It is Ozone Day, and the Ministry of Environment has launched a research and development initiative to minimize the impact of refrigerants on the ozone layer.
The official statement said that this R&D initiative combines the efforts of the government, the industry, research institutes and collaborative R&D program and it will help develop long-term solutions for the adverse impact that refrigerant gasses have on the climate and ozone layer.
The initiative is a collaborative effort of Centre for Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences (CAOS), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Department of Science and Technology (DST) among others.
India leads the environmental race
The per citizen carbon footprint is very low in India, compared to the developed countries. Therefore the country’s contribution to the greenhouse effect is comparatively less. But, the urgency is evident, and there is a global need to develop alternate technologies. The existing alternate technologies are economically not feasible.
Environmental R&D headed by CSIR
The report also said that the initiative would be headed by the CSIR and a corpus fund to which the industry has committed, will be established. The aim is to create a big sustainable ecosystem for developing solutions in the country. The focus will be on developing new refrigerant technologies.
An effective collaboration among important stakeholders will allow different areas of expertise to merge and create the best possible results. It is understood that the impact on the environment and ozone layer can not be leveled, but an attempt at reducing the impact is needed so that the recovery rate of the two is higher than the depletion rate.
The statement said, “This will help the country leapfrog from the current technology high GWP HydroFluoroCarbons or HFCs to technologies with lower climate impact.”
Introducing environmental studies as a compulsory part of many educational curriculum across the country has had a positive effect. However, this initiative takes it a step further by inviting researchers to collaborate and create solutions proactively.
