Delhi Government Initiatives.... 1260 km in Delhi to be Dust Free - Vacuum Cleaning and Greening

Delhi's roads are set to get a green makeover with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today launching a drive for 'greeening' and vacuum cleaning of roads. Mr Kejriwal inaugurated the Greening Delhi initiative in the national capital, and said the move will deal with road dust, which is one of the major sources of air pollution in the national capital. A senior government official said that bald patches of roads will be greened to reduce the pollution caused by road dust.

Mr Kejriwal further said that the vacuum cleaning of the roads will also begin from tomorrow so that no dust will cause air pollution in the capital. "Congrats Delhi. Vacuum cleaning and greening of PWD roads begins. Greening will complete by Oct, vacuum cleanin (sic) on all roads in 2 months," he tweeted. Making a political pitch ahead of municipal polls set to be held next year, the Delhi Chief Minister said his government was cleaning 1,260 km roads of PWD and next year, it would clean MCD's roads after winning municipal polls.

More @ NDTV

Humor in Pollution - Saving All Kinds of Energy

@ This is Indexed

New Tesla Model-3 Costs $35,000

Even before Tesla unveiled its new Model 3 on Thursday night, more than 115,000 people had already paid $1,000 to reserve one of the highly-anticipated electric cars.

These early buyers didn't know what the car would it look like -- a lot like a smaller Model S with an up-turned nose -- or that it would have a starting price of exactly $35,000. They also didn't know that it would go from zero to 60 in less than 6 seconds and have a range of at least 215 miles. "We don't make slow cars," CEO Elon Musk said at the car's unveiling, adding that these are minimum specs the company hopes to exceed. "You will not be able to buy a better car for $35,000, or even close, even if you get no options," he said later.

More @ CNN

All Electric Fleet in India by 2030?

@ Auto.Com - India, one of the world’s largest car markets, has a very ambitious plan to completely get rid of fuel-powered vehicles by 2030. Is it realistic? Well, according to the Indian Times, there are currently about 50 million homes that don't have access to electricity across the country.

With a booming economy and over a billion people living in India, air pollution from traffic has become a serious concern. A small working group was created to assess different scenarios and possibilities for lowering costs, such as car-sharing initiatives.

"We don't need one rupee support from the government. We don't need one rupee investment from the people of India," Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. "We are working (on the plan). Can we actually give electric car for free (zero down payment) and people can pay for that out of the savings on the petroleum products. Innovation is possible, it just needs an open mind. You need to think of scale and be honest."

India has some experience in energy-saving programs. Goyal cited the example of LED lights where the government has been able to reduce the procurement price of these bulbs from the market rate of 310 rupees in February 2014 to 64.41 rupees in January 2016. Cheaper fans and air conditioners will soon follow.

Smoldering Mountains of Garbage in Delhi

@ NDTV - Despite a ban on the burning leaves and waste, three huge mountains of garbage have been smouldering for days near the outskirts of Delhi, expelling more toxic fumes in the world's most polluted city. Landfills at Okhla, Ghazipur and Bhalaswa cover around 150 acres of land and receive approximately 10,000 metric tonnes of garbage daily. Experts say small fires have been erupting at these sites because of spontaneous combustion caused by the release of methane on decomposition of unsegregated waste.


The burning which is happening at these land fill sites is leading to massive air pollution. Six months ago, we did a study. Out of the 50 to 60 sites we went to, 70 per cent samples also showed inorganic and organic contamination of water in these areas," said Swati Sambyal, a solid waste management expert at the Centre for Science and Environment in Delhi.

Mohammad Shamim, who lives in the slums next to the Bhalaswa dump, said, "This place stinks and the water we get here is yellow. But we don't have a choice but to use it or we buy bottles. Most people here suffer from lung problems. I suffer from asthma." According to Delhi's municipal rulebook, landfill sites must not be used after 20 years. This year, the newest of the dumps will turn 20. The Ghazipur waste management plant is functional since 1984, Bhalaswa since 1994 and Okhla since 1996. The only functional waste to energy plant near the Okhla landfill creates 16 MW of energy each day by burning 2,000 metric tonnes of waste. But this only adds to the pollution, say experts.

Global Estimates of Particulate Matter Using Satellites, Models, and Monitors

@ Environment Science & Technology

Abstract: We estimated global fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations using information from satellite-, simulation- and monitor-based sources by applying a Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) to global geophysically based satellite-derived PM2.5 estimates. Aerosol optical depth from multiple satellite products (MISR, MODIS Dark Target, MODIS and SeaWiFS Deep Blue, and MODIS MAIAC) was combined with simulation (GEOS-Chem) based upon their relative uncertainties as determined using ground-based sun photometer (AERONET) observations for 1998–2014. The GWR predictors included simulated aerosol composition and land use information. The resultant PM2.5 estimates were highly consistent (R2 = 0.81) with out-of-sample cross-validated PM2.5 concentrations from monitors. The global population-weighted annual average PM2.5 concentrations were 3-fold higher than the 10 μg/m3 WHO guideline, driven by exposures in Asian and African regions. Estimates in regions with high contributions from mineral dust were associated with higher uncertainty, resulting from both sparse ground-based monitoring, and challenging conditions for retrieval and simulation. This approach demonstrates that the addition of even sparse ground-based measurements to more globally continuous PM2.5 data sources can yield valuable improvements to PM2.5 characterization on a global scale.

