Bridgestone India has commissioned a carbon neutral boiler plant at its Pune manufacturing facility.
In a release, the company said that this initiative was part of the Bridgestone Group’s worldwide commitment to reduce its absolute CO2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.
Built in collaboration with Thermax Onsite Energy Solutions Ltd (TOESL) the plant uses carbon-neutral biomass briquettes made from agricultural waste. Estimated steam generation with this boiler will be 1,23,236 tonnes per year at full capacity and considering this, the estimated annual CO2 reduction will be 19,396 tonnes.
The boiler plant caters to the current steam requirements at the Pune plant. Steam is utilized in tyre curing process to provide heat energy to stimulate chemical reaction between rubber compound and other materials in order to give tyres their final shape.
It may also be mentioned that both the Pune and Indore plants of Bridgestone India supplement their energy requirements through the use of solar power. The two plants currently have a total of 6.72 mw of solar power installations.
“We at Bridgestone are committed to help ensure a healthy environment for the future generations. This boiler plant is the third in Bridgestone’s global operations and the first in Bridgestone’s EMIA (Europe, Middle East, India and Africa) region and we are proud of this achievement. Reducing CO2 emissions is an essential step of our global sustainability strategy and with this plant we will save 0.157 tonnes of CO2 for every tonne of steam produced. This will also result in annual savings of Rs.6.9 million as compared to conventional energy usage,” according to Parag Satpute, Managing Director, Bridgestone India.
(Featured photograph shows Bridgestone India’s manufacturing facility located at Pune, Maharashtra.)