India Air Quality and Climate Change

Since January of 2002, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) have been working together under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to improve air quality practices in India.

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India Urban Air Quality Management Project

As part of this effort under the MOU, significant training and field study activities have been undertaken, with a particular focus on hands-on demonstration in the City of Pune, chosen as the Air Quality Management Initiative pilot city. Pune has received international recognition for this work, with specific focus on its participatory approach, bringing in national, state and local organizations, and for its commitment to progress, demonstrated by the local stakeholder group led the Pune Municipal Corporation .

The USEPA has been working closely with a variety of US national, state and local agencies, academic/research organizations, industry groups, and non-governmental organizations on this project, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S.-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP). Project activities are designed to introduce methodologies and technologies used to craft science-based urban air quality management systems. These urban air quality management systems will assist decision makers in defining the most cost-effective options for achieving air quality standards under Indian law. The India Urban Air Quality Management program is introducing the key building blocks for modern air quality management systems, including accurate monitoring, emissions inventory, air modeling and control strategy development using cost-benefit analysis. The program is also building skills to use source apportionment and health benefits assessment as part of the system, and is promoting stakeholder engagement and public access to information.

Pune Demonstration Project: The most congested parts of Pune, India are ideal locations for a demonstration project that could affect many other towns in India. EPA, along with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), the US-Asia Environmental Partnership and US-Agency for International Development (USAID) are collaborating on an urban air quality management demonstration project in Pune, in the State of Maharashtra, India. The project is designed to demonstrate the steps in developing and sustaining an urban air quality management program, and then to replicate this science-based urban air quality program in other cities in India.

Components of the demonstration project include:

Evaluation of the air quality monitoring network in Pune, with recommendations and training on air quality monitoring;

Air Quality Monitoring Reports Part 1 and 2 (PDF) (5 pp, 194 K, About PDF)
Air Quality Monitoring Reports Part 3 (PDF) (3 pp, 449 K, About PDF)
Air Quality Monitoring Reports Appendix A (PDF) (5 pp, 226 K, About PDF)
Air Quality Monitoring Reports Appendix B (PDF) (3 pp, 37 K, About PDF)
Air Quality Monitoring Reports Appendix C (PDF) (9 pp, 2,871 K, About PDF)

Development of a vehicle emission inventory for Pune, India (NOTE: to view the inventory, click on "Modeling" and click on "Data Download") ;
Development of a particulate matter emissions inventory and database for Pune and training materials;
Training on Source Apportionment;
Air Quality Modeling Training ;
Training on BenMap, an EPA tool to estimate the health benefits of putting in place air quality control programs (Link to BenMap);
Control Strategy Development;
Stakeholder engagement and public access to air quality information;
Development of an Air Quality Cell in the Pune Municipal Corporation

Pune is also a member of the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities.

India Clean Fuels and Vehicles Program

Vehicle emissions are a key concern in most Indian cities. Existing heavy-duty diesel vehicles emit small particles, which have significant human health impacts. 2 and 3 wheeler vehicles, most of them 2-stroke engines, also contribute to the overall air quality problem. EPA's India Clean Fuels and Vehicles Program will help develop a framework for characterizing and controlling vehicle emissions in India, and will provide recommendations and policy options for mitigating these emissions.

The India Clean Fuels and Vehicles Program is being implemented in 5 phases:

Training and field demonstrations of the International Vehicle Emissions Inventory Model (IVEM) (web link here), to better characterize the contribution of vehicles to the overall air pollution problem in Indian cities and to use as a decision making tool to evaluate options for mitigating vehicle emissions.
Workshop on portable emissions testing technologies.
Diesel retrofit demonstration project in Pune and Mumbai, including evaluation and testing of technologies and their appropriate application in India, and potential replication to other cities in India.
Low-sulfur fuel workshop and analysis.
Recommendations, policy options, and improved data for decision makers.

This program will provide tools, technologies, and approaches for understanding and reducing emissions from vehicles in India, particularly from in-use heavy duty vehicles, along with policy options that will feed into the Indian government's Auto-Fuel Policy, which is slated to be reviewed in the Spring, 2006.

United Nations Environment Programme Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles: The India Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project is one of EPA's activities in support of the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, which was one of the US government's key initiatives launched at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2002.

Diesel Retrofit Project

Diesel exhaust has health implications for everyone. Fortunately, diesel emissions can be reduced through the installation and proper use of pollution control technologies retrofitted on existing diesel vehicles. The technologies are available now and the benefits are immediate.

A key component of the India Clean Fuels and Vehicles Program is a pilot demonstration project designed to collaborate with India to reduce air pollution from heavy-duty diesel vehicles through the use of EPA verified or CARB certified pollution reduction devices operating on diesel fuel with the appropriate sulfur content. One of the outcomes of this project will be information about structural, organizational, or technical challenges that arise in implementing a diesel retrofit project, including information regarding the effectiveness of verified or certified technology on a range of diesel engine types and model years, operating in a variety of conditions. The results of this project will be made available to all stakeholders interested in pursuing similar projects.

