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Integrated Techno-economic Multi-objective Optimization Framework for India’s Green Hydrogen Supply Chain
No full textGreen hydrogen has the potential to accelerate India's clean energy transition, but its large-scale deployment depends on an efficient and integrated supply chain. The National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) underscores the need for a coordinated plan across production, storage, and transportation segments. However, these elements are often assessed separately using single-objective metrics, limiting their value for policy formulation and unlocking investment. This paper presents a techno-economic, multi-objective framework for India's Green Hydrogen Supply Chain (GHSC), modelling production, storage, and transport options as an encoded 12-bit binary chromosome covering both dedicated and hybrid pathways. Three objective functions focused on minimizing cost, lifecycle emissions, and energy consumption are optimized simultaneously under constraints for safety, leakage, and renewable energy availability. Using India-specific data, a pilot computational demonstration compares seven states (Gujarat, Kerala, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu) to illustrate how variations in renewable energy tariffs and capacity utilization factors (CUFs) shape feasible configurations and Pareto-optimal trade-offs. The results identify regionally differentiated cost-emission-energy trade-offs and the technologies most frequently selected in feasible supply chains. By bridging techno-economic details with regional analysis, the framework offers a replicable tool for Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA)-II and other evolutionary algorithms to inform evidence-based policy, prioritize states for pilot projects, and align long-term roadmaps with the goals set out in the National Green Hydrogen Mission
Nondegradable Waste Incursion, Environment and Ecology: A Case of Densely Populated Urban Settings in India
No full textIndia is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, and this rapid economic expansion has been accompanied by significant urbanization. Studies on the evolution of urban agglomerations across India over a period of more than a century (1870–2020) bring forth a strong relationship between economic growth and urbanization in the country. As the country aims for a highly aspirational target of a US$40 trillion economy by 2047 (the hundredth year since its independence), it is intuitive that there will be a rise in the number of densely populated urban settings. This would pose a great challenge to society at large since the rapidly expanding dense urban settings would put pressure on the natural resources due to heavy anthropogenic activities associated with the creation and development of highly dynamic urban habitats. Since this growth is envisaged to be fueled primarily by unabated collective aspiration and economic growth, at times, there may be a departure from sustainable practices. A crucial area requiring greater attention is the careful management of nondegradable solid waste produced in densely populated cities and their surrounding areas. The Municipal Waste Management Rules (2000), implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in the Government of India at the time, required urban local bodies to collect organic (or food) waste, domestic hazardous waste, and recyclable waste separately to ensure the safe and scientific handling and disposal of municipal waste. However, the realization of this noble goal has not materialized to the desired extent. Plastic waste has been a menace to the cities in India. This chapter aims to focus on the trail of plastic waste in densely populated Indian cities, starting from generation to disposal after usage. It also discusses the implications of plastic and other nondegradable wastes on the urban environment and ecology. A pragmatic way forward has been mentioned, which could be used as the baseline toward formulating a strategy to deal with the issue. Evidence has been highlighted to indicate the possibilities of creating a “waste-to-wealth” value chain so that the initiatives can be justified from an investment point of view
Knowledge, Curriculum and Learning: Knowing Why We Teach, What We Teach and How We Learn
No full textQuality, equity, and scale in the Indian School Education System: Large-scale policy reforms
Get PDFThe Indian school system is the largest in the world, with 1.5 million schools and 9.4 million teachers catering to 260 million students. While reforms since the 1990s have successfully expanded schooling to historically marginalized groups, they have been far less successful in retaining them past the primary level. This paper analyses the conceptions of equity and quality that have informed a raft of policies and state reform efforts in India over the past two decades through the ambitious school curriculum reform efforts of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (2005), the subsequent framework for Teacher Education (2009), Right to Education Act (2009) (RTE), the integrated scheme for school and teacher education, and the current National Education Policy (2020). We examine databases on school enrolment, sample-based national assessment surveys, and central teacher eligibility tests to interpret the RTE, using principles of inclusive education in terms of policies, practices, and support structures that enable the presence, participation, and achievement of all students, including from marginalized sections of society. The paper concludes with a reflection on where the country is poised concerning quality, equity, and inclusion in India and the future directions it could take
Decoding the CUF-LCOH Nexus: A State-wise Assessment for India's Green Hydrogen Pathway
