova received training in chronic disease epidemiology at mcgill university and has been involved in primary prevention of chronic disease a new report from the centre for science and environment shows that lifestyle diseases or non communicable diseases are responsible for more than 61 percent.

Time to Take On the Increasing Air Pollution in Indian Cities

The World Air Quality Report released on March 17 places New Delhi as the world’s most polluted capital for the third year in a row. 14 of the 15 most polluted cities in the world are in India, while China, Pakistan and Bangladesh have only two each. This is not the first study on rising air pollution in Indian cities. Every year one or the other international organisation releases a report on the hazardous air here, but instead of making efforts to reduce the pollution, an even more urgent concern given the pandemic, the Indian and state governments avoid it every time by making excuses. On April 28 an international team of scientists from the UK, Belgium, Jamaica and India released their findings on rising air pollution in a number of cities in India, including Delhi. The study used observations from satellite instruments to estimate trends in a range of air pollutants between 2005 and 2018. According to the study, the amount of PM2.5 and nitrogen oxide particles, both hazardous to health, has been steadily increasing in Delhi and Kanpur, while these pollutants have been declining in London and Birmingham over the same period, reflecting the success of policies targeting sources that emit these pollutants. The study also found formaldehyde among the air pollutants, which scientists had never mentioned in the earlier studies. The presence of formaldehyde in the air in Delhi, Kanpur, London, and Birmingham took them by surprise. According to researchers, formaldehyde emissions in London and Birmingham come from personal care and cleaning products and a range of other household sources, while in India it comes from vehicles as well. Increasing air pollution adversely affects the health of all kinds of flora and fauna including human beings. According to the India State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, 1.7 million people died in India due to air pollution during 2019. A 2020 report by Greenpeace Southeast Asia estimates 54,000 people died of airborne diseases in Delhi alone last year. Air pollution killed 25,000 people in Mumbai, 12,000 in Bangalore, 11,000 in Hyderabad and 11,000 in Chennai. The worst effects of air pollution are on children's health. According to a study by researchers from AIIMS, Kalawati Saran Children's Hospital and Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, increasing levels of air pollution increase the likelihood of lung and respiratory diseases in children 3 to 5 years old by 21 to 28 per cent. Air pollution causes premature death of the urban poor. According to a recent report released by the University of Birmingham, more than 46,000 poor people in Delhi often sleep on the sidewalks after the day’s work due to the lack of public accommodation and inflation of rent. Many also work in the most polluted places like industries, thermal plants, construction sites due to which they die prematurely because of exposure to toxic air. Despite so many deaths, curtailed or unhealthy lives spent in suffering, our Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar had made a statement in 2019 that no research shows that Indians die from air pollution. Maria Neira, director of the World Health Organization, responded to Javadekar's statement at a meeting in Madrid, quoting it satirically at the 25th COP conference, saying how good it would be if Indians were not affected by air pollution, but alas! this is not the truth. Air pollution also affects the economy of each country. The Greenpeace Southeast Asia analysis found that of 28 cities around the world Delhi suffered the most economic losses from air pollution at Rs.58,895 crore in 2020, Mumbai has lost about 26,000 crore, Bangalore 12,000 crore, Hyderabad 11,000 crore and Chennai Rs.10,000 crore. Air pollution also comes at a heavy cost to society. People are forced to spend millions of rupees treating lung and respiratory diseases as well as heart and skin diseases. Many people lose their relatives and friends to them, which is a never ending social loss. The main causes of air pollution in Delhi are the increasing number of vehicles and industries, construction work, burning garbage dumps, thermal plants, dust on the roads, burning of crop residues in the northern states, the annual winter fires and fumes, and firecrackers during Diwali. Our governments need to take four measures to reduce air pollution here. First they should enforce a ban on the use of firecrackers on religious occasions or weddings and take legal action against violators. Second, the Union government should provide machinery to farmers at affordable rates to protect Delhi from crop residue smoke pollution, and help Punjab, Haryana and other states to adopt a cropping pattern suitable to their agro-climatic conditions. Third, it should enact serious and strict enforcement of environmental laws to reduce pollution from sources such as industries, power plants, construction sites, garbage dumps, brick kilns, etc. located in Delhi. At the time of first lockdown Covid-19 the government was forced to shut down industries and private vehicles, leaving the skies clear. While farmers in Punjab and Haryana were still harvesting their crops and burning crop residues, this didn’t increase air pollution levels at the time. Therefore, the state and union governments should take legal action against industries that do not comply with environmental regulations. The rules set by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change in 2015 should be strictly enforced on coal-fired thermal plants that emit large amounts of sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and PM10 and PM2.5 particles into the atmosphere on a daily basis. Owners of these thermal plants made a writ petition to the Supreme Court to relax these environmental regulations in 2015 and they were granted relief till 2022. According to a report by the Center for Science and Environment, currently only 2 out of 12 thermal plants meet environmental regulations. Such laxity on the part of the government is responsible for the rapid pollution of Delhi's environment, and the deaths and sickness of large numbers of people. Governments and businesses should also use modern technology to deal with the piles of garbage. Strict adherence to environment friendly rules should also be enforced on construction sites. Our governments also have a large role to play in making public transport more efficient, which will reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads. In the medium term, the use of coal and other fossil fuels for power generation should be stopped completely so that Delhi and other cities in India can be free from air pollution, an invisible poison that is devouring thousands of lives every day.

