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Friday, Jan 25, 2008
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‘Emission of greenhouse gases increasing at an alarming rate’

Special Correspondent

KSPCB releases Greenhouse Gas Inventory of the State

Two-wheelers alone responsible for 56 per cent of carbon monoxide emission
Heavy-duty diesel vehicles account for
60 per cent of carbon dioxide emission

— File Photo: K. Murali Kumar

concern: Vehicles plying on badly laid roads in Bangalore are said to be the significant contributors for emission of greenhouse gases.

BANGALORE: The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) along with its consultant, Enzen Global, released the Greenhouse Gas Inventory of Karnataka here on Thursday.

The inventory report has pointed out that emissions of both greenhouse gases and health-damaging pollutants have been increasing at an alarming rate in Bangalore, and two-wheelers alone were accounting for 56 per cent of the carbon monoxide emission.

Claiming that the inventory was the first of its kind released by a State pollution control board in the country, Chairman of the KSPCB H.C. Sharatchandra said that heavy-duty diesel vehicles accounted for 60 per cent of the carbon dioxide emission. If not checked, levels of both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide were going to double over the next decade, which could be disastrous for the city, he said.

The report says that the estimated carbon dioxide emission which was 1.01 million tonnes in 1997 increased to 2.26 million tonnes in 2005-06. If the present trend continues carbon dioxide emission from the road transport sector will be about 4.06 million tonnes in 2017, it says.

Vehicular emission contributes 51,000 tonnes of carbon monoxide and about 2,500 tonnes of particulate matter annually, the report adds.

Highlighting various points of the inventory, Uma Rajarathnam, Head – Environment Practice, Enzen Global, said, “While there are a number of factors contributing to greenhouse gas emissions, in cities such as Bangalore increasing number of vehicles plying through narrow and badly laid roads is the significant contributor for both greenhouse gases emission and health damaging pollutants.”

According to the report, petrol and diesel consumption has increased tremendously during the assessment period — 1997-98 to 2005-06. However, diesel consumption rate has been higher than that of petrol.

The report has said that these emissions contribute to increase in greenhouse gases and their presence affect health. Exposure to particulate matter causes lung diseases.

To arrive at real-time values, the surveyors had used both “top down” and “bottom up” approach recommended in the guidelines published by Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change.

Fuel consumption data were collected from major oil distribution companies in Bangalore. This was also supplemented by vehicular survey at selected petrol stations in the city.

Dr. Sharatchandra said that since this was the first inventory released in the country, the values arrived could be indicative and also a draft for discussion.

Efforts were on to take up such studies in other major cities of the State, he added.

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