More details

Humor in Pollution - Block Sunlight to Stop Global Warming

@ Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Kathmandu Valley is Choking with Air Pollution

@ Himalayan Times - Constitution of Nepal has established ‘Right to Clean Environment’ as fundamental right of the citizens. It states, “Every person shall have the right to live in a clean and healthy environment.” There is also a provision that ‘victims of environmental pollution or degradation shall be entitled to compensation from the polluter as provided in the law’.

The Environmental Protection Act and National Ambient Air Quality Standard require the government to create a healthy and clean environment for people. But the government lacks specific plans and programmes to control pollution to make the Valley a cleaner place to live and breathe in.

The capital city, which is bursting at the seams with population growing rapidly, with which comes rapid urbanisation, is choking on polluted air. Numbeo, a crowd-sourced global database, has ranked Kathmandu (score 96.66 out of 100) the third most polluted city in the world after Tetovo (Macedonia) and Cairo (Egypt) at Pollution Index 2016. The situation of air quality is worsening in the Valley with each passing day.

Sadly, the DoE, the pertinent government agency tasked with monitoring ambient air quality of the Kathmandu Valley and formulating and implementing policies accordingly, is ill-equipped. Six monitoring stations were set up to monitor ambient air quality of the Kathmandu Valley in 2002, but they went kaput in 2007 and since then the agency has been relying on international agencies for measuring air quality. Govinda Prasad Lamichhane, Environment Inspector at the DoE, said that the government, in collaboration with ADB-funded Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project and ICIMOD, had been preparing to set up nine state-of-the-art real time monitoring stations with display board in the Valley, within this fiscal.

“We have already concluded an agreement with KSUTP in this regard to set up four monitoring stations. DoE will invest in three and ICIMOD two stations. It will assist us in monitoring the air pollution and act accordingly,” he added. Lamichhane said the government was also promoting the use of emission free electric vehicles and monitoring brick kilns to improve the air quality.

Vehicular emission is the major cause for deteriorating air quality in the urban areas where vehicular emission is much aggravated by substandard or adulterated fuel, narrow and poorly maintained streets, poor traffic management, old vehicles and poor vehicular maintenance.

Humor in Pollution - Hairy Nose - Change Air Pollution, Before it Changes You

Deonar Dumpsite Burning (March, 2016)

The World Bank Approved $500 million Loan to Fight Air Pollution in and around Beijing

@ Reuters - The money is part of a broader program expected to reach $1.4 billion for "green financing" over the next six years that includes another half billion dollars from Hua Xia Bank Co Ltd and $400 million in equity contributions from sub-borrowers, the World Bank said.

China suffers from severe air pollution and is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. Some 70 percent of its electricity comes from coal-fired power plants, which are a major source of greenhouse gases.

Improving Air Quality Monitoring in China

The country aims to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by increasing the share of nuclear, hydro, wind and solar power, with the goal of cutting emissions of major pollutants in the power sector 60 percent by 2020.

China's Solution to Air Pollution Problems

The money will help companies in Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin and neighboring areas that are taking action to tackle air pollution under a prevention and control plan adopted by China's cabinet, the State Council, such as reducing coal consumption and lowering emissions. Beijing-based Hua Xia Bank will establish a Green Finance Center and pilot innovative financing models and products, it said.

Local Sources are More Responsible for Air Pollution in Beijing

Beijing frequently features near the top of the list of China's most polluted cities as emissions from vehicles and heavy industry combine with weather conditions to raise smog levels. The worst bouts of air pollution tend to coincide with periods of low wind.

Why Do We Need to Model Air Pollution?

An effective air quality management program requires reliable information on ambient air pollution with substantial spatial and temporal coverage. This information is commonly collected and collated via monitoring campaigns (stationary and mobile on ground systems and part support from the satellite measurements, which is new today). This is also an ideal database to statistically forecast what will be the pollution levels in the next 3-4 days, knowing how the pollution levels behaved in the past under similar meteorological conditions. However, this database is not enough to explain the highs and lows, source contributions, and spatial patterns of pollution. In such a case, especially when lesser number of monitors are covering the urban airshed, forecasts based on multi-pollutant chemical transport modeling systems is a necessity.

Analysis of PM2.5 During the Odd/Even Weeks (January, 2016)

@ SAFAR, IITM

Check out the inforgraphic on Emissions Analysis for Odd/Even Days in Delhi