Faculty Publications
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://idr.nitk.ac.in/handle/123456789/18736
Publications by NITK Faculty
Browse
9 results
Search Results
Item An economic analysis of environmental pollution and health - a case study of Bellary-Hospet sector(2012) Thimmaiah, S.A.; Ravi, D.R.; Rao, Y.V.; Murthy, C.S.N.The Earth's natural ecosystem is the basis for our life-supporting system and provides marketable goods to human and other living organisms. The natural environment has always been exploited to fulfill human needs. The green revolution and industrial revolution has caused serious threat to sustainable development for both developed and developing countries. The degradation of air, water and land has directly affected the livelihood and human health. The environmental damage increases, as the economic activity increases, in view of the fact that the association between economy and the environment are multiple, complex and important. Mining is one such activity, which significantly results in the degradation of the environment, apart from generating huge economy to the country. Hence, the identification and quantification of socio economic impact of environmental pollution caused due to increased mining activity is necessary in the broader economic analysis. The present study is envisaged with the objective to identify and evaluate the impacts of mining activity on Social, Economical and Environmental Aspects of the area and to measure its economic burden on the affected people. The ambient air quality in the selected stations of study area reveals that, the increase in iron ore production has significantly resulted in the deterioration of air quality. High particulate matter to an extent of 310 ?g/nm3 in case of SPM concentration and 160 ?g/nm3 in case of RSPM. The health data collected from the respondents have revealed, significantly more number of respondents who are suffering from dust allergy, skin allergy in the study area, where there are mines and are working as workers in those mines, contributing for higher health cost incurred through treatment. © 2012 CAFET-INNOVA TECHNICAL SOCIETY.Item Implications of energy subsidy reform in India(Elsevier Ltd, 2017) Rajesh Acharya, R.H.; Sadath, A.C.This paper analyses welfare impact of energy subsidy reform in India based on the data from 1970? 71 to 2014? 15. To this end, Auto Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model and Error Correction Model (ECM) have been estimated to quantify the short-run and long-run price and the income elasticity of various energy products. The results show that the price elasticity of demand for all fossil fuels is low, but the respective income elasticity is higher. Therefore, an increase in the general price level caused by the subsidy reform will lead to the erosion of real income and will have related welfare implications in India. The results also reveal that energy expenditure will obviously increase and hence energy consumption will decline depending upon the extent of the withdrawal of subsidy. Therefore, policy makers in India, while undertaking further reforms, must ensure that the subsidy reaches to those who truly deserve, so that the socioeconomic casualty of reforms can be minimized along with achieving fiscal goals. © 2016 Elsevier LtdItem Energy poverty and economic development: Household-level evidence from India(Elsevier Ltd, 2019) Rajesh Acharya, R.H.; Sadath, A.C.In this paper, we investigate the relationship between energy poverty and economic development in India and its trend over a decade. For this purpose, we estimate a Multidimensional Energy Poverty Index (MEPI) and an index of development at the district level using household level data. Empirical results show that energy poverty is quite extensive in India with substantial variations across the states and districts. Over the years, energy poverty shows a declining trend at all-India level, but with the exception of few bigger and less developed states. Further, the study records a negative relationship between economic development and energy poverty, the strength of relationship has increased during the study period. Among the components of economic development, education has a greater impact on reducing energy poverty compared with income. The study observes that energy poverty and socio-economic backwardness in India are highly correlated; Dalits and Adivasis have higher energy poverty and a lower rate in the reduction of energy poverty in comparison with the national average. Energy poverty is lower in urban India in comparison with rural India. © 2018Item Developing a building performance score model for assessing the sustainability of buildings(Emerald Publishing, 2022) Hp, T.; C, R.; Deepak, D.Purpose: Construction industry is one of the leading causes of pollution generation in today's context. But the fact that the development of construction industry leads to the country's economic and social development cannot be unobserved. Hence, there is a need to develop a sustainable construction methodology, and while doing so, measures must be considered so as to not disturb the natural habitats. With the greater prominence shown toward the concept of green