smelogo

 

GLOBAL WARMING: A SERIOUS THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT
With India in a major growth and development phase, it is imperative that companies engaged in power production, cement generation and similar C02-generating activities take steps to curb GHG emissions. Industry sources inform that "Coal-based or fossil-fuel based plants are the major contributors to GHG emissions." Typically, the perception is that environment friendly technologies need sops like government subsidies to enable them to become viable. However, Transparent is a company that would like to set this straight. Explains BG Kulkarni, Director (Sales and Marketing), Transparent Energy Systems Pvt. Ltd.: "Contrary to popular belief, environmentally clean solutions are actually more cost-effective than traditional methods of generating power. The entire Transparent team believes that true innovation has to reduce costs, convert wide range of opportunities into techno-economically feasible solutions, and increase the customer confidence. With robust innovative technology, it is possible to increase the overall efficiency of the project, at the same time reduce the CO2 emission." Kulkarni further adds that "the innovation must make business sense and such that it can be immediately exploited commercially." Mr. Kulkarni illustrates this point with the help of some statistics (see adjoining figure): In the last 3 years, the sales and services related to sustainable eco-friendly technologies accounted for nearly 70% of the Transparent's revenue. This translates into exactly what Mr. Kulkarni is pointing to, namely, that it is possible to build a profitable enterprise by exploiting the capabilities of such technologies. This is also reflected in the potential carbon credit earnings for the various customers of Transparent: in the past 4 years, its customers have received close to Rs. 15.5 crores per year of potential carbon credits. Mr. B.G. Kulkarni, says, "There was a time when Waste-heat recovery (WHR) remained unexploited due to constraints like space availability, lack of imagination, lack of enterprising ideas etc. Over the years, Transparent has changed that perception using its innovative abilities and customized solutions. We have surmounted the technological challenges and now have made it a commercially viable proposition. Therefore, such technology makes immense business sense, at the same time, contributes to reduction of global warming." It is this spirit of Transparent that has enabled the company to secure a large number of patents, with many more pending, that have wide ranging applications. One of the major incentives for turning to such technologies is the Carbon Credits benefits. A project complying with the norms set forth in the Kyoto protocol gets Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) benefits. The carbon credit has been introduced post Kyoto conference to incentivize the companies reducing the emission of CO2 and is now a full-fledged global trade. One credit is equal to one tone of CO2 emission reduced and the companies can actually earn some revenue out of the reduction of CO2. Transparent has made a concerted effort towards using technologies that help reduce global warming. For instance, last year it introduced a range of Air Cooled Steam Condensers ideally suitable for use in power plants which face acute water shortage. These systems are used for condensing, exhaust steam from turbine and other processes in large power plants as well as in small condenser systems for waste incineration installations and compressor drives in every climatic zone of the world. This helps save water, without the hassle of water treatment. Thus, it enabled harnessing many opportunities that can convert waste heat into power which otherwise would have remained on paper.