In a groundbreaking statement on decarbonisation issued today by India’s Ministry of Coal, in a bid to reduce carbon footprint, state owned Coal India Ltd (CIL), one of the largest mining groups in the world, has put a “special thrust on energy efficiency measures” and is forging ahead with a series of steps to offset carbon emissions in mining across all its coal producing companies. Apart from taking immediate action for more efficient use of energy, CIL has also drawn up an ambitious 5-year plan of carbon offset in different fields of its operation.
The statement said that coal companies have several areas for implementing energy efficiency measures “such as colonies, buildings, offices, industrial establishments, etc apart from efficient power supply management. However, the major reduction in carbon emission comes from various mining activities like heavy earth moving machines (HEMM), transport, ventilation, pumping etc. With the help of its subsidiaries, CIL had been taking various energy conservation and efficiency measures over the years and is now moving ahead with emphasis on activities responsible for more environment pollution.”
CIL said the major thrust is on replacing the huge fleet of mining equipment running either by CIL departmentally or contractually on diesel consumption with LNG. “This will be a major breakthrough in not only cutting down cost, but will also reduce carbon emission.” CIL has taken initiatives to go for a pilot project in collaboration with state gas utiltity GAIL at some mine sites of CIL before starting bulk use of LNG. CIL’s diesel mining fleets number tens of thousands of trucks, shovels and other machines.
GAIL will establish an LNG storage & dispensing system, arrange transport of LNG from terminals to mine sites & will arrange kits and retrofitting. Indian mining truck major BEML will provide technical assistance while the performance of dumpers and engines will be monitored and studied during the entire pilot period in collaboration with global engine major Cummins. One of the pilot projects at Bharatpur opencast mine of Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd in Odisha will be completed by the end of this year. A comprehensive model is being devised to convert the maximum number of heavy vehicles to LNG in the coming years.
Another important addition will be the introduction of around 1,500 e-vehicles in all mining areas of CIL over a period of the next five years. Around 200 e-vehicles alone will be put in operation by the end of this year. The type of vehicles and the form of electrification has not yet been specified.
Pumping of water in both opencast & underground mines is done on a large scale through orthodox equipment which results in more energy consumption. CIL will be introducing around 1,700 energy efficient motors for pumps in all its mining operations.
And in its various establishments, CIL will be replacing around 5,000 conventional ACs and other appliances with energy efficient star-rated appliances. Similarly, around 250,000 LED lights will be introduced in place of conventional lights to save energy. More than 100,000 energy efficient super fans will be used in offices by replacing old ones. In worker towns at mines, around 2,200 street lights will be put on auto timers to save energy.
On implementation of aforementioned energy efficiency measures, CIL has envisaged to create a carbon offset of around 250,000 t in the next five years. With active implementation on all the above fronts, CIL says it is committed to achieve a carbon offset of more than 60,000 t by end of this year which will be a major breakthrough.