Odisha diverts DMF funds to urban areas as mining-affected communities suffer

Odisha is one of the mineral-rich states and has billions of rupees collected under the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds which according to the law are to be used for the welfare of the mining-affected communities. Instead, the DMF funds are either being used for works that have nothing to do with the welfare of mining-affected communities like the creation of a stadium or diverted for urban areas. Experts note that Odisha has more than Rs. 110 billion under the DMF funds but they are yet to find their way to the mining-affected communities. During the latest budget Session of Odisha’s Legislative Assembly, the Odisha government’s Cabinet in March 2021 approved several proposals but the one that raised eyebrows was to use the District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds, meant for the mining-affected community in the Sundergarh district, for construction of an international stadium in Rourkela town. The proposed international stadium has been envisioned to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023. This misuse of the DMF funds is not a one-off incident, but there have been many similar trends over the years. In 2017, in the Jharsuguda district, the district administration sanctioned works related to the power supply to the Jharsuguda airport with an investment of more than Rs. 20 crore (Rs. 200 million) squeezed from the DMF funds. In another mining district of Keonjhar, the district administration in 2019-20 sanctioned works for a handball stadium, and invested around Rs 500,000 for a patient facilitation centre for Cuttack-based medical college which is around 200 kilometres away from Keonjhar. In January 2020, the administration of the Sundergarh district bought 25 cars with the DMF funds for them to be used as patrolling vans by the police in Rourkela city, a non-mining affected area. Earlier, even integrated traffic management was sponsored with the DMF funds. In the same district, the DMF funds were also used to construct the boundary walls of the Circuit House. The list of instances where the DMF funds were used for works that had nothing to do with the welfare of the mining-affected communities goes on. This, experts warn, is worrisome because this comes at a time when the state’s own people living in the mining-affected areas are crying for attention and seeking help for basic amenities in their areas after living in poor and vulnerable conditions for decades. This is important because according to the Union Coal and Mines Minister Pralhad Joshi, Odisha has seen the highest collection of Rs. 11,984 crore (RS. 119.84 billion) as DMF collections from the miners operating in the state since the inception of funds in 2015. The Odisha government recently told the state Assembly that the DMF collections in the state are rising in the state. While it was Rs. 395.44 crore (Rs. 3.95 billion) in 2015-2019, in 2019-20 the total annual collections stood at Rs. 3,079.20 crore (Rs. 30.79 billion). Though Odisha has a significant amount of the DMF funds what is probably lacking is the provision of transparency related to their use. For instance, Rule 16 of the Odisha DMF Rules talks about sharing the annual report of the DMF trust on its website but hardly any annual reports have been uploaded online for several years. Odisha’s DMF Rules mandates the usage of 60 percent of the funds in priority areas while 40 percent of them could be used in non-priority areas. The non-priority areas included investments in physical infrastructure, irrigation, energy and watershed development, afforestation and others. Queries sent to P.K. Jena, who is the Odisha government’s secretary for the planning and convergence department, regarding the diversion of DMF funds for other purposes remained unanswered. Pranav Sachdeva, a lawyer with the Supreme Court who has handled many mining cases in the apex court emphasised that Odisha and many states have attempted to dilute the very concept of the DMF funds by diverting it to areas other than the mining-affected areas. “As mining firms grow, the local community impacted by mining does not get any benefit from the money collected … in fact the local environment is impacted too. But the governments often diverts these important resources away from the vulnerable community. They try to use the DMF funds for works where ideally budgetary allocations should have been used. These funds were planned for the upliftment of the affected community for their health, education, livelihood and others and many portions land in urban areas,” he said. The pollution mess in the mining-affected areas of Odisha According to the 2011 Census, about 1.62 million people (50 percent) in the Sundergarh district belong to Scheduled Tribes and many live in rural areas. This area is adjacent to the Chhattisgarh border and known for coal mining and other minerals for decades. But what is consistently ignored is the plight of the communities impacted by mining. For instance, Naresh Meher, a resident of Ratanpur village in Gopalpur panchayat in Sundergarh district, said that people in his village are living in pathetic conditions due to mining taking place about 10 kilometres away. He said that the levels of air pollution, water pollution and sound pollution have taken a huge toll on his village. “Around 3,000 trucks cross our village every day. Thick levels of dust often engulf our standing crops while polluted water is discharged from the handpumps. Several of the citizens here live with skin diseases, cancer and other diseases triggered by mining activities,” said Meher, who himself is tuberculosis (TB) patient. But this is not the end of their poor fate as his village is now listed to be taken away for mining. Social activist Suru Mishra from Sundergarh said that in the Hemgiri block in the district, a stretch of 25 kilometres of road connects the mining centres of Sundergarh with Chhattisgarh and passes through several villages but even then the roads are in extremely bad shape. “You cannot walk on that road. Only trucks and heavy vehicles run on that road. There are very big potholes and the whole stretch gets waterlogged making it very difficult for the local communities to commute or for kids to use that to go to schools,” Mishra told Mongabay-India. Both, Meher and Mishra, said that these areas and many other mining-affected areas need government attention to improve their standards of lives. They also said that the Hemgiri Community Health Centre (CHC) is still deprived of a digital X-ray facility and ultrasound facility and other medical facilities but the government has spent several portions of the DMF funds in boosting the District Headquarter Hospital (DHH), which is in an urban area. The provision of DMF funds – to be collected from miners – were introduced in January 2015 by the government of India through an amendment in the country’s mining laws for all districts affected by mining-related operations. In the Talcher region of the Angul district, the villagers living in areas close to the coal mining and coal washery units are left to suffer from the discharge of untreated water directly into the farmlands of the village. Similarly, in the Bansapal and Joda blocks of the Keonjhar district, the villagers are facing the crisis of polluted groundwater, a result of mining activities. This has also forced many women to walk for miles every day to fetch drinking water. How Odisha’s DMF funds are being diverted for other purposes? Experts working on the issue of mining in Odisha and other states claim that the DMF funds are now easily diverted for other priority areas and urban areas despite it being illegal and mining-affected communities crying for help. Sankar Prasad Pani, a lawyer with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) said, “In districts like Keonjhar, the salaries of doctors are now being paid through the DMF funds which should ideally be coming from the state’s budgetary allocations.” “Collectors find the DMF funds sometimes hard to dispense and thus divert it for numerous urban-centric works. But they are not annual budget funds, they can be accumulated and do not lapse. They can be used when needed. The need is to make priority-based plans to aid the mining-affected people,” he said. Ramesh Agarwal, a leading Indian environmentalist based in Raigarh in Chhattisgarh said, “The rules of DMF have been framed in such a way that the district collector gets the power to sanction the DMF funds with the approval of the local DMF committee. In many states, we have seen diversion of the funds to other areas which is not going to affect the mining hit communities,” A study conducted by the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) on the usage of DMF funds in different mining districts of Odisha found that despite lower social and health indicators the allocation of DMF funds on the issue of livelihood and other areas had not been much, say for example in Sundergarh district. “In Sundergarh, one of Odisha’s top mining districts, a negligible Rs. 3 crore (Rs. 30 million) has been provided for child development out of the district’s Rs. 745 crore (Rs. 7.45 billion) sanctions. This is at a time when under five Mortality Rate in rural areas of the district is as high as 67, and nearly 50 percent of the children below this age are victims of stunted growth,” the report said. Srestha Banerjee, Programme Head, International Forum for Environment, Sustainability & Technology (iFOREST), who played a key role in producing the CSE report, said the constitution of the DMF committee in the districts is one of the main problems. “The DMF Committee in the districts have been formed in such a way that the local politicians including the parliamentarians and legislators exert more power in the decision making on the spending of the DMF funds in their areas. The mining laws permit the administration to use part of the DMF funds for administration works, but when the mining hit communities need attention for their upliftment and diversion of these funds to urban areas and for other similar works sounds less logical,” Banerjee told Mongabay-India. She said that livelihood and income generation of the rural poor population living in the mining-affected areas need to get a priority under the DMF fund allocations. She also demanded that the DMF funds should be spent based on priority areas rather than in a haphazard manner as it is happening presently in many mining districts of Odisha.

