Industries can Save Money by Going Green

1. Power generation through rice husk will cost Rs 2.20 as against its average cost of Rs 5.50-6.00 a unit.

2. Assamese Govt is supplying power at rate of Rs 3.90 a unit.

3. It costs Rs 10 a unit to produce captive power using DG sets.

4. Thus average cost of a unit of power for industry works to Rs 5.50-6.00 a unit.

5. Cement is a power-intensive industry, with power accounting for 20-25 per cent of the input costs.

6. Cement plants consume about 100 units of power to make a tonne of cement, and thus cost come to Rs 550-600.

7. One can invest upto Rs 30 crore to set up the 6 mw power plant (biomass-based thermal plant) and can hope to recover the investment in 3-4 years and can also earn approx Rs 1 crore in the next ten years by trading carbon credits for reducing emissions.

8. The biomass-based thermal plant will use rice husk and bamboo, which is available in plenty.

9. Many small cement makers across the Chittoor region in Andhra Pradesh are using biomass-based thermal power plants (10-12 mw), with rice husk as a feedstock. Other power-intensive industries could draw a leaf from them.