University of California International and Area Studies

International support to help pay the costs of climate change mitigation in developing countries is an essential element of any future international climate change agreement. Analyses of various funding options have focused broadly on their relative ethical justifications, ease of implementation, and cost effectiveness. Yet for the most part, these international climate discussions about the nature of a future international financial transfer mechanism are occurring mostly on a high policy level, without grounded analysis in the places where the resulting activities would take place. Drawing on past experiences, there is a need for more bottom-up analysis regarding the efficacy of various types of assistance in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In India, high efficiency cogeneration of electricity and steam from sugar cane waste (bagasse) has been ranked among the highest for its potential for cost-effective emissions reductions and other development and environmental benefits (WRI 2000). India’s sugar industry is the largest in the world and employs over 14 million people and 45 million farmers and their families (Winrock 2002). Despite its multiple purported benefits, and numerous domestic and international programs to support the technology, less than 10% of India’s estimated potential for bagasse cogeneration has actually been exploited, while approximately 20% of the total potential is in the planning stages (WADE 2004, MNES 2004). Focusing on Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, two of the largest sugar producing states in India, this research examines the current state of the technology, barriers to its dissemination, and the results of past international and domestic efforts to support it.