and sustainable construction developments, various tools have been developed in recent years in order to measure the performance of such sustainable and green buildings. In the Indian context, the assessment tools developed to measure the performance of the green building are found to be scanty in addressing various economic and social impacts. Design/methodology/approach: This study aims at developing a building performance score (BPS) model concerning the sustainability model built on the triple bottom priorities considering all the three vital components, viz. environmental, economic and social factors. In this study, the different phases involved in the complete life cycle of the project are recognized and then all the phases are assessed considering all the three major components mentioned in the BPS model. Findings: The outcome of this study specifies that various indicators, such as the topographical and climate change, health and safety of the construction workers, project management consultancy, risk management, security measures and solid waste management, form a chief source of a sustainable building, and these indicators are not being assessed in the existing assessment tools. Also, consideration of environmental, economic and social factors is also equally important in construction industry. Moreover, these indicators are also required to be assessed and included in the evaluation process while assessing the performance of the building. Originality/value: The BPS model developed in the study will assist to improve in assessing the building performance with respect to all indicators in the complete life cycle of the project. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Adaptive-Energy-Sharing-Based Energy Management Strategy of Hybrid Sources in Electric Vehicles(MDPI, 2023) Sidharthan, V.P.; Kashyap, Y.; Kosmopoulos, P.The energy utilization of the transportation industry is increasing tremendously. The battery is one of the primary energy sources for a green and clean mode of transportation, but variations in driving profiles (NYCC, Artemis Urban, WLTP class-1) and higher C-rates affect the battery performance and lifespan of battery electric vehicles (BEVs). Hence, as a singular power source, batteries have difficulty in tackling these issues in BEVs, highlighting the significance of hybrid-source electric vehicles (HSEVs). The supercapacitor (SC) and photovoltaic panels (PVs) are the auxiliary power sources coupled with the battery in the proposed hybrid electric three-wheeler (3W). However, energy management strategies (EMS) are critical to ensure optimal and safe power allocation in HSEVs. A novel adaptive Intelligent Hybrid Source Energy Management Strategy (IHSEMS) is proposed to perform energy management in hybrid sources. The IHSEMS optimizes the power sources using an absolute energy-sharing algorithm to meet the required motor power demand using the fuzzy logic controller. Techno-economic assessment wass conducted to analyze the effectiveness of the IHSEMS. Based on the comprehensive discussion, the proposed strategy reduces peak battery power by 50.20% compared to BEVs. It also reduces the battery capacity loss by 48.1%, 44%, and 24%, and reduces total operation cost by 60%, 43.9%, and 23.68% compared with standard BEVs, state machine control (SMC), and frequency decoupling strategy (FDS), respectively. © 2023 by the authors.Item Multidimensional energy poverty and human well-being: household-level evidence from India(Emerald Publishing, 2024) Rajesh Acharya, H.; Sadath, A.C.Purpose: This paper aims to assess the relationship between energy poverty and the well-being of people using Amartya Sen’s capability approach to development as theoretical underpinning. Design/methodology/approach: The study uses household-level energy access data collected by the Harvard Dataverse in 2015 and 2018. The authors use multidimensional indices to measure energy poverty and well-being. Further, the authors apply quantile regression approach to measure the relationship between energy poverty and well-being. Findings: The study’s findings reveal that energy poverty and well-being are negatively related. India has made progress in reducing energy poverty and improving well-being during the study period. However, progress in reducing energy poverty is largely due to improved access to electricity and improvement in well-being due to income and financial inclusion. Using modern cooking fuel has a greater negative impact on well-being compared to lighting using electricity. Further, households spending a greater proportion of their income on modern energy fuels leads to a lower quality of life as it precludes them from using it for other purposes. The study records wide variations in the observed relationship between energy poverty and well-being across various socioeconomic groups. Practical implications: This calls for improvement in the production and distribution of modern energy resources, which have substantial welfare implications. Originality/value: This is the first study to measure the relationship between energy poverty and quality of life using multidimensional indices. The findings of this paper have policy implications for the pricing of