India, the world’s largest democracy and most populous nation, is rapidly advancing on the path to sustainability. As India strives to balance its developmental goals with environmental responsibility, it is growing its influence on the global stage by taking transformative steps towards a greener future. From embracing renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions, and implementing eco-friendly policies to effectively combat climate change – India is positioning itself as a key player in the global sustainability push. Statistics say that carbon dioxide emissions are expected to rise to 5% in the coming years in India alone. As of 2024, India’s CO2 emissions are projected to reach 5.1 billion tons by 2030, a major chunk of which comes from the commercial and industrial sector in India.
With businesses finding it hard to mitigate their direct emissions, carbon credits are emerging as a powerful tool, enabling businesses to offset their emissions while supporting carbon emissions mitigation projects. Now, let’s start with understanding what carbon credits are and how the Indian government is encouraging them, along with how they can help your business.
Carbon credits, also known as carbon offset credits or carbon allowances, is a tradable virtual certificate that represents the reduction of one metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) or its equivalent greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Businesses or individuals can generate carbon credits in India through initiatives like renewable energy credits, afforestation, cookstove projects or improved waste management practices. These carbon credits can be sold to other organizations that might require them to meet their legal or other emission offset requirements. This will lead to the development of a new market including industries aimed at cutting down carbon emissions.
The concept of carbon credit trading was first introduced through the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. The global framework under this particular protocol was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Since then, the entire framework has developed into quite a few national and regional carbon markets. The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is one of the active, well-established carbon markets across the world.
India has been actively participating in carbon trading through two strategies: regulated and voluntary. The approach of carbon trading includes:
There are several types of projects which generate carbon credits and are sold in the open market by companies who undertake these projects. These projects can range from renewable energy projects to afforestation projects to methane capture. Here’s a list of different types of projects that generate carbon credits:
Renewable Energy Projects: Renewable energy projects, such as solar plants and wind parks, along with hydroelectric power plants replacing traditional fossil-fuel-based energy.
Afforestation and Reforestation Projects: Planting new forests or restoring degraded ones helps absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, earning carbon credits against current emissions.
Energy Efficiency Projects: Improving industrial operations, changing building insulation, and introducing energy-efficient appliances consume less energy and put less carbon into the atmosphere. In this manner, they create carbon credits.
Waste Management: Methane from landfills captured or industrial wastewater treated stops potent greenhouse gasses like methane from being released into the atmosphere and earns carbon credits.
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): These technologies capture the carbon dioxide emitted from industrial processes and store it underground securely, ultimately saving emissions with an associated price in carbon credits.
Here’s a step-by-step approach to incorporating carbon credits into your business strategy:
Assess Your Carbon Footprint: The initial process is the carbon literacy audit, which involves determining your business’s current carbon footprint. This entails examining the use of energy, the generation of waste, and the movement of products and services.
Identify Reduction Strategies: You have to come up with a strategy to lower your carbon footprint. It can be done by changing sources of energy to renewable energy sources, using efficient appliances in energy use, or even managing wastes in a sustainable manner.
Explore Carbon Offset Projects: Based on your requirement and suitability, the relevant type of carbon credit project can be chosen.
Calculate Your Offset Needs: Depending on your company’s outreach and your plan for reduction in emissions, decide how many carbon credits you should buy for the required level of offsetting.
The market for carbon credits in India also presents an opportunity to build a more sustainable business environment and generate real economic profits. And if you are a business that need to invest in carbon credits to offset their emissions in India, we are there to help you with the process. At Sunsure Energy, we can help you transition to green power while earning Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) for the power you consume. We help you achieve 100% offset of your energy related emissions with a mix of green power solutions and green attributes.
Our solutions go beyond just power generation:
Harness Clean Power: With Sunsure, you can offset over 70% of your power consumption with renewable sources like solar, wind, and battery storage.
Fixed-Cost Stability: You can secure predictable energy costs for up to 25 years with fixed-tariff PPAs.
Zero Upfront Investment: With our renewable energy solutions, you can enjoy a seamless transition without capital expenditure on renewable infrastructure.
Complete Decarbonisation: You can go beyond PPAs. We help you procure Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) and access other Green Attributes to achieve complete decarbonisation and meet your Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals.
Let’s build a greener future together. Contact Sunsure Energy today to unlock your sustainable business advantage.
