Carbon Neutral Village

Abstract

The vital challenge on Earth is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in response to the severity of global climate change. A primary task is to reform current production systems to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Our dependence on fossil fuels might be eliminated by leveraging the power of renewable and carbon-neutral inputs to generate energy and other fossil-based substitutes. To slow down global warming, it is crucial to safeguard nature's carbon sinks and encourage the capture, usage, and storage of CO2. The current article documented various conceptual frameworks for moving toward carbon neutrality by identifying primary GHGs sources and sinks in a cluster of villages and a systematic intervention that aid in mitigation, along with some case study and its limitations in India.

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Food and Scientific Reports
ISSN 2582-5437 foodandscientificreports.com
June, 2022│Volume: 3, Issue: 06│Page 53
Carbon Neutral Village
Suchandra Dutta1, Pampi Paul2, Sangeeta Bhattacharyya3 and Tapan Kumar Mandal4
1 PhD. Research Scholar, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur-741252, West Bengal; 2 Scientist, ICAR RC for NEH
Region, Umiam, -793103, Meghalaya; 3 Scientist, ICAR-Central Citrus Research Institute, Nagpur – 440033, Maharashtra; 4 Associate
Professor, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur-741252, West Bengal.
Article History
ABSTRACT
Received:
6th May 2022
Accepted:
8th June 2022
pampindri@gmail.com
The vital challenge on Earth is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in response to the severity of
global climate change. A primary task is to reform current production systems to reduce greenhouse
gases (GHGs) emissions and to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Our dependence
on fossil fuels might be eliminated by leveraging the power of renewable and carbon-neutral inputs to
generate energy and other fossil-based substitutes. To slow down global warming, it is crucial to
safeguard nature's carbon sinks and encourage the capture, usage, and storage of CO2. The current
article documented various conceptual frameworks for moving toward carbon neutrality by
identifying primary GHGs sources and sinks in a cluster of villages and a systematic intervention that
aid in mitigation, along with some case study and its limitations in India.
Keywords: Carbon neutrality, Greenhouse gases (GHGs), Climate change
The carbon cycle regulates atmospheric carbon dioxide
to maintain Earth's temperature (Fig 1). The
greenhouse effect promotes life on Earth. Carbon
dioxide helps Earth's atmosphere retain solar heat. Too
much atmospheric CO2 may overheat the globe. The
growing problem of climate change and global
warming has prompted a need to limit anthropogenic
greenhouse gas (GHG) production and its atmospheric
concentration (IPCC, 2022). Principal GHGs viz.
Carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide
(N2O), hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, sulphur
hexafluoride and others persist in atmosphere and
oceans for centuries, collecting heat, causing 'global
warming.' CO2 is responsible for 64% of human-caused
global warming.
Fig 1: The Carbon Cycle
(Source: https://www.slideshare.net/edstermer)
This rise in global mean temperature changes
climatological patterns, making living organisms
unable to adapt. As economy recovers, global energy-
related CO2 emissions had risen by 4.8% in 2021. This
increase reversed 80% of 2020's decline, with
emissions only 1.2% (or 400 Mt) lower than in 2019
(Global Energy Review, 2021).
If emissions continue to climb at their current rate, the
carbon cycle could be pushed out of dynamic
equilibrium, causing climate risks. Therefore, socio-
economic and technological measures are needed to
minimise carbon emissions and improve carbon
sequestration. (Mathur and Awasthi, 2016, Wang et al.,
2020). This article documented various conceptual
frameworks for achieving carbon neutrality, a
simplification that excludes the complexity of
ecological, social, and economic systems and their
interactions. This includes identifying critical GHG
sources and sinks in a cluster of villages and strategies
to combat climate change. This article encompasses
participatory developmental strategies for carbon-
neutral villages, systematic intervention to move
towards carbon neutrality with some case studies and
their limitations.
Background
The current economic system is carbon-intensive; a
significant transformation is needed to switch to a low-
carbon economy. Climate change acquired prominence
in social, political, and economic decision-making in
international forums since the Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro (Brazil) in 1992, where global initiatives
resulted in the formation of the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC), an apex body to address climate change
globally. 'Think global, act local' was a Rio Earth
Summit concept calling for local initiatives. At COP21
in 2015, the B Team Leaders, a non-profit group co-
founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz,