Demonstrating successful approaches to reducing pollution from heavy-duty diesel vehicles in India will provide an important tool for India as it moves to implement similar cleaner diesel projects. Initial efforts will demonstrate retrofit technology options able to work with fuel quality currently in use in Pune and Maharashtra. The India Clean Fuels and Vehicles Project, however, is also seeking to advance activities that will demonstrate technologies able to achieve reductions of particulate matter in emissions >90%, which requires fuel with significantly reduced sulfur content -- fuel that is not currently in commercial in India. Althought the initial focus of the program is on heavy duty diesel vehicles, EPA is also exploring possible retrofit options for two and three wheeled vehicles, particularly those using high emitting two stroke engines.

EPA's Domestic Retrofit Programs: The Pune demonstration project will build on the successes and experience of EPA's domestic programs, including the Voluntary Diesel Retrofit Program and Clean School Bus USA. VDRP was launched in 2000 to address the harmful emissions from the current U.S. diesel fleet through the use of innovative technologies. As part of the VDRP, a technology verification process was established to review, test, and approve the emission reduction potential of various after-market pollution control technologies. In order to increase the likelihood for success, the Pune demonstration project will use technologies on EPA's Verified Technology List or CARB certified technologies , which have a mutual recognition agreement. In addition, the Pune program will build on and learn from EPA's international diesel retrofit programs, including the Mexico City Diesel Retrofit program, which is well underway, and the programs just getting started in Bangkok, Thailand. Santiago, Chile, and Beijing, China.

Goals of the India Diesel Retrofit Program:

Assess and demonstrate the efficacy of different retrofit options for reducing emissions from in-use vehicles in Pune and Mumbai, as well as options for other cities in Maharashtra and India;
Develop credible information on retrofit options and in-use vehicle control options in Indian vehicles under Indian operating conditions;
Develop options and a protocol for undertaking a larger scale retrofit program in Maharashtra;
Provide technical assistance and training for Indian counterparts on retrofit programs, operation and maintenance, emissions testing, and fuel adulteration;
Develop quantitative information on costs and emissions reductions of retrofit technologies in India for dissemination to Indian and Asian stakeholders;
Build technical capacity in India to implement such a program by working in close collaboration with Indian partners during this project;
Through use of Portable Emissions Monitor introduced as part of this project, improve the emission factors for vehicles operating in India; and
Develop recommendations and policy options for reducing emissions from in-use diesel vehicles.

The long-term objective of this specific project is to develop and transfer tools, technologies and approaches for characterizing and controlling emissions from existing heavy-duty diesel vehicles in India. Approaches will be developed and modified for Indian conditions, and then replicated, if appropriate, in other Indian cities

Specific Project Design: Athough the exact fleet is still to be determined, it is likely that the fleet subject to retrofit will be a selection of buses operating in Pune, or between Pune and Mumbai. The first stage of the implementation will begin with a retrofit of city buses in Pune. The project will retrofit a sub-set of the PMT fleet, using Diesel Oxidation Catalysts - and potentially other emission control technologies - and 500 ppm sulfur fuel, which is already available in Pune. The project will involve retrofitting buses, testing before and after retrofit, and running for one year, to evaluate durability and maintenance requirements on Indian buses, under Indian driving conditions. The effectiveness of these technologies and fuel will be demonstrated on vehicles representing a range of model years, with a selection of vehicles meeting Euro 1 and Euro 2, and possibly even Euro 0, emissions standards.

Key steps for the retrofit demonstration project include:

Bring together key stakeholders
Develop a technical advisory group
Identify specific fleet and number
Identify appropriate retrofit technologies
Procure retrofit technologies through competitive Request For Proposal (RFP)
Identify emissions testing equipment and location
Design emissions testing protocol
Perform baseline emissions testing
Retrofit with retrofit equipment
Conduct emissions testing with retrofit technology installed
Develop information on the costs and health benefits of retrofit options and low sulfur diesel fuel
Hold workshops on Pune Demonstration Project.
Develop recommendations and policy options.

National Environmental Engineering Research Institute

EPA is working closely with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to implement this project. EPA is also working on-the-ground through the US-Asia Environmental Partnership (US-AEP) and USAID.

NEERI and their Role: The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute is a national agency, headquartered in Nagpur, with field offices six other cities across India. EPA will be working with their office in Mumbai on the diesel retrofit project. NEERI's Web site is: http://www.neeri.res.in/

NEERI's role in the overall diesel retrofit project will be to:

Coordinate the retrofit projects, design the emission tests, carry out the measurements, and analyze and interpret the results, in agreement with the Government and stakeholder group.
Provide project management for all of the in-use vehicle projects, facilitate stakeholder involvement, facilitate the testing of the various options at an appropriate testing facility in India, and develop a report (or reports) documenting the results of the projects and the recommendations and options that come out of the project.
Coordinate a stakeholder group in Pune and Mumbai comprised of key organizations in the region working on these issues.
Assemble a Technical Advisory Group, made up of a team of international experts, who would provide technical advice to EPA, NEERI and the stakeholder group in implementing the project. Members of the advisory group will include experts in heavy-duty diesel vehicle emissions control and fuel technologies.
Facilitate the drafting of a project workplan and description that will be shared broadly - with key stakeholders, EPA, the technical advisory group, the media, and others.
Communicate frequently with key stakeholders and EPA via phone, fax, and email, and provide quarterly project reports to EPA.

Other Resources

Coalbed Methane Program in India
IES Program in India
A compendium of USAID climate change activities in India, PDF (72 pp, 1.05 MB, About PDF)