Unfairly damned?

It is well-known that dams built for producing hydro-power emit methane, an environment-unfriendly greenhouse gas. But that the Indian dams in particular are the world's worst methane polluters, as claimed by a recent Brazilian study, is a revelation that needs to be validated by other studies. Indeed, some noted experts have expressed doubts that these dams could be contributing as much as 28 per cent of the world's total methane generated from hydro power projects, as determined by the study. Equally unconvincing are the numbers showing far meagre contribution of some other countries having relatively high hydro-power production potential. Unfortunately, India has no authentic data on this subject to either endorse or contest this claim. Similar was the situation when voices were raised against the assumed alarming levels of methane emissions from Indian paddy fields. Subsequent scientific studies, done jointly with some international organisations, disproved those projections as the methane production of Indian paddy fields was found to be low because of the generally poor carbon content of soils that have been tilled for centuries.

Reservoirs created by dams do generate methane due to the rotting of vegetation at the bottom and the atmospheric concentration of methane has almost tripled since pre-industrial times. But, at the same time, the last two annual greenhouse gas bulletins issued by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) have indicated that the growth in methane emissions has slowed in the past decade and its level in the environment has remained unchanged in the last few years. This should be viewed as a reassuring sign though it does not, in any way, call for any complacency on this front. But what is noteworthy here is that the overall reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is attributable not so much to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, as is usually done, but to the Montreal Protocol on reduction of substances that deplete the ozone layer. In fact, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has assessed the contribution of the Montreal deal in greenhouse gas emission reduction at no less than five times as much as the target being chased by the Kyoto accord by 2012. Significantly, India is deemed to be on track with its phasing out of ozone depleting substances like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and others commonly used in refrigeration, fire-fighting equipment and agriculture.

All this, however, should not be taken to mean that there is no need to intensify efforts to mitigate environmental pollution that leads to climate change. Only, the global strategies for doing so need to be constantly revisited and improved to ensure that wrong scapegoats are not targeted. There is also a need to convert some of these challenges into opportunities to promote cleaner technologies. Preliminary technology is already available to gainfully utilise methane by trapping it at the spill-ways and turbines, where it is released from water, and burning it to produce additional energy. The bottom line remains that climate change is a grave issue and should be addressed with the seriousness it merits. But apportioning blames in a hurry on one or the other will serve little purpose and might prove counter-productive.