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June, 2022│Volume: 3, Issue: 06│Page 54
showed assistance for the Paris Agreement's long-term
objective of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by
2050. This context spawned carbon neutrality (Sharon
Maria et al., 2022).
The Glasgow Climate Pact (COP 26) urged rapid
greenhouse gas cuts and offered greater climate finance
for developing countries to respond to climatic threats.
India's commitment at this Summit was to bring down
the carbon intensity of India's economy by more than
45% by 2030. India is a big economy and is the fourth
largest global emitter (including the EU) recently
announced that it will reach carbon neutrality by 2070
as part of a five-point action plan.
Climate action is the thirteenth Sustainable
Development Goal (SDG) of the 2030 Agenda ("take
urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts") and is intricately linked to other SDGs.
Defining Carbon Neutrality
Carbon neutrality involves balancing carbon emissions
and carbon sink absorption. This can be done by
offsetting carbon dioxide emissions or removing them
(the transition to the "post-carbon economy"). All
global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be offset
through carbon sequestration (Das et al., 2022). Carbon
neutrality is defined differently in literature.
Table 1: Different definitions of carbon neutrality
Concept
Focus
Definition
Source
Reference
Carbon
neutrality
GHG
Condition in which during a specified period, there has
been no net increase in the global emission of greenhouse
gases to the atmosphere due to the greenhouse gas
emissions associated with the subject during the same
period.
PAS2060
BSI (2014)
Carbon
neutrality
Carbon
Carbon neutrality means balancing emitting carbon and
absorbing carbon from the atmosphere in carbon sinks.
European
Parliament
European
Parliament
(2019)
Carbon
neutral
Carbon
emissions
Carbon neutral is a term used to describe the state of an
entity (such as a company, service, product or event),
where the carbon emissions caused by them have been
balanced out by funding an equivalent amount of carbon
savings elsewhere in the world.
Carbon
footprint
Carbon
Footprint
Ltd. (2019)
Carbon
neutrality
Carbon
emissions
Carbon neutrality, or having a net zero carbon footprint,
refers to achieving net zero carbon emissions by balancing
a measured amount of carbon released with an equivalent
amount sequestered or offset.
UNEP
United Nations
Environment
Programme
(UNEP) (2019)
Carbon
neutrality/
Net zero CO2
emissions
CO2
Net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are achieved
when anthropogenic CO2 emissions are balanced globally
by anthropogenic CO2 removals over a specified period.
Net zero CO2 emissions are also referred to as carbon
neutrality.
IPCC
IPCC (2018)
Net zero
emissions
GHG
Net-zero emissions are achieved when anthropogenic
emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are
balanced by anthropogenic removals over a specified
period.
IPCC
IPCC (2018)
Carbon
neutral
GHG
Achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by
sources and removals by sinks of GHGs in the second half
of the century.
Paris
Agreement
Art. 4
United Nations
Framework
Convention on
Climate Change
(2015)
Climate
Emissions
Climate neutrality is achieved by balancing the amount of
emissions generated with the Earth's natural capacity to
UNFCC
UNFCC (2019)

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neutrality
absorb them. Some use the term "carbon neutrality" or "net
zero" as synonyms for climate neutrality.
Fig 2: Carbon neutral definitions
(Source: Acampora et al., 2022)
Conceptual framework in achieving Carbon
Neutrality
"Being carbon neutral involves calculating the total
climate-damaging carbon emissions, reducing them
where possible, and balancing your remaining
emissions, often by purchasing a carbon offset: paying
to plant trees or investing in green technologies such as
solar and wind power" (Strandberg and Sheehan, 2006)
(Fig 3).
Organisations worldwide are attempting to reduce their
carbon footprint and go carbon neutral. In every case,
these organisations are taking four basic steps (Brooks
et al., 2011):
1. Measuring their carbon footprint by inventorying the
GHGs emissions;
2. Reducing their direct and indirect emissions;
3. Offsetting the remaining emissions to achieve net
zero emissions;
4. Reporting, monitoring and verifying processes to
ensure that reductions have been achieved.
Net zero carbon emissions are achieved by balancing a
measurable amount of released carbon emissions with
the equivalent amount of sequestered and/or offset
carbon. (United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP, 2019).
Fig 3: Steps towards carbon neutrality (Source: Acampora et al., 2022)
Case study
Palli: India's First 'Carbon-neutral Panchayat'
Palli village in Jammu's Samba district is India's first
carbon-neutral panchayat. Prime Minister Modi
launched 500 KW solar plant at this carbon-neutral
panchayat. Palli has become a model panchayat,
motivating other panchayats in Jammu & Kashmir and
India to go carbon-neutral. Palli has 1,500 solar panels
covering 6,408 square metres (Fig 4). These solar
panels will power 340 panchayat households. The local
grid station will distribute generated electricity.
Fig 4: A 500 KW solar power plant at Palli is set to be
inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April
24, 2022 in Samba District of Jammu and Kashmir, as per
the PMO tweet, which will make it the country's first
panchayat to become carbon neutral. (ANI Photo)

