According to an official, the Andhra Pradesh government will completely support the Government of India’s carbon credit trading system, a market-based method to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the environment and mitigating adverse climate change effects.
State Chief Secretary K S Jawahar Reddy welcomed the scheme, noting that it will create new opportunities for individuals, businesses, and other organizations, such as ushering in the benefits of carbon offsetting projects such as ecosystem management, forest preservation, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy generation, and others.
“The carbon credits trading would undoubtedly be a great boon to deal with global warming and will be a win-win situation for the sustainable environment with multiple benefits,” said Reddy in a statement, following the 11th executive committee meeting of the AP State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM).
According to the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), the southern state has a potential energy savings of roughly 17,000 MU or 25% of its entire energy demand.
Given this magnitude of potential savings, Andhra Pradesh has decided to take steps to achieve at least 10% of it per year in the first phase at 1,700 MU worth Rs 1,200 crore through an integrated approach involving all departments under one umbrella, including reducing government departments’ electricity bills.
The Chief Secretary urged energy officials to expedite efficiency measures in all government departments and convert government buildings into star-rated facilities, including developing a time-bound state energy efficiency action plan.
He suggested that this strategy include all ministries, including municipal administration, panchayat raj, medical and health, endowments, industries, social welfare, school education, and agriculture, among others, in order to meet BEE’s target of 6.68 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe).
The Chief Secretary congratulated APSECM for the implementation of IoT-based energy efficiency technologies in 65 MSMEs, required energy conservation building codes in 123 urban local bodies, energy conservation cells in 42 government ministries, and other initiatives.