Publications
WSDS2024: Launch of MTCoE’s Daylight Plugin Tool at the thematic session "Advancing Sustainable Building Practices: Role of Laboratories and State-of-the-art Infrastructure to Enhance Energy Efficiency & Thermal Comfort."
Article
| September 18, 2024
The session was conducted as a part of the World Sustainable Development Summit 2024, the only leading sustainable development summit in the Global South. Held on February 8th, 2024, at the India Habitat Centre, it focused on exploring the potential of smart technologies and data analytics in managing energy and optimizing building performance, emphasizing the significance of human-centric design for improving occupant comfort.
Heat Waves and Action Plans: How Does India Fare?
Article
| September 18, 2024
While preparedness, alerts and warnings, and other measures of heat action plans have vastly reduced the impact of heat waves, the duration and frequency of climate-induced heat waves are on the rise. Jency Samuel says that as heat waves impact people’s health and livelihood, and the nation’s economy adversely, there is a need to improve and better implement the heat action plans.
Urban Flood Analysis and Early Warning Solution for Disaster Resilience
Article
| September 18, 2024
AbstractThe objective of this work is to present the experimental findings of an urban flood early warning system developed by combining a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model (WRF) forecast with a distributed hydrologic modeling system. Hydrodynamic models have been used in the simulation of intricate and interrelated dynamic systems, such as urban watersheds and urban water infrastructure. The use of these models in assessing flood hazard, vulnerability, and risk is well-established.
Climate Resilience in Water Resource Management in India: A Conceptual Framework for Action
Policy brief
| September 18, 2024
The water sector in India is facing increasing variability and unpredictability of water resources due to climate change. This is compounded by inadequate infrastructure for water storage and distribution, and the insufficient integration of climate resilience into water management policies. This is highlighted by the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report. Key threats include extreme weather events, rising temperatures, erratic monsoons, and sea level rise, impacting agriculture, industry, ecosystems, and overall water security.
Accelerating Biodiesel Blending in India
Policy brief
| September 18, 2024
India’s dependency on imported fossil fuels is mounting incessantly. The petroleum products consumption in the country has increased about 38.2% from the past decade, resulting in a substantial expenditure on oil imports.Biodiesel is one of the alternative fuels that can be produced from non-edible sources, waste oils, animal fats, etc. India’s government is emphasizing energy security with a target of reducing the usage of fossil fuels and import burdens.
Remote sensing-based vegetation indices in agroforestry plantation monitoring
Research Paper
| September 18, 2024
Agroforestry offers a vital solution for addressing challenges in India's agricultural sector, which is burdened by fragmented landholdings, environmental degradation, and economic vulnerability. With 86.1% of farmers being small and marginal, integrating agroforestry into agricultural practices presents an opportunity for enhancing livelihoods through additional income streams and contributing to climate resilience.
Plastics in the Indian economy: a comprehensive material flow analysis
Research Paper
| September 11, 2024
Plastic is valued for its flexibility to be utilized in different applications, yet it poses a significant threat to our environment because of mismanaged plastic waste. India’s compound annual growth of plastic consumption has been around 7% for a decade. Despite this significant growth, there has not been a comprehensive study of Indian plastic flows since 2000. This work presents a 20-year update, detailing plastic production, consumption by all plastic types and sectors, and the overall material flow for 2018–19 to fill the gap in the data on post-consumer plastic flows.
Green Public Procurement for Advancing Sustainable Development in India: Policy Nudges for Promoting Sustainable Consumption and Production
Policy brief
| August 9, 2024
Green Public Procurement (GPP), a sub-component of sustainable public procurement, seeks to achieve environmental sustainability by leveraging the government sector’s purchasing power. GPP can be defined as the deliberate and systematic integration of environmental objectives into the procurement process of goods, services, and works by public agencies. This policy brief employs a case study-based approach to identify strategies for promoting GPP in India.
Revolutionizing farming: The role of remote sensing-based vegetation indices in smart and precision agriculture
Research Paper
| August 8, 2024
This article explores the transformative impact of remote sensing-based vegetation indices (VIs) in precision agriculture. By using advanced geospatial technologies, VIs such as NDVI, EVI, GCI, SAVI, and NDWI enable us to monitor crop health, assess water stress, estimate yields, and determine optimal harvest times with unprecedented accuracy. These indices, derived from optical remote sensing and SAR data, provide critical insights for optimizing resource use, enhancing crop productivity, and reducing environmental impact.