Will Trump S America Crash Earth S Climate Darrin Qualman

Will trump’s america crash earth’s climate? this year’s report, entitled annual energy outlook 2018, with projections to 2050 forecasts a nightmare scenario of increasing fossil fuel use, increasing emissions, lackluster adoption of renewable energy options, and a failure to shift to electric vehicles, even by mid century. Will trump’s america crash earth’s climate? us energy consumption by fuel, 1990 to 2050 darrin qualman, the name of this blog, graphic descriptions, at the. Darrin qualman worked as director of research for the national farmers union from 1996 to 2010. will trump’s america crash earth’s climate?. Darrin qualman is a writer, researcher, and speaker who lives on a farm near saskatoon, saskatchewan. posted on february 13, 2018 may 8, 2018 will trump’s america crash earth’s climate?. These two questions are the focus of a new report written by darrin qualman in collaboration with the national farmers union (nfu). the report is entitled tackling the farm crisis and the climate crisis: a transformative strategy for canadian farms and food systems and it’s available from the nfu website . The proposed climate “solutions” of the green new deal and the biden administration’s climate and energy executive orders is a threat to u.s. national security as the plan would only serve to shrink u.s. energy production and increase our dependence on middle eastern oil and force us to rely on energy from other potentially hostile nations, which could increase the odds of future wars. Breaking news and analysis on politics, business, world national news, entertainment more. in depth dc, virginia, maryland news coverage including traffic, weather, crime, education, restaurant. Qualman said there is "massive change coming" to canada's prairies, which will be "incredibly destructive." "it's not going too far to say that if we made that happen, parts of the prairies wouldn. a lot has happened since donald trump became president. here is one presidential term, as told through climate change. #climate #president #climatechange president trump withdraws from the paris climate accord, making the u.s. one of three nations on earth to not participate in the deal. watch full episodes of the references learn more: july 2016 is hottest on record: climate.nasa.gov news 2479 nasa analysis finds july 2016 is warmest on record noaa's state of in his editorial new rule, bill encourages president trump to become an eco warrior and take up the fight against climate change. connect with real time according to a report from the national bureau of economic research, there might be a correlation between sea level rise and risk in the housing and mortgage sign up for an annual curiositystream subscription and also get a free nebula subscription (the new streaming platform built by creators) here: national farmers union director of climate crisis policy and action, darrin qualman speaks to region 1 members about farming and climate change. today we're going to talk about climate change which is when there is a change in the average weather patterns in a region over a long period of time these join centre for science and environment (cse) for a discussion on the us election results and what it may mean for climate negotiations and action in the near us president donald trump has downplayed the climate change threat and suggest that global warming will reverse on its own. trump was responding to

Delhi battling dual crises of pollution and coronavirus

NEW DELHI: India’s capital is reeling from the double impact of the coronavirus and severe air pollution, New Delhi’s chief minister warned on Thursday, as the megacity reported a record jump in cases and its worst smog in a year. With fears growing about rising infections, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also banned firecrackers from being used this month during Diwali, the biggest festival on the Hindu calendar. The air quality index — measuring the tiny particles which enter the bloodstream and vital organs — was at its most dangerous since last November, according to the state-run System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). The toxic haze blanketing Delhi, which regularly turns the city of 20 million people into the world’s most-polluted, came as officials late on Wednesday reported a new daily-high of 6,842 virus infections in the capital. And the filthy air is actually driving more cases of COVID-19, Kejriwal told an online briefing. “The corona situation is worsening because of pollution,” he said, echoing medical analysis which says existing illnesses caused by poor air quality could make people more vulnerable to the coronavirus. Anumita Roy Chowdhury, of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said: “Some global studies have already shown how the effect of the pandemic is higher in more polluted regions.” And Santosh Harish, at the Delhi-based Center for Policy Research, said: “Evidence from previous related infections and emerging research suggest that pollution exposure could increase severity of the infection, and the transmission of the virus.” MORE CROP BURNING Kejriwal blamed the choking smoke on agricultural burning, saying regional state governments were not helping farmers to find alternative ways to clear their fields. “We will come together to celebrate Diwali without crackers. If we burst crackers, we are affecting the lives of our family and our children,” he added. The cracker frenzy usually turns Delhi’s grey winter skies into a putrid yellow. Every winter, Delhi is blanketed by haze from a build-up of vehicle fumes, industrial emissions and smoke from agricultural fires in regions around the capital. — AFP

This IITM start-up's solar-powered device can turn plastic waste, PPE into usable furnace oil

Plastic waste is a serious problem in India. According to the Central Pollution Control Board, a total of 3.3 million metric tonnes of plastic waste is generated every year. The Centre for Science and Environment states that India's plastic waste generation is growing at an alarming rate every year. As such, it is impertinent that a method should be developed to either recycle these large quantities of plastic waste or at least dispose of them in an eco-friendly manner. It was with this intention that a team of women scientists from IIT Madras, all professors, post-docs or research scholars, which included civil engineering professor Indumathi M Nambi, participated in the Carbon Zero Challenge in 2017 to pitch their business idea related to controlling plastic waste. Soon after, they founded Samudhyoga Waste Chakra, which is now incubated at the institute's incubation cell and is using a patent-pending technology of decentralised, solar-powered pyrolysis to tackle up to 250 kg of plastic daily. To address water scarcity, the start-up has launched Ecofert, through which they collect urine from the urinals at the IIT Madras campus and treat it to isolate nitrogen and phosphorus. The rest of the urine is electrochemically treated and used for gardening and fertilisation of the campus Today, Samudhyoga Waste Chakra is run by several post-doc researchers and PhD students of IIT Madras with Sriram Narasimhan as the Director. "The pyrolysis device has been optimised for the last two years to ensure that maximum amount of plastic waste can be processed at any given point of time," says Sriram. "We have used various types of plastics — from FMCG, municipal waste and biomedical waste — and even realised that the device can also process PPE kits, the disposal of which is now of paramount importance," he adds. So how does the machine work? "The waste plastic, in the presence of catalysts, is heated up to a temperature of 400°C. The plastic breaks down and is finally converted into usable furnace oil, a hydrocarbon liquid with a lot of energy, equivalent to diesel," explains Sriram. If it's scaled up, Sriram says, it can necessarily be operated simultaneously at different locations for different types of plastics to ensure that it generates optimal output of the diesel-like oil. "The first unit will soon be installed at one of the Greater Chennai Corporation's locations. We are also in talks with corporations of Mumbai and Pune for installing this unit in multiple locations," says Sriram. Since the machine can be installed in multiple locations, this can significant reduce building and transportation cost too, explains Sriram.

Envisioning India: India's Environmental Challenges and the Impact of COVID

This session with India’s leading environmentalist Sunita Narain will highlight findings of the State of India’s Environment 2021 the most comprehensive report on India’s environment produced by 60 notable experts in the subject in India by the Down To Earth magazine at the Centre for Science and the Environment. It has three special sections: an assessment of the pandemic and its impacts a year after, a data analysis of how India’s states are faring on environment and development parameters, and a tribute to the decade of biodiversity. This event is co-sponsored by the Sigur Center for Asian Studies and the Institute for International Economic Policy at the George Washington University.

