Actions for today towards a greener tomorrow

namaste

my name is reva bhardwaj and i’m a

biotechnology student

advocating for carbon neutrality and

sustainable development

i’d like to thank tedx julian university

for giving me this opportunity

to speak at this esteemed platform on

this extremely

important global subject very relevant

to the indian context now i’d like to

request you all

to lend me your ears and attention for

the next 12 minutes

and hear me out these covet 19 times

have yet again made us realize that we

are a victim

of our deeds and the worst part to me

is not the fear of going out and having

chances of contracting this virus

no i don’t want to go out because i hate

wearing a mask and i am pretty sure

most of you would resonate with my

feeling

wearing a mask or a protective shield in

scorching heat

and being helpless about it because if

not this

then what now i’d like you to imagine

a dry and sweltering day you’re out

wearing a mask and carrying an oxygen

cylinder

oh that’s scary isn’t it

at least it is for me maybe too

hypothetical for you

imaginary futuristic or maybe

untrue but to the extent

that we are adding carbon dioxide in the

atmosphere

by burning fossil fuels and endless

deforestation

it feels very painful to say that this

uncomfortable situation

that i asked you to imagine about might

come true

you must be thinking that we are giving

too much importance to carbon dioxide

and neglecting the other greenhouse

gases then let me tell you

that carbon dioxide puts us in the most

significant risk of irreversible climate

change

it stays longest in the atmosphere as

compared to other greenhouse gases

trapping more heat and continuously

increasing the earth’s temperature

by the paris agreement we have to halve

the global carbon emissions by 2030

and have carbon neutral economies by

2050

and where are we headed towards where

are we today

we are amidst a global pandemic

now isn’t this alarming

lately we see a lot of large industries

talking about sustainable development

trying to implement new technologies

modifying them

to make their industrial processes more

sustainable

but is it enough only large industries

talking about sustainable development

and trying to address this issue

does this help us achieve our ultimate

goal

these industries are already aware

enough

they have ample resources and the best

in class technology

also they can wither out the long

gestation period

and make these implementations

profitable for them

but india also has 63 million

industries running at micro small

and medium scale employing over 110

million people

and contributing significantly to

india’s gdp

don’t we have to think about the

sustainable development of these

industries

to make our processes more sustainable

to build a green supply chain

we want to build a green supply chain

because we want to ensure

that when a product is being made

everything

that is put into that product is in an

environmental friendly way

starting from the procurement of raw

materials to discarding the product

at the end of its life cycle should be

in a sustainable manner

notably most of these industries are

located in rural areas

running at a micro scale of course they

do not have the best in class technology

and many resources or are not even aware

enough

so they cannot adopt all sustainable

measures within a year or two

but something can be done within a year

or two

they can take small yet efficient steps

that will bring out very significant and

impactful changes

in the years to come they can start

with greenhouse gas accounting this

accounting method ensures

that the company will be able to check

its greenhouse gas emissions

coming from various industrial processes

because in the order

to address an issue is to acknowledge

that there is one and then to find the

gravity of it

for example these industries can start

checking their carbon emissions from

vehicles

or their electricity usage the waste

generated

smoke coming from their equipment etc

after checking these carbon emissions

they can try to find out the problematic

area contributing maximum to these

emissions

and then specific measures can be taken

to reduce those emissions simple

doable steps which are going to bring

very positive results in a couple of

years

and i feel very proud and happy to share

that in the course of my journey working

with some of these industries

spreading awareness about climate change

and sustainability

talking to these industry people closely

monitoring them

i have witnessed some of them develop

sustainably

and they are benefiting from it simple

yet

efficient steps one step at a time

but being informed enough to take that

step

if i must tell you about one of the many

potential solutions available

that is solar harvesting yes

utilizing solar energy can be very

beneficial

for the industries and not to worry

there are already many government

agencies

subsidizing rooftop solar harvesting

this can be specifically useful for

industries

like meat dairy timber

plywood beverages textile

bricks and blocks and owing to the

pollution

the plastic and meat industry is

contributing

and also keeping in mind that these

industries

cannot be completed cannot be completely

eliminated

at this stage so saving a little on

their production

might help by the end of

2030 we are targeting to halve

our global carbon emissions and on the

current track

we are about to reach 56 gt

by 2030. now

where do we put the excess of carbon

dioxide present in the atmosphere

any ideas we can

convert the captured carbon dioxide

yes you must be thinking this isn’t

something new

plants do it all the time but where are

they

where are plants fact

we have destroyed nature’s carbon sink

but we humans are intelligent aren’t we

we destroy the natural solutions but

then build something artificial that

mimics it

we are funny aren’t we

in today’s world we can convert the

captured carbon dioxide

into industrially valuable products it

is not only beneficial for the

environment

but also boosts industrial growth

because we can

use carbon dioxide as a raw material

bringing it back to the production cycle

carbon dioxide can be converted into

variety of chemicals and materials

like synthetic fuel gasoline ethanol

carbon nanotubes etc

but what excites me the most is carbon

dioxide conversion

to methanol because methanol has a

remarkable potential

of reducing these carbon emissions by 65

to 95 percent

it can be a very good alternative to

fossil fuels

methanol is a clean fuel that does not

leave suit on

burning and emits lesser carbon dioxide

on burning than the conventional fuels

like gasoline or jet oil methanol also

has many other desired one

many other advantages it can be used to

make everyday products

in making plywood in water treatment

process

in electricity production as a precursor

for many

industrial processes wonder fuel

isn’t it i’d like to call methanol a

wonder fuel

because it is beneficial in almost all

of the carbon emission problems that we

are facing today

there are many techniques of converting

carbon dioxide

into methanol but we are still working

to find out the most efficient technique

because in the order of removing one

pollutant from the atmosphere

we do not want to put any other type of

pollutant into it

so we are trying to innovate

and sustainably innovate rather using

biochemical techniques

because when we are putting a

combination of two techniques

like biological and chemical we are

trying to address

three specific factors first

that the process is eco-friendly by

addressing the pollution caused by the

by-products

second increasing the utilization of

carbon dioxide

and last increasing the productivity

by lowering the costs over time as

compared to other products

[Music]

we still haven’t created our magnificent

product

but we are trying trying to innovate

and adapt sustainably because trying is

the only thing

we can do until we get the desired

results

as edison once said i haven’t failed

i have just discovered 10 000 ways that

don’t work

and we can all try can’t we as students

we can try and create awareness as

researchers and scientists

we can try to progress in the right

direction

as industry owners we can try to make

our processes

more sustainable our products more

eco-friendly

as communities or as individuals we can

try to have plantation drives

cleanliness drives we can try to reduce

our consumption

as much as possible reuse and recycle

because we don’t want to wait for the

day when our earth

will not even have enough to fulfill for

our necessities

in the process of fulfilling our greeds

we already have witnessed an alarming

signal of awakening in the form of these

of discovery 19

and again i’d like to reiterate the

aspirational targets our country is

aiming at

to build a cleaner and greener future

very recently on 21st november

our honorable prime minister addressed

that how our country is aiming at

reducing its carbon footprint

by up to 35 percent the very next day

at g20 riyadh summit

he motivated us all and talked about

how india is meeting its paris agreement

targets

and moreover exceeding them so i want to

aspire you all

i want to motivate you to fight climate

change

and save on planet earth because this

is the only one we have thank you