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June, 2022│Volume: 3, Issue: 06│Page 56
Meenangadi: A Carbon Neutral Community
"Carbon Neutral Meenangadi" is a pilot project under
the "Carbon Neutral Wayanad" initiative of Kerala.
This project aims to set a low-carbon, climate-resilient
example in the state. Meenangadi is one of the 25
Gram Panchayats (local self-government) in the
Wayanad district of Kerala, vulnerable to climate
change. This initiative focuses on nature-based
adaptation measures to improve livelihoods and socio-
economic resilience. The recommended strategies for
achieving and maintaining carbon neutrality are:
i. Emission reduction,
ii. Carbon sinks improvement and
iii. Using nature-based solutions to create carbon
credits/reserves.
30% of residential and industrial energy consumption
off-grid and 10% energy efficiency improvement will
save 10% of net emissions. Promoting electric auto-
rickshaws and zero waste will lower GHG emissions
by 8%. Planting 200,000 trees and launching 'Tree
banking' schemes for farmers will assure natural CO2
removal and develop a local green economy. Carbon
neutral agricultural products are highly valued
worldwide, and Meenangadi's principal commodity,
coffee, will be marketed as 'Carbon Neutral Coffee' to
increase farmers' income. "Carbon Neutral
Meenangadi" is a unique pilot project integrating
climate action into a sustainable community economy
(Sharon Maria et al., 2022).
Village projections in carbon dynamics: a look at
WOTR's project areas in Ahmednagar
Exploring villages of Ahmednagar, Maharashtra. Rural
communities depend on agriculture and livestock in the
dry region. Group discussions with village inhabitants
revealed that local ecosystems, agriculture,
biodiversity, energy usage, and livelihoods had
changed significantly in the study area. As a result,
sinks and sources of GHGs have changed dramatically
in recent decades. The growth of carbon sources has
surpassed the capacity of carbon sinks, and some sinks
have been depleted. Population increase, globalisation,
green and white revolutions, and climate variability
have been cited as significant causes of local transition.
These are the main contributors to rising carbon
emissions and decreasing carbon sinks, resulting in
rising carbon storage in the atmosphere. In addition,
local culture, aspirations, and lifestyles are moving
toward a carbon-heavy standard. To reduce net
emissions to zero, reduce emission sources and boost
sinks.
Various interventions like watershed development,
sustainable agriculture operations, afforestation,
grassland management, improved cropping systems
etc., provide direct carbon benefits by increasing
biomass and soil carbon while using renewable
resources to meet energy requirements and reduce
emissions. Switching from flood irrigation to micro-
irrigation is one strategy to reduce emissions by
reducing electricity, fuel, and fertiliser use. Low
external input sustainable agriculture is the goal of
sustainable farming methods (LEISA). It includes
indigenous seeds, organic manuring, composting,
mulching, soil and manure preparation, low or no-
tillage, water budgeting, and water management
(Mathur and Awasthi, 2016).
Limitations
Creating a carbon-neutral village requires research,
planning, organising, integrating, executing, and
campaigns. Developing a sub-national GHG emission
profile seems complicated since there are no
specialised regional or sub-national emission
estimation approaches.
Other than technical issues, carbon neutral village had
other problems. For example, even though local bodies
have decentralised governance power, the existing
processes are centralised, making unique and
outstanding actions from the bottom level of
governance more tedious. In addition, communication
gaps between stakeholders, institutions, and
government departments restrict implementation.
Locally, there is a lack of technical support,
researchers, and experts, among other things. This
makes it essential to have programmes that build
people's skills and abilities.
Recommendation and policy making
India's rural population have minimal energy needs (for
cooking, drinking water and irrigation), but their needs
are largely unfulfilled. Therefore, introducing cleaner-
burning fuels like hot water chullahs, solar home
lighting systems, solar street lights, solar parabolic
cookers, and biogas plants needs to be promoted to
improve efficiency.
Producers and consumers should be closer to one
another to save travel kilometres. This means local
markets, locally generated goods and services, and
healthy ecosystems that provide free local resources

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must be enhanced. Remote delivery of alternative
systems is expensive and energy-intensive. Local
entrepreneurs must become product designers and
assemblers to reduce emissions and money fleeing the
village economy. This would lower emissions and
improve communities' livelihoods (Mathur and
Awasthi, 2016).
Net zero CO2 emissions globally demand deep
emissions cuts across all sectors and regions, together
with active CO2 removal to balance remaining
emissions that may be too hard and too expensive at a
time. Net negative emissions in from a sector can offset
positive emissions in one sector or location to achieve
global net zero CO2 or GHG emissions. Each sector or
region's net zero CO2 or GHG emissions timeline relies
on mitigating alternatives, expenses, and policy
proposals.
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