Microbes – the Spades of Industrial Wastewater Treatment

“It is the Microbes who will have the last laugh”. Louis Pasteur had this vision way back in the 1850s, 80 years before the Spanish flu epidemic and these words have stood true in each and every pandemic since then, including the current pandemic. It is currently an undeniable fact that it is the Microbes that are having the last laugh as they are the ones who are a major Cause and Cure in this pandemic too. The word ‘microbe’ itself is very paradoxical in nature since Antonie van Leeuwenhoek first discovered them in the 1670s. While Louis Pasteur blamed them for food spoilage with the introduction of ‘pasteurisation’, to the 1870s when Robert Koch busted them for causing diseases such as tuberculosis, Cholera, Anthrax etc. While various discoveries have occurred around the world, our own country ‘India’ should not be forgotten, where discussion about microbe’s dates back to the 6th century BC, where they are mentioned in Jain scriptures by Lord Mahavira himself calling them ‘Nigodas’, to our current situation where Indians rely heavily on microbes for food too, from our yogurts to cottage cheese to pickles and whatnot. But the great irony lies with the fact that these same microbes still require much greater attention, especially in Industrial wastewater treatment. India is one of the top industrial wastewater producers, still requires a large-scale up gradation in technology. Industrial Waste Water Treatment Current Scenario (Global): Industrial Wastewater is now being recognized as a potential resource for economic and social benefits. A growing movement to reduce wastewater and treat the wastewater before discharge has been brought about by environmental and societal pressures. A wastewater study estimates that a 49.0m3/yr per capita of wastewater is produced annually with industrial wastewater treatment estimated at around 188.1×10m3/yr. Estimated wastewater that is discharged into the environment is 171.3×109 m3 /yr with it flowing directly into the environment without any previous treatment. Collection rates of wastewater are estimated at 63%. 52% of this collected wastewater is treated, out of which 84% undergoes industrial wastewater treatment. The highest collection rates of 88% and treatment rates of 86% are found in Western Europe with the lowest collection and treatment rates of 31% and 16% respectively found in South Asia. Rates of collection of industrial wastewater treatment have been seen to reduce with the income level of an area from high, upper level, upper-middle, lower-middle and to low-income level classifications. Industrial Wastewater Treatment Current Scenario (India): Currently, India’s capacity to treat its industrial wastewater is at 37% with approximately 22,963 million litres per day (MLD). India also faces a requirement to treat a daily sewage generation of approximately 61,754 MLD according to the 2015 report of the Central Pollution Control Board. The cost of setting up Industrial wastewater treatment plants and restructuring the sewerage systems has been identified as one of the major challenges faced in India. The Centre for Science and Environment estimates setting up and building costs for an industrial wastewater treatment plant at Rs. 1 crore/million litres of wastewater. Apart from these one of the biggest issues is the current mentality and lack of awareness and stringent measures of strictness from the government. Although CPCB and NGT are now on their toes and have become much more intolerant when it comes to water quality, the biggest slack is in the awareness of the proper treatment process for a particular type of industry. Though there is a significant increase in the investment for industrial wastewater treatment and a huge number of increases in companies providing such solutions but still industry-specific and problem-oriented solutions are way too far to reach. When we focus on industries with an effluent substrate where biological processes should control the majority of the treatment part, people are still beating around the bush due to lack of proper guidance, unawareness, orthodox thinking like all microbes are pathogens only, and reluctance. For proper hardware to work a strong software is needed, and for industrial wastewater treatment, the ETP/STP plants are the hardware and the microbes are the software. Microbes have always been underrated in terms of wastewater, but they are spades in it cause right from saving your money in expensive machinery to maintaining the health of your system, along with giving you smooth operations for ETP they give you everything.

Zero-zero, net zero

There was furious activity on climate change in the first weeks of April in Delhi. No, I am not talking about action to fight climate change. I am talking about words and more words — much has been written about the position that India must take or not take when it comes to declaring a net-zero goal. Much has been discussed in closed-door meetings on this. John Kerry, the US climate envoy, was in town in the lead up to President Joe Biden’s climate leaders’ summit on April 22-23. He wanted to cajole and push us to act — say something big when the leaders meet. The good news is that climate change is back on the agenda. The bad news is that we are discussing the wrong things; we are in danger of once again losing the opportunity to drive home the need for ambition and equity in climate change action. Just consider the narrative in Delhi. It was not about the need to take stock of what has been done or not done to meet the Paris commitments — the voluntary targets countries have taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in this decade; it was not about how minuscule, completely off track and inequitable the Paris targets are. It was not about the emission pathways countries are choosing to make drastic reductions as needed to avoid the climate change catastrophe. It was not about anything that matters. Instead, the entire discourse was distracted by the completely meaningless discussion on net-zero. The question was: Should and could India follow its net-zero date? Why do I say this is meaningless? First, let’s be clear that there is no substance in the net-zero target that countries have declared. It is but an aspirational idea — something that they will work towards. Practically all the countries that have made the grandstanding declaration have no plans on how they will get to net-zero by 2050, or, in the case of China, by 2060. So, it means nothing. It’s about the idea of getting there and the hope that some so-called disruptive technologies will get scaled up and be ready for delivery when the date comes. Secondly, net-zero as an idea itself is flawed. It means that countries will emit more; but they will mop up these emissions to say “net-net”. How will they soak up the emissions? Two methods: One, plant trees that will sequester carbon dioxide that we will continue to emit and, two, take the carbon dioxide and pump it back into the ground — carbon capture and storage technologies. But there are still many unanswered questions about this approach; there are huge challenges in estimating the “tree-soak” and there are issues to sort with the set of technologies, fancifully called negative emission. So, it’s a scam — at least today — to talk about these as the real options. You can argue that these so-called disruptive technologies will come and so we should not be rejecting this idea today. I would say yes, but our dependence on these still experimental technologies to save us will distract attention from what can and must be done today. That needs to be our conversation. Not net-zero. Thirdly, net-zero is intrinsically inequitable. It was the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that had said global net human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide would need to fall by 45 per cent from the 2010 levels by 2030, reaching net-zero by 2050. Given the fact that there is a huge and completely disproportionate difference in the emissions of the old-developed world and now newly developed China and the rest of the world, it would be logical to say that if the world needs to be net-zero by 2050, then these countries needed to have already turned net-zero or do so by 2030. No later. Then it would provide space for countries like India — way below in historical emissions and current emissions — to declare a net-zero goal by 2050. In today’s scenario, what could or should India do? Declare a net-zero goal by 2070? Twenty years after the US and Europe and 10 years after China. What does it even mean? So, it is good that Mr Biden did not fall into the trap of net-zero targets. At the Summit he announced targets for his country — 50-52 per cent reduction below its 2005 emission levels in 2030. This is a game-changer, because the target is drastic and will take the country a massive rework of its economy to achieve this. US greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 were higher than that at the end of 2016 and it is only because of the horrific Covid-19 pandemic year that emissions came down by 10 per cent in 2020. But with normalcy returning to the economy, emissions will be on the up-swing. So, it will be tough, no doubt, but for once, the US stand on its emission reduction is ambitious and to an extent even fair. The US 2030 target will put pressure on the rest of the world — including India — to act. Let’s then continue to discuss how we need to engage with the world on what is clearly an existential threat of climate change.

