Clean Land, Energy, Air, and Natural Resources
PUBLIC AWARENESS PROGRAMS
The Climate for Renewables: A Conversation on India’s Energy Policy
The third session of the global seminar series on ‘Energy and Climate Policy in Asia’ co-organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai, Columbia Global Centers | Beijing, and the Center on Global Energy Policy (SIPA) was held on June 24, 2021. This session focused on India’s energy policy and featured a conversation between Columbia University experts and Sumant Sinha, Chair and Managing Director of ReNew Power, and author of ‘Fossil Free: Reimagining Clean Energy in a Carbon-Constrained World’.
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Women in Power: Perspectives from the Energy Sector
On the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia SIPA held an exclusive online streaming of the National Award winning documentary Powerless (Katiyabaaz) and panel discussion with Deepti Kakkar, Director, Powerless (Katiyabaaz), Philippe Benoit, Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, Center on Global Energy Policy, and Vaishali Nigam Sinha, Chief Sustainability, CSR and Communication Officer, ReNew Power, who discussed the status of women in the energy sector, exploring governance solutions, employment, as well as women as beneficiaries.
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Clean Skies Over Our Cities: Lessons from the Covid-19 Lockdown
Can future cities have cleaner skies? Columbia experts V. Faye McNeill, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Daniel Westervelt, Associate Research Scientist at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and Arlene M. Fiore, Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences explored how the disruption of human activities during the recent coronavirus lockdown has enabled us to imagine the possibility of a world with improved air quality.
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Pollutants in the Air around Us: Health Risks and Challenges
On December 2-3, 2019, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai hosted a conference that brought together a diverse group of scientists and public policy leaders who are at the forefront of research/policy for reducing the use of dirty burning fuels, including Dr. Jeanine D’Armiento, Professor of Medicine in Anesthesiology and Director of the Center for Molecular Pulmonary Disease in Anesthesiology and Physiology and Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center.
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Battery Life: Tracing Successes and Failures in Energy Storage
Why do batteries not last forever? How far away is 'cheap' and 'everlasting' energy storage technology? Answers to these questions on battery innovation in the context of modern energy needs was the subject of a public lecture by Daniel Steingart, Stanley-Thompson Associate Professor of Chemical Metallurgy at Columbia University’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, that was held at Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on May 30, 2019.
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The Air We Breathe: Air Pollution Indoors and Outdoors
Poor air quality results from emissions from human activities and natural processes, and their chemical and physical processing in the atmosphere. In a lecture on January 15, 2019 at Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai, Professor V. Faye McNeill, Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University discussed the state of air pollution in Mumbai, sources of air pollution indoors and outdoors, its impacts on our health, and challenges and opportunities for clearing the air. This lecture was part of the Urban Works Innovation Challenge 2018-2019.
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Air Pollution and India's Burden of Health
“Outdoor air pollution is the second leading risk factor for mortality in India. Nearly one million lives are lost prematurely in India to air pollution,” said Dr. Alexandra Karambelas, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, The Earth Institute, Columbia University. She was speaking at a public lecture organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on May 29, 2018, which drew linkages between energy emissions, air quality and health outcomes and emphasized the need for better monitoring of air quality in India in order to draw up appropriate mitigation strategies.
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Managing the Waste of Nations: A Global Analysis
Municipal solid waste has tripled globally since 1950 and is expected to be six times greater by 2030. One thing that clearly emerges from years of research is that we need to put an end to open dumping. Evidence for this argument was presented by Dr. Athanasios Bourtsalas, Adjunct Professor at the Earth and Environmental Engineering Department, Columbia University, and the Manager of the Earth Engineering Centre-Columbia (EEC), at a Lecture and Discussion organized by Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai on April 17, 2017.
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Incentivizing Safe Drinking Water in Rural India
As part of its ongoing work on Water Access and Management, Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai hosted a workshop on reducing exposure to unsafe drinking water in rural India, led by Professor Van Geen, Lamont Research Professor, Earth Institute, Columbia University and Prabhat Barnwal, Assistant Professor of Economics, Michigan State University on January 19, 2018. The attendees explored large-scale, technologically simple and socially appropriate incentives for testing and sharing of wells in communities that have a high prevalence of arsenic, with a view to reducing their exposure to unsafe drinking water.
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Enlightened Opportunity: Renewable Energy and Climate Policy in India
The Chazen Institute’s India Business Initiative at Columbia University hosted an event on January 15, 2018 that saw Columbia Business School professors Patrick Bolton and Geoffrey Heal share their research and debate with business leaders on how the country could create and finance a world-class renewable energy industry. It was organized in partnership with Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai and Eruditis Executive Education.
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Oil, Natural Gas, and the Future of Energy Markets
Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai held a panel discussion on December 1, 2016, on an overview of energy and climate policy after the U.S. elections, research findings on the latest trends in global oil and natural gas markets, and implications for countries like India. This panel featured experts from Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) - Jason Bordoff, Founding Director of CGEP and Professor of Professional Practice in the School of International and Public Affairs, Antoine Halff, Senior Fellow and Director of the Global Oil Markets Research Program, and Tim Boersma, Senior Research Scholar and Director of Global Natural Gas Markets.
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Groundwater and Group Interest
Sharing of natural resources such as water have idealized collective interest, community action and governance as guiding principles. Yet the techniques and strategies for systematic and long-term action remain under-researched. Dr. Katherine Alfredo, a research scientist from Earth Institute, Columbia University presented her work on drinking water treatment facilities in rural Maharashtra in a Lecture and Discussion organized by the Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai. The Lecture, held on September 27, 2016, was the first in a series of activities planned by the Center around the issue of Groundwater.
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Workshop on Air Quality
Air quality in major Indian cities is amongst the worst in the world. Rapid economic development is exacerbating conditions of poor air quality in Indian cities. Sources of emissions include coal-fired power plants, industry, vehicles, and biomass burning, which contribute to harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gases. An interdisciplinary science-base is needed to identify approaches that will be effective for improving air quality. Under a PGIF Project awarded to Professor Ruth DeFries, the Center facilitated a workshop in February 2016 as a planning activity to initiate long-term collaborations, joint projects, and student exchanges, bringing together an interdisciplinary group of scientists from public health, atmospheric chemistry, and atmospheric transport modelling.
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Electricity Distribution in India: Challenges and Opportunities for Reform
An efficient, resilient, and financially robust power sector is essential for India's growth and poverty reduction. Yet many parts of the country have poor availability and quality of power. Nearly 250 million Indians live without electricity. The needs of consumers and enterprises in urban areas differ from rural ones. The power industry and experts recognize that the key to reforming the entire utility lies in electricity distribution. Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai organized a lecture by Professor Vijay Modi on January 20, 2016 at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in partnership with its Department of Energy Science and Engineering. The talk identified bottlenecks that energy distribution agencies face in India and advocated for accelerating reforms at this stage as a way for improving the entire grid.