ABSTRACT
India has made great progress in tackling the challenges of climate change. It has invested in renewable energy, promoted electric vehicles and biofuels, and pledged to reduce its emissions intensity — greenhouse gas emissions per unit of gross domestic product — by 33% to 35% below 2005 levels by the year 2030. Coal, which makes up 44% of India’s total primary energy consumption, is the primary source of emissions from industry. Switching from coal to natural gas, the cleanest burning fossil fuel, is one of the easiest ways to reduce emissions. However, electrification will be a challenge for the aviation, maritime, and long-distance trucking sectors which require dense energy carriers. However, India needs to consider how it manages its ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors which are not easily or cost-effectively electrified, and where it is therefore harder to reduce emissions. In India, trucking makes up 10% of total petroleum product consumption.