Multigrain Bread Mix Market witnessing impressive growth owing to nutritional benefits, projected Fact.MR

Multigrain Bread Mix Market Overview With the increase in demand for different varieties of whole-meal bread, the multigrain bread mix market is expected to flourish. Baked goods, such as bread and biscuit, continue to hold a major position as household staple and with more number of people becoming health conscious, the demand and supply chain of multigrain bread mix is to get robust. Multigrain bread mix is a type of bread prepared with two or more types of grain including barley, flax, millets, oats, wheat and whole wheat flour. Several bread manufacturers are open to multigrain bread mix to create value added products in order to expand their assortments. For detailed insights on enhancing your product footprint, request for a sample here- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=3957 Clean labeled and fortified multigrain bread mix is being preferred more than whole grain bread all over the world, which is helping the global multigrain bread mix market to grow. Multigrain Bread Mix Market Dynamics The demand for multigrain bread mix is growing owing to its nutritional benefits. Bread being a staple food constituting a major part of daily diet has catered to more demand for multigrain bread mix. The low carb, high in fiber qualities in multigrain bread mix have appealed to several health conscious consumers that have triggered growth for the global multigrain bread mix market. In addition to this, incorporating natural ingredients, natural preservatives, antioxidants to multigrain bread mix have made it a must for all. These factors are expected to hype the multigrain bread mix market through the forecast period of 2019 to 2029. However, a recent study from the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) claimed that many brands of packaged multigrain bread mix and ready to eat burger and pizza multigrain bread mix contains toxic chemicals (potassium, iodate) that could lead to cancer. Such reckless negligence from multigrain bread mix producers could cost the overall market. To receive extensive list of important regions, ask for TOC here- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=T&rep_id=3957 Multigrain Bread Mix Market Segmentation The multigrain bread mix market can be segmented on the basis of type, grain mix, distribution channel and end use. On the basis of type, the multigrain bread mix market can be segmented into: • Loaves • Baguettes • Rolls • Burger Buns • Ciabatta • Others On the basis of grain mix, the multigrain bread mix market can be segmented into: • < 5 grains • 5 grains • 7 grains • 9 grains • > 9 grains On the basis of distribution channel, the multigrain bread mix market can be segmented into: • Supermarkets / Hypermarkets • Convenience Stores • Specialist Retailers • Variety Stores • Online Retail • Others On the basis of end use, the multigrain bread mix market can be segmented into: • HORECA • Household For critical insights on this market, request for methodology here- https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=RM&rep_id=3957 Multigrain Bread Mix Market Regional Overview Europe currently holds a major share in the multigrain bread mix market owing to the presence of large bread consuming countries such as France, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium, Russia and Italy. North America holds the second highest market share in the multigrain bread market. Asia Pacific recorded the highest growth in the bread consuming population from 2007 to 2016 with a 15.3% growth rate and this region is expected to hold a major share in the multigrain bread mix market during the forecast period of 2019 to 2029. Multigrain Bread Mix Market Key Players The multigrain bread mix market is characterized by the presence of a small number of regional companies offering a variety of products. These companies device various strategies, such as offering economical and valuable multigrain bread mix to suit their every need. Pre-Book Right Now for Exclusive Analyst Support – https://www.factmr.com/checkout/3957/S Some of the key players in the multigrain bread mix market are: Swiss Bake Ingredients Pvt. Ltd, AB Mauri India Pvt. Lt, Orowheat, Wibs, Lluvia Bakery, Muffets and Tuffets, English Oven, Bakels Worldwide and Bonn Nutrients Pvt. Ltd. Read More Trending Reports of Fact.MR – http://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2020/03/24/2005575/0/en/Sales-of-Food-Thickening-Agents-Soar-Steadily-in-Line-with-Upsurge-in-Demand-from-Bakery-Confectionary-Industry-Says-Fact-MR-in-a-New-Study.html About Fact.MR Market research and consulting agency with a difference! That’s why 80% of Fortune 1,000 companies trust us for making their most critical decisions. We have offices in US and Dublin, whereas our global headquarter is in Dubai. While our experienced consultants employ the latest technologies to extract hard-to-find insights, we believe our USP is the trust clients have on our expertise. Spanning a wide range – from automotive & industry 4.0 to healthcare & retail, our coverage is expansive, but we ensure even the most niche categories are analyzed. Reach out to us with your goals, and we’ll be an able research partner. Contact: US Sales Office : 11140 Rockville Pike Suite 400 Rockville, MD 20852 United States Tel: +1 (628) 251-1583 E-Mail: sales@factmr.com

The silent pandemic that is antimicrobial resistance

The challenge of getting to grips with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been likened to the challenge of confronting a ‘silent pandemic’. This was the main thrust of the presentation given by Sunita Narain, Director-General, of India’s Centre for Science and Environment to this week’s high-level interactive dialogue on AMR, hosted by the United Nations (UN). She went on to draw close parallels to the way in which the world has tackled the Covid-19 crisis and the means by which the AMR problem can be resolved. Narain said: “Global cooperation is at the heart of the AMR solution. But the response that is generated will only be as strong as the weakest link in the chain.” Affordable antimicrobial treatment Narain went on to point out that the world needs continuing access to affordable antimicrobials. “But they must be used on a sustainable basis. And this must happen now,” she said. “The days are over when growth and development can be achieved at any cost, leaving the pollution that is created to be cleaned up afterwards.” According to Narain, Covid-19 has taught us that global inter-dependence is the way forward. And this must the principle followed when it comes to tackling AMR. Antimicrobial resistance AMR is now universally regarded by the world’s leading aid agencies as a rising pandemic, one which challenges the effective delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, at least an estimated 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases. If no action is taken, drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050 and damage to the economy as catastrophic as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. By 2030, AMR could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty. “AMR is arguably one of the most complex threats to global health security, food safety and food security,” stated Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General, QU Dongyu. “FAO expects a 45% rise in the demand for animal proteins by 2050 and in many regions, antimicrobial resistance in animal parasites is adding new challenges to animal production,” he added. “We must face the double challenge of meeting demands for animal proteins while reducing the risks of AMR.” The World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Director-General Dr. Monique Eloit explained: “The promotion of good animal health practices is essential to contribute to the global effort to tackle AMR. “The OIE global database on antimicrobial agents intended for use in animals, indicates an encouraging trend towards reduced quantity of antimicrobials used in food producing animals. “To have a sustainable ‘One Health’ impact, we need to invest and strengthen capacity equally in all sectors, and support the prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials in the animal health sector, to maintain the efficacy of these important medicines,” she concluded.

