How decarbonisation offers hope against climate change | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Thursday
June 12, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025
How decarbonisation offers hope against climate change

Thoughts

Alavy K Reza
26 January, 2025, 06:05 pm
Last modified: 26 January, 2025, 06:12 pm

Related News

  • ‘Unacceptable and inadequate’: Experts slam govt for allocating only 0.67% of GDP to 25 climate-related ministries
  • Budget FY26: Tk100cr allocation proposed for tackling climate change risks
  • BNP wants to prioritise climate change, environmental protection in election manifesto: Mahdi Amin
  • Japanese SMBC's $1.86b fossil fuel investments draining Bangladesh's public funds, civil society orgs claim
  • Climate change: BPATC trainers receive specialised training to develop course modules for enhancing locally-led adaptation

How decarbonisation offers hope against climate change

Despite the gloom and doom of the climate crisis, there is still cause for hope. Adopting decarbonisation techniques offers us a way to reduce our carbon footprints, reduce costs, and significantly improve people’s day-to-day lives

Alavy K Reza
26 January, 2025, 06:05 pm
Last modified: 26 January, 2025, 06:12 pm
Illustration: TBS
Illustration: TBS

As fires engulf one side of the world and floods and cyclones dominate the other, it is hard to believe that there is any good news on climate change. Anyone who remembers the summer of 2024 in Dhaka can remember the exhaust-like hot air on your face when you would go past a CNG, or that burning feeling on your skin due to the heat. 

But there is still good news to be found. And the good news comes with one word – decarbonisation. 

Jobayda works at a garments factory in Gazipur. She is a sewing operator. Her work is around sewing machines all day, and her day-to-day life does not concern decarbonisation at all. 

One day, her line manager told her that the sewing machines would be replaced with an efficient motor to reduce energy consumption. She was also told that with more efficient sewing techniques, she could save electricity consumption for the company. 

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

The more efficient her work was, the more incentives she and her colleagues were receiving. She also saw the factory make other changes like changing the light bulbs and changing the layout of the factory to get light from the sun. The ventilation was also better as the exhaust fans were being maintained regularly. 

One day, Shahid's sister shared with him that nearby farms have been powering their buildings with solar energy, and they did not have to rely so much on grid electricity. Shahid spoke to some local NGOs about it, and they helped him install solar power on his roof. After a few months, his neighbours followed suit and now the village is fully decarbonised!

Her factory was employing decarbonisation strategies where the focus was reducing or eliminating carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gas emissions from human activities, particularly those related to energy production. 

Some kilometres away from Jobayda, Tinni lives in a flat with her family. The last year has been hard on her, the electricity bill keeps increasing and a significant portion of her salary goes to electric bills. 

Her colleague suggested that she should investigate her electric bill every month and take stock of the high-energy-consuming appliances; she could save at least 10% on electricity this way next month. 

Utilising this technique, she found out that her air conditioning did not come with an inverter, causing electricity bills to rise significantly in summer! For winter months, she made sure that she took small initiatives like heating her geyser during off-peak electric surge hours and ensuring proper insulation on the geyser to keep the heat last longer. 

A few hundred kilometres away, Shahid had been suffering from power outages for the last three months. This made summers intolerable and winters darker and greyer. 

One day, his sister shared with him that nearby farms had been powering their buildings with solar energy, and they did not have to rely so much on grid electricity. Shahid spoke to some local NGOs about it, and they helped him install solar power on his roof. After a few months, his neighbours followed suit and now the village is fully decarbonised! 

From industry to our homes, Bangladesh has grown in the ways we adopt cleaner and more sustainable energy sources while driving economic growth. 

Affordable, reliable and modern energy for all might seem unachievable, as we go into 2025 with the projection of higher energy costs. But we can do better. 

26 January is the International Day of Clean Energy. This day serves as a reminder of the pressing need to transition to low-carbon energy sources to combat climate change effectively and aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), which advocates for affordable, reliable and modern energy for all. 

With decarbonisation, we can also lower energy costs. When we think of the entire lifecycle cost of an electric motor, the purchase price only accounts for 1% of the cost itself and the cost for maintenance and repair is another 1%. 

This means that 98% of the energy cost is of running the motor itself. When we think about this machinery from the lens of decarbonisation, not only will we reduce our carbon footprint, but also the cost associated with it. 

Adopting decarbonisation strategies is indeed a cause for optimism in these uncertain times. 

These strategies are not just abstract concepts; they follow a well-defined structure that allows us to take actionable steps toward reducing carbon emissions. This structured approach provides a clear framework that we can control and execute effectively, empowering us to make meaningful progress in our fight against climate change.


Sketch: TBS
Sketch: TBS

Alavy K. Reza is a doctoral researcher at UNU-Flores and has been an industrial decarbonisation specialist for almost a decade. 


Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.

 

decarbonisation / climate change

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Aerial view of Grosvenor Square Gardens, London — home to several properties owned by influential families and businesses with ties to the Awami League. Photo: Google Earth
    Lengthy legal road ahead to repatriate Saifuzzaman's wealth from UK
  • From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
    From fact-checker to fact-checked: CA Press Wing’s turn in the hot seat
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India plane crash: Not all dead, one survivor identified, 204 bodies recovered

MOST VIEWED

  • Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
    Keir Starmer declines to meet CA Yunus: FT report
  • Wreckage of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner showing part of its registration "VT-ANB" in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave
    Air India plane crash: Not all dead, one survivor identified, 204 bodies recovered
  • Saifuzzaman Chowdhury. Photo: Collected
    UK crime agency now freezes assets of ex-land minister Saifuzzaman: AJ
  • File Photo of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus: UNB
    Prof Yunus to receive Harmony Award from King Charles today
  • Infofgraphics: TBS
    DGHS issues 11-point directive to prevent spread of Covid-19 in Bangladesh
  • Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur. TBS Sketch
    Bangladesh mulls settlements with tycoons over offshore wealth: BB governor tells FT

Related News

  • ‘Unacceptable and inadequate’: Experts slam govt for allocating only 0.67% of GDP to 25 climate-related ministries
  • Budget FY26: Tk100cr allocation proposed for tackling climate change risks
  • BNP wants to prioritise climate change, environmental protection in election manifesto: Mahdi Amin
  • Japanese SMBC's $1.86b fossil fuel investments draining Bangladesh's public funds, civil society orgs claim
  • Climate change: BPATC trainers receive specialised training to develop course modules for enhancing locally-led adaptation

Features

Among pet birds in the country, lovebirds are the most common, and they are also the most numerous in the haat. Photo: Junayet Rashel

Where feathers meet fortune: How a small pigeon stall became Dhaka’s premiere bird market

1d | Panorama
Illustration: Duniya Jahan/ TBS

Forget Katy Perry, here’s Bangladesh’s Ruthba Yasmin shooting for the moon

2d | Features
File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

3d | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

5d | Bangladesh

More Videos from TBS

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

Banks' estimates were wrong: Bangladesh Bank spokesperson

2h | Podcast
What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

What exactly happened to the ill-fated Boeing aircraft?

3h | TBS World
Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

Govt to set up Debt Office as loan burden to hit Tk29 lakh cr by FY28

3h | TBS Insight
Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

Curfew imposed for second night in Los Angeles

4h | TBS World
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net