- The State Government of Gujarat has launched India’s 1st trading program called “Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)”in Surat, Gujarat to combat particulate air pollution.
Key points:
- About ETS: ETS ,an initiative of Gujarat Pollution Control Board (GPCB) , is a market-based system where the government sets a cap on emissions and allows industries to buy and sell permits (in kilograms) to stay below the cap . For this reason, ETS is also called as a cap-and-trade market. It is designed with the help of a team of researchers from different institutions.
- Cap-and-trade market : Under this, the GPCB initially determine the total mass of pollution that can be put into the air over a fixed period by all factories/Industries as a whole. A permit is then created in which each is allowed some degree of pollution emissions and the total permit is equal to the maximum fixed pollution emissions. This permit is usually a number/unit that can be bought or sold.
- Why Surat: Surat is a densely populated industrial center where textile and dye mills emit large amounts of air pollution & it is equipped with Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems already which makes it possible to predict the mass of Particulate Matter (PM ) being released.