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto closes its doors

An extraordinary edition that has reached a total of over 10 million digital profiles in 202 countries around the world The curtain falls tomorrow, April 30, 2021 on the thirteenth edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, the international event organized by Slow Food, the City of Turin and the Piedmont Region that did not give up in the face of the imperative dictated by Covid-19 and with great spirit of resilience has revolutionized its format, offering 205 days of physical and digital events, organized by the Slow Food network and its partners in 75 countries around the world. "Faced with the health, social and economic crisis caused by the pandemic, we wanted to bring attention to the causes that triggered it: agricultural biodiversity compromised by human action, the climate crisis that threatens ecosystems, the inequities of the production model and food distribution. All problems that we were familiar with even before this pandemic, but which the dominant development model continues to ignore or does not want to face", declared Carlo Petrini, president of Slow Food. "In this situation we have decided to focus the spotlight on solutions, small but revolutionary for their effectiveness of action at the local level, which are already in the hands of the communities of farmers, fishermen, artisans, cooks, but also of individual citizens who every day they act for change with their conscious choices. We have long supported the need for a change of paradigm, and we are not the only ones to say it: here, these seven months of Terra Madre have allowed us to listen to the voice of scholars, academics, philosophers, scientists, economists, together with that of farmers, artisans, shepherds, fishermen, educators who are the fundamental backbone of the Terra Madre and Slow Food network in every corner of the planet 'event, through the thousands of hours of activities carried out in the five continents, is a clear vision of these new paradigms, which represents that true ecological transition from several parts i invoked and can no longer be postponed". Seven months of events that have brought Terra Madre Salone del Gusto all over the world, making Turin and Piedmont the reference point for reflection on the future of food. "The great success of this edition, even in the ways that the health emergency has imposed, is the demonstration of the extraordinary strength of the community that Slow Food has created over the years and of which Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, Italy and Piedmont are the beating heart - emphasizes the president of the Piedmont Region, Alberto Cirio, and d is proof that in this unique human heritage, made up of skills, history and ideas that look to the future, there is the key to restart vital to feed our tomorrow with awareness and conscience". "Even in a context of great difficulty caused by a pandemic which - underlines the mayor of Turin Chiara Appendino - has done and is still making its heavy health, economic and social effects felt in every part of the planet, the event overcame every obstacle, managing to make realities even belonging to distant and different worlds communicate with each other, and confirming the event as an unmissable opportunity to raise awareness on the issues of food, food education, the protection of biodiversity. It should be noted that the format chosen for the thirteenth edition, through its numerous events organized also digitally and proposed in seven months, involving 75 countries - has made it possible to transform the limits set by the need to adopt restrictive measures to contain the spread of Covid 19, allowing at the same time, to keep Turin and Piedmont at the center of the event and to expand the horizons of the event". And precisely in this great opportunity to know and learn lies the uniqueness of this edition of Terra Madre which has virtually united the Slow Food network as no physical edition could ever have done. "Mind you, no virtual appointment can ever replace the sense of fraternity and the strength of the multitude that meets in Turin every two years, but in recent months every Slow Food community, every member or activist, every single lover of the proposed themes - everywhere in the world, whatever its language - had the opportunity to find the most suitable format in Terra Madre - according to a note-. According to a first estimate, the 1160 events, organized in 75 countries - from Azerbaijan to Brazil, from Philippines to the island of Antigua - which the www.terramadresalonedelgusto.com platform hosted and promoted with an average of about six a day, have reached over 10 million digital profiles worldwide. In particular, the appointments transmitted on the platform and on the social media of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto totaled over 1,300,000 views with an audience distributed in 202 countries, while the events organized directly by the Slow Food network around the world involved 250,000 participants. The data relating to training activities and meetings that required participation after registration is significant: a total of 97 appointments marks the total enrollment of 10,300 people while over 1 million users have followed those same appointments through social networks. In addition, 3300 young people from all over the world for a month joined the challenge organized on Instagram in collaboration with the activists of the Slow Food Youth Network to promote good, clean and fair food. Another important data emerges from a first statistical survey carried out near the end of the event, according to which over 45% of the subjects who actively participated in the events of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto had never had an involvement in Slow activities. Food: a solid base of interlocutors from which to start again for the next challenges that await us. And a rich parterre of people that we will be able to meet for the first time, physically, at Terra Madre 2022". "These numbers are impossible to compare with any other data relating to previous editions and to any other Slow Food initiative - emphasizes Petrini -, but we can certainly say that they are results we are very satisfied with, because they exceed the objectives we set ourselves on the eve of 'opening". A more complete and detailed picture of the numbers will be presented in June, after the necessary analysis and in-depth work that will begin as early as next week. Conferences, trainings, forums, in addition to the most innovative and most successful formats, the Food Talks and How is it done?, represent a unique heritage of knowledge, a real "library of good, clean and fair" that remains available to those who still want to know, learn, acquire new awareness, essential to understand in which direction we must direct our actions. "Fishing in this extraordinary online library, accessible for free to all, we want to mention some of the many names that have accompanied us on this long journey: Franco Farinelli, Virginie Raisson and Paul Collier, with whom we opened on October 8, on the theme of new geographies to read the world; Jonathan Franzen, who confirmed the thesis that the battle to save biodiversity, unlike that against the climate crisis, is within everyone's reach; Heribert Hirt and David Quammen, who spoke on the report between food and health and the relationship between biodiversity loss and zoonosis; Elena Granata, with the model of the city of the future, based on resilience rather than productive monoculture, echoed by Carolyn Steel, according to which the imperative is to reconnect cities and the surrounding countryside; Sunita Narain who reported us on the tragedy of social injustices caused by the climate crisis; Célia Xakriabá, with her pun view of a young indigenous woman about the role of food, the biodiversity of knowledge and cultures, the right to land; Paul Ariès and Eric Schlosser, on the food of the future and on the (non) solutions proposed by technology; Alice Waters on the role of taste education for children (and schools) in changing the food system", continues the press release. Terra Madre 2020 has combined, as always, the main themes of the 630 exhibitors and the promotion, especially in this dramatic moment they are experiencing, through the marketplace and e-commerce, but also thanks to the numerous chefs and producers who are protagonists of our How you do it? worldwide. "Tomorrow we will close Terra Madre Salone del Gusto but we are already at work for the next edition and the new imperative that will accompany us in rethinking it: do not forget the teachings and opportunities that new technologies have allowed us, returning to being a multitude, in Turin".

“Terra Madre Salone del Gusto” by Slow Food, cala il sipario sull’edizione più lunga