No full textGreen hydrogen is progressively being identified as indispensable for decarbonising the dynamic global energy landscape. Since the electricity used to power electrolysers represents the dominant component of green hydrogen production costs, streamlining renewable energy (RE) costs is central to making green hydrogen affordable and accessible. In this context, the Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF), the ratio of actual output to the maximum possible output at full capacity, serves as a robust metric to evaluate the performance of renewable energy plants in real-time. This study investigates the economic viability of green hydrogen production across select Indian states-Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Odisha-by examining how state-specific solar and wind CUFs influence the overall Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH). Through a comparative, data-driven approach, the study explores the potential of RE availability and plant performance in sculpting the economics of green hydrogen. Additionally, the study highlights the need for targeted state-specific incentives using differentiated solar and wind tariffs, which could drive down green hydrogen production costs through economies of scale. The study aims to support informed policymaking for India's nascent green hydrogen sector, thereby advancing the goals of India's National Green Hydrogen Mission
First observation of coexistence of crystalline and amorphous mineral phases in the Bhawad LL6 chondrite: Evidence from Micro-Raman spectroscopic studies
Get PDFWe report here for the first time the detailed spectroscopic investigations on Bhawad meteorite using micro-Raman spectroscopic and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) investigation of the Bhawad LL6 ordinary chondrite, focusing on its mineralogical composition and carbonaceous phases. Raman spectroscopy reveals crystalline silicates including olivine, pyroxene, and plagioclase, along with accessory chromite containing ≤20 % of Al. Carbonaceous material exhibits broad ID (∼1336 cm−1) and IG (∼1587 cm−1) bands with an ID/IG ratio of ∼1.04, indicative of disordered graphite and nanocrystalline carbon, reflecting shock-induced metamorphism. High-pressure TiO2 polymorphs are identified by characteristic Raman modes at 146, 394, 446, and 610 cm−1. HR-TEM imaging confirms the presence of nanocrystalline TiO2 particles embedded within amorphous carbonaceous matrices, demonstrating the coexistence of crystalline and amorphous phases. The Raman spectra of the Bhawad meteorite reveal the presence of high-temperature plagioclase phases, characterized by these distinct vibrational features. This observation indicates possible quenching of the melts having feldspar components, representing the complex thermal and shock metamorphic history of the meteorite. This coexistence of crystalline and amorphous phases highlights the complex thermal and shock history of the Bhawad meteorite, revealing insights into phase transitions and structural order–disorder phase transition induced by impact processes
Rural-Urban Migration and Urban Livelihoods in India
No full textThis article looks at the nature and patterns of urban livelihoods in India, with a focus on low-skilled migrant workers engaged in the informal sector. It places urban livelihoods in the broader context of structural transformation and livelihood change in India and shows that even though migrant workers contribute significantly to country’s increasingly urban-centric economy, they remain ignored in policymaking. The paper analyses the reasons for this disregard and argues for the need to integrate low-skilled migrant workers in India’s urban policy to promote inclusive and sustainable development
From Attitudes to Actions: Bridging Conservation Planning Framework, Theory of Planned Behaviour and Social Values to Protect Charismatic Freshwater Fishes, the Mahseer
No full textMahseers are a group of iconic freshwater fishes native to the waterbodies of South, East, and South-East Asia, with significant ecological, socio-cultural, and livelihood value. The complexity of the socio-ecological contexts in which the mahseer conservation occurs demand an approach integrating behavioural dimensions of the individuals and groups directly or indirectly involved in it and social and cultural values they hold for these fishes with the conservation planning and implementation processes for better results. This study examined different facets of the mahseer conservation across three environmentally, geographically, and socio-culturally distinct Indian states - Karnataka, Assam, and Uttarakhand under a framework integrating Conservation Planning Framework (CPF) with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and Social Values (SV). Across all the focal states, three key themes were constructed – ‘consensus between stakeholders,’ ‘communication and collaboration,’ and ‘values and moral responsibility.’ Our analyses revealed that while shared ecological concerns offered an opportunity for the collective conservation actions, inter-stakeholder conflicts, communication gaps, hesitation to collaborate, top-down governance, and restricted decision-making autonomy available to tribal and local communities acted as the barriers. Stakeholders from all three states demonstrated strong pro-conservation attitudes, moral responsibility, perceived capability to implement the conservation plans and culturally embedded value for mahseer, rooted in religious beliefs, tribal and local identities and recreational traditions. However, on ground analysis revealed a low ‘actual behavioural control’ amongst many stakeholders limiting translation of the positive elements present in their attitudes and values into tangible conservation outcomes. Our observations emphasise formalising community-based co-management, strengthening inter-departmental coordination, building conservation capacity, adopting socio-culturally grounded communication strategies and repositioning community fishing events as socio-ecological heritage to ensure stakeholder compliance of the existing mahseer conservation plans and improve its success. Furthermore, aligning conservation planning with behavioural drivers and social values could offer more vital insights for formulating inclusive strategies and policies for protecting mahseers and managing their habitats
