 ITC continued to augment its Carbon positive status through significant efforts in energy conservation, enhanced use of renewable energy and large-scale carbon sequestration through additional social and farm forestry programmes.
A concerted effort to reduce specific energy consumption (energy required per unit of production) through focused energy conservation initiatives yielded significant benefits for ITC’s Business Units. This was achieved through a rigorous process supported by benchmarking and stringent audits.
ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, has been rated as the most energy efficient Indian Paper & Paperboards manufacturer according to the Centre for Science & Environment Study, 2010. Specific energy consumption at the largest integrated Paper and Paperboards Unit at Bhadrachalam which accounted for 73.4 % of the total energy consumed across ITC in 2010-11, has marginally increased (around 1% over 2009-10 ) due to increase in production of pulp (reducing import of pulp) and value added products.
ITC’s Snacks Units of the Foods Business in Haridwar and Pune have significantly improved on their specific energy consumption, by reducing the energy consumed per tonne of snacks produced by 16.7% and 15.2% respectively.
Specific energy consumption reduced by 6.8% in the Cigarette Manufacturing Unit in Kolkata, 13.9% in the Bollaram Cast Coating Unit, 10.2% in the Packaging & Printing Unit at Tiruvottiyur and 9.1% in ITC Grand Central.
| ITC’s Paperboards and Specialty Papers Division, has been rated as the most energy efficient Indian Paper & Paperboards manufacturer according to the Centre for Science & Environment Study, 2010. |
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ITC’s focus on carbon dioxide emission reduction is also reflected in its commitment to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Towards this, the Company has progressively made investments in renewable sources of energy. In addition to the newly commissioned 21MW wind power plant in Karnataka and a 2.5MW wind power plant in Rajasthan, ITC has also achieved better utilisation of biofuels in the biomass based boiler in Bhadrachalam. 35.3% of the total energy consumed this year was from renewable sources and carbon neutral fuels.
ITC has 8 Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects registered with UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) under the Kyoto Protocol. Two projects have also qualified for receiving carbon credits in the voluntary carbon markets. These projects besides reducing greenhouse gas emissions have also helped ITC offset some of the investments made towards reducing specific energy consumption and enhancement of the renewable energy portfolio through the sale of carbon credits. ITC’s large-scale social forestry project, the first of its kind in India, with retrospective carbon credits, is in advanced stages of verification. This project will provide additional returns to the farmers in the coming years. Several other projects are in the process of being registered. |