“Di fronte alla crisi sanitaria, sociale, economica causata dalla pandemia abbiamo voluto riportare l’attenzione sulle cause che l’hanno scatenata: la biodiversità agricola compromessa dall’agire umano, la crisi climatica che minaccia gli ecosistemi, le iniquità del modello di produzione e distribuzione del cibo. Tutti problemi che conoscevamo bene già prima di questa pandemia, ma che il modello di sviluppo dominante continua a ignorare o non voler affrontare”: Carlo Petrini, presidente di Slow Food, commenta così la fine di “Terra Madre Salone del Gusto”, edizione n. 13 della manifestazione internazionale organizzata da Slow Food (con Città di Torino e Regione Piemonte) che non si è arresa di fronte all’imperativo dettato dal Covid-19, e con grande spirito di resilienza ha rivoluzionato il proprio format, proponendo 205 giorni di eventi fisici e digitali, organizzati dalla rete di Slow Food e dai suoi partner in 75 Paesi del mondo. “In questa situazione noi abbiamo deciso di puntare i riflettori sulle soluzioni, piccole ma rivoluzionarie per la loro efficacia di azione a livello locale, che già oggi sono nelle mani delle comunità di contadini, pescatori, artigiani, cuochi, ma anche dei singoli cittadini che ogni giorno agiscono per il cambiamento con le loro scelte consapevoli. Da tempo sosteniamo la necessità di un cambio di paradigma, e non siamo i soli a dirlo: ecco, questi sette mesi di Terra Madre ci hanno permesso di ascoltare la voce di studiosi, accademici, filosofi, scienziati, economisti, insieme a quella dei contadini, artigiani, pastori, pescatori, educatori che sono l’ossatura fondamentale della rete di Terra Madre e di Slow Food in ogni angolo del pianeta. Il quadro finale che ci consegna questa edizione dell’evento, attraverso le migliaia di ore di attività realizzate nei cinque continenti, è una lucida visione di questi nuovi paradigmi, che rappresenta quella vera transizione ecologica da più parti invocata e non più rimandabile”, aggiunge Petrini. Nella grande opportunità di conoscere e imparare risiede l’unicità di questa edizione di Terra Madre, che ha unito virtualmente la rete Slow Food come mai nessuna edizione fisica avrebbe potuto fare. Ovviamente, nessun appuntamento virtuale potrà mai sostituire il senso di fraternità e la forza della moltitudine che si incontra a Torino ogni due anni, ma in questi mesi ogni comunità Slow Food, ogni socio, attivista o appassionato - ovunque nel mondo, qualsiasi fosse la sua lingua - ha avuto la possibilità di trovare in Terra Madre il format più adatto. Di Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020, rimane una straordinaria biblioteca online, con gli interventi, tra gli altri, di Franco Farinelli, Virginie Raisson e Paul Collier, che ha aperto i lavori l’8 ottobre, sul tema delle nuove geografie per leggere il mondo; Jonathan Franzen, che ha confermato la tesi secondo cui la battaglia per salvare la biodiversità, a differenza di quella contro la crisi climatica, è alla portata di tutti; Heribert Hirt e David Quammen, che sono intervenuti sul rapporto tra cibo e salute e il rapporto tra perdita di biodiversità e zoonosi; Elena Granata, con il modello di città del futuro, improntato sulla resilienza anziché sulla monocultura produttiva, a cui ha fatto eco Carolyn Steel, secondo cui l’imperativo è ricollegare le città alla campagna circostante; Sunita Narain che ci ha riportati sulla tragedia delle ingiustizie sociali causate dalla crisi climatica; Célia Xakriabá, con il suo punto di vista di giovane donna indigena a proposito del ruolo del cibo, della biodiversità dei saperi e delle culture, del diritto alla terra; Paul Ariès e Eric Schlosser, sul cibo del futuro e sulle (non) soluzioni proposte dalla tecnologia; Alice Waters sul ruolo dell’educazione al gusto per i più piccoli (e delle scuole) nel cambiare il sistema alimentare. Focus -Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020 ... ecco i numeri Secondo una prima stima, i 1.160 eventi, organizzati in 75 Paesi - dall’Azerbaijan al Brasile, dalle Filippine all’isola di Antigua - che la piattaforma online di Terra Madre Salone del Gusto ha ospitato e promosso con una media di sei al giorno, hanno raggiunto oltre 10 milioni di profili digitali in tutto il mondo. In particolare, gli appuntamenti trasmessi sulla piattaforma e sui social di Terra Madre Salone del Gusto hanno totalizzato oltre 1,3 milioni di visualizzazioni, con un pubblico distribuito in 202 Paesi, mentre gli eventi organizzati direttamente dalla rete Slow Food in giro per il mondo hanno coinvolto 250.000 partecipanti. Significativo il dato relativo alle attività di formazione e agli incontri che prevedevano la partecipazione previa registrazione: un totale di 97 appuntamenti segna complessivamente l’iscrizione di 10.300 persone, mentre sono oltre 1 milione gli utenti che hanno seguito quegli stessi appuntamenti attraverso i social. Inoltre, 3.300 giovani da tutto il mondo per un mese hanno aderito alla challenge organizzata su Instagram in collaborazione con gli attivisti dello Slow Food Youth Network per promuovere il cibo buono, pulito e giusto. Un altro dato importante emerge da una prima rilevazione statistica effettuata in prossimità della conclusione dell’evento, secondo la quale oltre il 45% dei soggetti che hanno partecipato attivamente agli appuntamenti di Terra Madre Salone del Gusto non aveva mai avuto un coinvolgimento nelle attività di Slow Food: una solida base di interlocutori da cui ripartire per le prossime sfide pensando già a quando ci si potrà tornare a incontrare, fisicamente, a Terra Madre 2022.

