Over 97% emissions in Himalayas due to household space heating

NEW DELHI: Over 78% of the total emissions in the Indian Himalayan region are from space heating in residential dwellings in rural areas, with 71.4% attributed to the northern states of Himachal, Uttarakhand and J&K, according to a recent report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).

Around 3% of overall emissions from space heating are attributed to commercial buildings, the remainder 97% is reported from the residential build

ings. Of this, almost 19% of overall emissions are from urban residential buildings and 78% are from rural residential buildings.

The Indian Himalayas are one of the most ecologically fragile regions in the world. Given its cold climatic conditions and unavailability of a regular source of power and limited financial capacity of local communities, people in the Indian Himalayan region often resort to fuelwood to provide thermal comfort in their built environment.

The traditional space heating mechanisms not only contribute to the increasing emissions of the region but also lead to the degradation of natural resources and adversely impact the health of people residing in these areas.

It is in the light of this that the WWF India TERI have released a report titled, 'Sustainable Space Heating Solutions in the Himalayan Region' that studies the impact of the adoption of new clean energy technologies on emissions in the region.