UltraTech Cement has announced the signing of a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Punjab Renewable Energy Systems Pvt Ltd (PRESPL) with a view to stepping up the use of biomass in place of fossil fuels like coal, in the cement manufacturing process.
Headquartered at Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra, PRESPL is understood to be India’s largest biomass aggregation and densification company with forward integrated value chain.
Under the agreement, PRESPL will leverage its technological expertise to replace coal-based systems with biomass-based processes. PRESPL will execute the biomass-based projects at three of UltraTech’s units. Cumulatively, implementation of these three projects is estimated to generate annual carbon savings of over 150,000 tonnes of CO2, a release by UltraTech Cement said.
Also as part of the agreement, PRESPL will build a sustainable supply chain of agricultural waste to be utilized as biomass energy in the kilns of UltraTech’s integrated units. This biomass-based fuel model helps to safely dispose agri-residue, which is currently burnt in open fields, thus helping reduce “Scope 1” and “Scope 2 emissions”. Higher usage of agri-residue in cement kilns, will also augment income for farmers, while reducing the country’s dependency on coal imports, the release noted.
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Mitigating CO2 emissions
UltraTech Cement, in the release added that in FY21 alone, the company used more than 20 million tonnes of industrial waste as raw materials. This resulted in annual CO2 reduction of more than 10 million tonnes. Additionally, UltraTech has used 3 lakh tonnes of waste, including municipal waste, as alternate fuel in its kilns. With the result, UltraTech, in FY21, replaced more than 3 per cent of its fuel requirement with alternative materials, and more than 18 per cent of its raw material needs were met through alternative sources.
Featured collage sourced from www.prespl.com (the official website of Punjab Renewable Energy Systems Pvt Ltd) is illustrative of the biomass supply chain.
