KOLKATA, February 19, 2009: Emami Biotech Limited has signed up Calcutta Tramways Company (CTC) as their first prestigious client for the supply of 250 Kilo Litre of bio diesel per month to CTC. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Emami and CTC,at Emami Towers.The MoU signing ceremony was attended by Mr Aditya V Agarwal and Mr. Manish Goenka, Director, Emami Group Of Companies, Mr Rajdeo Gowala, Chairman, CTC, Mr P K Chattopadhyay, Managing Director, CTC, Mr. S K Mondal, Director, Emami Biotech Limited and other dignitaries. CTC has already started procuring bio-diesel from Emami Biotech from February 1, 2009.
“It is indeed a red-letter day for Emami Biotech as, finally, we feel that our dreams of meeting the energy and environment needs of India and West Bengal in particular are yielding positive results. The agreement with CTC marks the formalisation of the supply of bio-diesel by Emami Biotech to the state government undertaking. It also reflects the government’s willingness to try and provide a pollution free environment to its citizens.” said Mr. Aditya V Agarwal, Director Emami Group Of Companies.
Buoyed by the certification from Singapore based SGS Group for acknowledging their bio-diesel sample as among the best in the world Emami Biotech has aggressive plans to promote this eco friendly fuel.
“We have the capacity to produce 300 tonnes of bio diesel per day at our Haldia plant. We intend to build a green economy, meet the country’s energy needs by providing an alternative fuel and at the same time protect the earth’s environment and its citizens. We are hoping that the Union Government will come up with some firm policies in terms of pricing and distribution post which can market our product to the best of our abilities. ”, said Mr. Manish Goenka, Director, Emami Group Of Companies.
The Emami Group is spearheading the process of developing Haldia in West Bengal as India’s bio-diesel hub through Emami Biotech. Emami Biotech has come up with a state-of-the-art bio-diesel production facility at Haldia, set up at a cost of Rs 150 crore. The bulk of the production equipment has been supplied by Desmat Belstra, an Italian Belgian joint venture company. An additional amount of Rs 100 crore has been invested at the same facility for producing edible oil. The production residue of edible oil will be used for preparing bio-diesel.
However, Mr Agarwal stressed the fact that Emami Biotech is presently selling bio-diesel at a lower price compared to normal diesel. This is contrary to international practice where consumers buy bio-diesel at a premium to use it in their vehicles. He said unless the government modifies its price mechanism on selling bio-diesel, its production will become unviable. Emami Biotech has also appealed to state run organisations like WBSTC, KMC, and Kolkata Police among others to procure bio-diesel from the company for running their respective fleet.
“Since CTC has started purchasing bio-diesel from us after a trial run, we feel that the other government organisations should now feel confident in using our product and play a pro-active role to ensure a pollution free environment. Besides, we also urge the bus and taxi associations to take similar initiative. Moreover, since pollution is the main issue for scrapping the 15 year old vehicles, use of bio-diesel will undoubtedly, minimise air pollution level”, said Mr Goenka.
The most significant aspect of Emami’s bio-diesel sample is its hugely low sulphur content, far out-performing the industry standards. Against the BIS Limit of 50mg/kg and the EN (European Union standard) Limit of 10mg/kg, Emami’s product has recorded a sulphur count of 0.83mg/kg. Besides the sulphur index, Emami’s product has also out-performed the industry benchmarks in ash content, moisture content, total contaminations and carbon residue indicators.
About bio diesel
Bio diesel is a diesel-equivalent, processed fuel derived from biological sources (such as vegetable oils), which can be used in unmodified diesel-engined vehicles. Diesel engines require no modification to have a 20% bio-diesel blend with normal diesel just like water blends with water. Air pollutants primarily include nitrogen oxides, particles, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, having a damaging impact on human health, vegetation and even on animals. Vehicles are the worst polluters, especially the old ones.
They tend to emit more pollution during the first few miles of the journey when the engine warms up. Use of bio-diesel can off-set these problems, bringing a significant change in the SPM (suspended particulate matter) and RPM (respirable particulate matter) or sulphur dioxide in the air and make it fresh. The use of bio-diesel also helps lower health hazards like asthma, bronchial diseases, eye irritation, skin diseases and even cancer.
The low emissions of bio-diesel make it an ideal fuel for heavily polluted cities. Moreover, as an alternative fuel, it also fulfils the environmental and energy security needs. A significant amount of air and environmental pollution can be reduced by using 100% bio-diesel in gen-sets, which are a major air polluter. Besides, use of bio-diesel in construction equipment, earth-moving equipment, power-equipment and heavy engineering equipment will minimise the air pollution levels to a significant extent.
Emami’s bio-diesel plant will also help in boosting the agricultural economy since the company plans to produce the product from jatropha cultivation as well as out of edible oil manufacturing residues that includes soya and palm oil.
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