Using ACs to Cool Our Houses—and the Planet Too

As summer temperatures soar, millions of Indians depend upon air conditioners (ACs). This is not an exaggeration: the number of AC owners in India went up from 2 million in 2006, to 5 million by 2011. By 2030, a staggering 200 million Indians may own an AC. After all, India’s increasingly affluent middle class ranks first amongst lower-middle income countries in the world; this means that more Indians can now afford to buy air conditioners. Fanning the flames of an increasing AC demand are the rising temperatures across the subcontinent. Since 2004, India has recorded 11 of its warmest years. This may worsen. Before the end of the century, India’s average summer temperature is expected to increase by 4.4℃, while the intensity of heat waves is set to increase by 3 to 4 times. Then, in this scorching country, an inevitable pattern emerges—more people can now afford to buy cheap ACs, which are unfortunately, also the least energy efficient amongst available air conditioners. Why does energy efficiency matter? Let’s put this into perspective. According to a 2018 report by the International Energy Association, “the global stock of air conditioners in buildings will grow to 5.6 billion by 2050, up from 1.6 billion today.” For this projection to come true, 10 new ACs will have be sold every second around the world for the next 30 years. That’s a lot of ACs—which means that their energy requirements are huge too. For example, between 2017-18 India utilised 130 million tonnes of refrigeration for cooling purposes. Over the next 16 years, this figure is expected to grow by 8 times—which would result in a colossal emission of greenhouse gases. Add to this the danger of ozone depleting hydrofluorocarbons that refrigerants in ACs contain. Together, this is a deadly combination and a grave threat to climate change mitigation efforts. “Most of those people who are now buying ACs in developing countries like India are first-time buyers. So, they do not yet have the experience to see the long-term economic benefits of [buying] more energy efficient but expensive ACs,” says Manjeet Singh, Associate Fellow at The Energy Resources Institute (TERI). So, if more and more Indians are set to buy ACs, how can the more energy efficient variants become popular? The answers lie in first understanding Indian consumer behaviour. Inside the AC Shopper’s Mind For a consumer, the easiest and clearest indication of their appliance’s energy efficiency is the star rating system developed by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). The system gives appliances a rating between 1 to 5 stars, where a 5-star rating refers to the highest energy efficiency for that appliance. Despite this information, the most popular AC choice, according to a 2021 study based on Delhi’s AC usage, was a mid-efficiency 3-star rating unit. Unsurprisingly, the higher costs of more energy efficient ACs were a deterrent for consumers. “India is currently importing about 30% of its ACs. Imports of components like compressors and electronic sensors which are then assembled domestically is even higher. Most of the imported units [which are also more expensive] are the more efficient ACs,” says Singh. This year, an increase in import costs is also reflecting in the prices of major AC manufacturers such as Voltas, Daikin, LG, and Blue Star, who have raised their prices by 5 to 8 percent. This has a direct repercussion on what type of ACs get sold more: a higher price means that the demand for low-end, affordable products, like 3 or 4-star ACs, will go up instead of for 5-star ones. While high costs act as a deterrent, efficiency is still not the next top factor that consumers base their decisions on. Less than 5% of the households in the 2021 study reported energy efficiency as a determining reason for what kind of AC to buy. Other features like having a remote, or a heating mode, is what seems to excite consumers more. Apart from insights into what consumers buy, understanding how the AC gets used after being bought is equally important in the energy efficiency conversation. A 2016 Centre for Science and Environment study noted that if consumers lower a 5-star rated AC’s internal temperature to 20℃ or lower, its performance becomes equivalent to a 2 or 3-star rated AC. That’s not all. Its performance is also impacted by outside temperatures: if it is 40℃ to 50℃ outside, the 5-star rated AC will perform worse than a 2 or even a 1-star rated AC. For a country like India with hot summers, this is almost inevitable with the current technology available. Take for instance, New Delhi, which has already witnessed a 40-degree day in March this year, with the end of April also seeing soaring temperatures. So, since the current AC consumer market is plagued with high costs and gaps in consumer awareness, what can be done to move consumers towards more sustainable air conditioning decisions? Addressing the Cost Factor The best solution would be to have a low-cost, highly energy efficient air conditioner on the market, which sustains its performance even in high outside temperatures. In 2019, Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL)—a joint venture under the Ministry of Power—did just that with Voltas. They began selling a 7-star rated AC at a relatively affordable ₹41,300—cheaper than many 5-star models—which maintains its efficiency even when the outside temperature hovers at 52℃. This was made possible through bulk procurement of units—EESL floated a tender to procure 1,00,000 super-efficient ACs, resulting in a steep fall in market prices. The winning bidder was required to extend support right from designing and manufacturing the AC to supplying it, installing it, and providing post-sales operation and monitoring. This was not EESL’s first such experiment; in 2016, it conducted a similar bulk procurement with energy saving 9-watt LED bulbs, which brought the retail price of each bulb down from ₹550 per piece in 2015 to ₹65 in 2016. “Bringing affordability to the customer has to be a priority for India, where we will see a very high demand for ACs in the coming years. Maybe attracting foreign investment to develop more such technologies would accelerate this process,” says Singh. As of 2019, China and Thailand are the leading exporters of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVACR) components in the world. Now that efficient ACs are making their way into the market, what is the best way to inform consumers about the technicalities of energy efficiency? Letting the Customers Know If the BEE’s star-rating is your first guess to how customers understand energy efficiency, then the 2020 CAG report might make you take another guess. According to the audit, almost 4 lakh units of nine models of room air conditioners had been marketed until December 2015, yet had failed label verification tests for energy efficiency. In 2017-18, over 23,000 ACs had been marketed without really being as efficient as their labels suggested. “If the energy efficiency that the product vouches for is actually not being met, then it would lead to a loss of consumer trust,” explains Sumedha Malaviya, Manager of the Energy Program at the World Resource Institute-India. “To prevent that from happening, standards-setting bodies like the BEE need to ensure that mislabelled or unlabelled products do not enter local markets’’. Some experts even recommend that the BEE carry out its efficiency tests in multiple higher temperature ranges and declare the results on their product label—all in a bid to improve transparency for the consumer. Additionally, Sumedha gives an example of nudging consumers towards energy efficient decisions. In Bengaluru, TIDE, a grassroots NGO has experimented with home energy reports under a program called VidyutRakshaka, which are usually delivered by email or post to the consumer. “This report splits the household’s electricity usage appliance wise, compares their usage with their neighbours’ to initiate a sense of competition of usage reduction, and even sets goals of managing demand for the upcoming months,” she explains. If by 2030 India does manage to improve the average efficiency of its AC stock by 30% of 2015 levels, it would be a big deal—our CO2 emissions could reduce by as much as 10% of what is expected from India’s Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement. In fact, such reductions would also be in line with the targets of the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), a 2019 Central government plan that provides a 20 year outline towards sustainable cooling. India is the first country in the world to develop such a plan. But, some aspects are still missing from this conversation. “We are currently focusing a lot on increasing the sale of energy efficient ACs. But a crucial aspect is still lacking—that is, reducing the demand for cooling through affordable retrofits in houses,” says Sumedha. Design Solutions for Heating Problems From construction material to design elements, architecture can make a huge difference in thermal comforts. For instance, in a high temperature city, while large, glass windows may look aesthetically pleasing, they can also trap more heat. Under such circumstances, double-glazed windows can retain the house’s coolness. Integrating these passive cooling techniques into upcoming buildings can tap into a large potential of energy efficiency in India, where 75% of buildings expected to exist by 2030 have not been built yet. “Under the ICAP, coordination with other ministries and departments can be advantageous, especially for low-income housing projects under the government which can integrate passive cooling as well,” says Sumedha. Already constructed buildings can still benefit from cooling techniques. Cool roofs, for example, is a simple and cost-effective solution that involves applying white limewash to rooftops—this reflects sunlight and absorbs less heat. Gujarat’s capital Ahmedabad witnessed such a pilot project in 2018, wherein the Municipal Corporation painted the rooftops of about 2% of the city’s lower income households. It was found that cool roofs could help lower temperatures by 2-5 degrees, as compared to traditional roofs. An exciting new invention of the “whitest white” paint that reflects 98.1% of sunlight also presents a similar opportunity that can work “similar to air conditioner, but without the use of electricity.”

Fly ash utilisation deadline extended for thermal power plants

The new draft notification also gives 10 years to thermal power plants to utilise fly ash or legacy ash which is stored. For the first time, the notification has a provision of imposing fines on thermal power plants that don’t comply with the new timeline The Union environment ministry has extended the deadline for thermal power plants to ensure 100% utilisation of fly ash by 3 to 5 years, according to a new draft notification issued by the ministry on April 22. It also gives 10 years to thermal power plants to utilise the unutilised fly ash, or legacy ash which is stored. For the first time, the notification has a provision of imposing fines on thermal power plants that don’t comply with the new timelines. The previous deadline for 100% fly ash utilisation was December 31, 2017, as per a notification issued by the ministry on January 25, 2016. As per the new draft notification, thermal power plants (TPP) with fly ash utilisation of 60% to 80% will get 4 years while those with fly ash utilisation of less than 60% will get 5 years’ time to ensure 100% fly ash utilisation. Non-compliant power plants will be slapped a fine of ₹1,000 per tonne on unutilised ash during the end of the deadline. Coal or lignite plants which are not able to utilise 100% of ash in the third year of the next three-year cycle, would be liable to pay a fine of ₹1,000 per tonne on the unutilised quantity. The environment ministry had last month issued new norms which give an extension of 1 to 3 years to all thermal power plants to comply with the emission norms. A Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) analysis had found that the penalty charged to companies for not complying with the extended deadline is lower than the cost of complying. CSE’s analysis showed that while installing the equipment for pollution control would cost between ₹40-100 lakh/MW, the penalty that thermal power plants would have to pay to keep running without installing the equipment is only ₹5-11 lakh/MW as per the new amendment.