energy resources and energy access measures. © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited.Item Techno-economic analysis of integrated torrefaction and pelleting process(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2025) Goyal, I.; Prasad, A.; Kumar, S.; Ojha, D.K.In this work, a techno-economic analysis of an integrated torrefaction and pelleting process is conducted. The proposed integrated process is a single-step process to produce torrefied rice straw pellets. The proposed process shall work as an alternative to the existing multi-step/multi-site process that has multiple disadvantages. Like the conventional process, the proposed process consists of cutting, drying, grinding, torrefaction, and pelleting unit. However, the proposed process doesn’t involve any external binder as the pelleting and torrefaction steps are merged. The binding is achieved by utilizing the lignin present naturally in the biomass and softens during the torrefaction step. The techno-economic assessment estimates that the briquetting process with a production capacity of 30,000 tons briquette/annum could be very profitable and shows a return on investment (ROI) of 30%, payout time of 2.4 years and break-even point of 42% at a selling price of briquette of 73 $/ton. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Item Kinetic analysis and machine learning insights in the production of biochar from Artocarpus heterophyllus (jackfruit) through pyrolysis(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Tiwari, A.; Sankar Rao, C.; Jammula, K.; Balasubramanian, P.; Chinthala, M.According to International Energy Agency (IEA) Task 40, biomass contributes approximately 10 % of global energy production. This includes waste from agriculture and forestry, generating around 140 billion tons of biomass each year—posing a major challenge for efficient management and disposal. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that global jackfruit production reached 3.7 million tons between 2015 and 2017, while 2.96 million tons of bioenergy feedstock were produced in 2018. Utilizing jackfruit waste as a renewable bioenergy source not only adds economic value to agricultural residues but also helps reduce overall waste generation. The bark of the jackfruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus (AHB)) possesses considerable economic importance and exhibits an enormous distribution throughout several regions in Asia. This study involves the production of biochar from AHB biomass through fast pyrolysis at temperatures between 400 and 600 °C. The biochar produced has a carbon content of 66.69 wt% and a calorific value of 27.15 MJ/kg, respectively, which have similar properties to coal. The kinetic analysis of biomass employed three distinct models (OFW, KAS, and TANG) to determine the activation energy. The current study employed machine learning (ML) models to forecast the mass loss of biomass during pyrolysis, which is challenging because of the intricate characteristics of biomass and the extensive range of operating circumstances. Temperature and heating rate were used as input data, while mass loss was the desired output, to train a variety of machine learning models, including ensemble learning, support vector regression, Gaussian process regression, and neural network models. Among these models, the Gaussian process regression model showed superior performance compared to others, achieving a perfect R2 of 1 and minimal errors on both the validation and test sets, making it the best model to predict mass loss of biomass. © 2025 Elsevier LtdItem Climate anomalies and stock market dynamics: Evidence from empirical analysis(Academic Press, 2025) Akshaya, A.; Gopalakrishna, B.V.The longstanding variation in average climate parameters, typically occurring over decades or longer, is known as climate change. The authors examine the impact of climate change anomalies, specifically the changes in temperature and precipitation, on the equity market. This empirical approach utilized monthly long-term time-series data from 1996 to 2024, comprising 348 observations. To test the empirical association between the variables, the study employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and Nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) models. The findings of this analysis reveal a significant short-run symmetric effect of temperature changes on market volatility (? = 0.0004, p = 0.010). Increasing temperatures intensify market instability, suggesting that short-term climatic shocks amplify investor uncertainty and risk perception, and heighten market momentum. In contrast, increasing precipitation exhibits a long-term stabilizing effect (? = ?8.91e-06, p = 0.032), indicating that higher rainfall helps mitigate market instability over time. The alternative explanatory data from the World Bank and the GARCH model results are robust to the primary outcome. The study's outcomes provide valuable insights for regulatory bodies' climate disclosure policies and highlight the importance of proactive hazard management, particularly for investors in emerging markets and vulnerable sectors that are more susceptible to climate-driven volatility. © 2025 Elsevier Ltd