In news- The Indian railways is working in mission mode to become the largest Green Railways in the world and is moving towards becoming a ‘net zero carbon emitter’ before 2030.
More information-
- Green certification mainly covers assessment of parameters such as energy conservation measures, use of renewable energy, greenhouse gas emission reduction, water conservation, waste management, material conservation, recycling etc.
- The Indian Railways has incorporated climate change features in its own risk assessments and disaster management protocols.
- It has signed an MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in July 2016 for facilitation of Green initiatives on IR.
- Under this, 39 workshops, 7 production units, 8 loco sheds and one store depot have been ‘GreenCo’ certified.
- It has taken measures including electrification of the railways, improving energy efficiency of locomotives, trains, and fixed installations, acquiring green certification for stations/installations, fitting bio-toilets in coaches, and switching to renewable sources of energy.
- Over 600 railway stations have been certified for implementation of the Environment Management System to ISO:14001 in the last two years.
- It has already completed electrification of more than 40000 Route km (RKM) and has the plan to achieve 100 percent electrification of the network by December 2023.
- In July 2020, the railways set up a 1.7-MW solar power plant in Bina, MP, in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) and it is the first solar energy plant to directly power railway overhead lines from which locomotives draw their traction power.
- At present, 100 MegaWatt (MW) of solar plants have been commissioned on roof-tops of various buildings, along with 900 stations.
Source: TOI
