Climate Change & the World

Among the most critical issues that loom large before the human race today, albeit arguably, are global warming, increasing pollution levels, and climate change. And though most of developed world has acknowledged the problem, the rapid industrialization, overwhelming fuel consumption levels and high dependence on advanced technology has brought them to a point of no return.  

Yet, as part of their commitment to the Kyoto Protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), these countries are doing what they can. As per the CDM, their broad objectives are to assist developing countries in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - which is to prevent dangerous climate change; and to assist industrialized countries in achieving compliance with their quantified emission limitation and reduction commitments.

Environment-Friendly Business @ Saint-Gobain Glass India

Saint-Gobain Glass India (SGG I) Ltd is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain in France, the world’s largest manufacturer and marketer of various types of flat glass. The India chapter was established and has been fully operational since 1999. The SGG I World Class Manufacturing facility at Sriperumbudur, a 2000-year old temple town, 40 km from Chennai in Tamil Nadu has made an impact merely by its presence, sprawled over 175 acres of land. This plant manufactures various types of flat glass through the float glass manufacturing process. The facility houses two Float Lines, two Automotive Processing lines, a 5 million sq metre state-of-the-art Mirror Processing Line, a state-of-the-art Magnetron Coater facility and a mega Roof Water Harvesting Reservoir with a capacity of 58 million litres.

While it follows that a plant of this scale and nature will use enormous amounts of raw material, natural resources and furnace oil that will pollute the environment and deplete reserves, SGG I has always kept a close eye on these issues and championed the cause of not just socially responsible but also environment-friendly business practices. This claim was reinforced early this year upon the receipt of 2 awards from the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) by SGG I. These were the

• National  Award  for Water Management as an Excellent Water-Efficient Unit
• National Award  for Innovative Case Study  for  Water Management

Apart from this, SGG I offers a portfolio of glass products that caters to the needs of green architecture and sustainable development. This unique portfolio includes solar control glass (an umbrella that encompasses reflective glass, and advanced high performance glass), low-e glass, self-cleaning glass and high-quality eco-friendly mirrors. Even clear float glass is free from elements that could in any way be detrimental to the environment or to human health. All these products are free from harmful substances like lead, copper and arsenic, and focus on imparting energy-efficiency.

To add to the feather in SGG I’s  green environmental initiative, the heat Energy from Glass Furnace Flue gas is utilised to generate Electricity .A  waste heat recovery Boiler is installed in the Flue gas stream to convert waste heat energy into supersaturated steam. The steam is used in Turbine to generate  useful Electrical Energy.

Aerial View of Waste Heat Recovery Boiler

Turbine House

With great pride and joy, SGG I now officially announces that the WHRB-TG project is registered as CDM Project in UNFCCC on 21/06/2010.

Project & Registration Details

1. The thermal energy from all waste gas coming out of the furnace of the second float line is utilized to generate steam. The steam generated is fed to a turbine, which in turn is coupled with an alternator, the rated capacity of which is 1.23 MW.
2. The electricity generated is supplied for captive requirements, which displaces an equivalent amount of electricity from grid import, thereby helping in reduction of a considerable amount of Green House Gas (GHG) emission from the grid connected fossil fuel based power plants.
3. The CDM allows emission-reduction projects in developing countries to earn Certified Emission Reduction (CER) credits, each equivalent to one ton of carbon dioxide. These CERs can be traded and sold, and used by industrialized countries to a meet a part of their emission reduction targets under the Kyoto Protocol.
4. The CDM stimulates sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in meeting their emission reduction limitation targets.
5. This project qualified for assistance through a rigorous public registration and issuance process designed to ensure real, measurable and verifiable emission reductions that are additional to what would have occurred without the project. The mechanism is overseen by the CDM Executive Board, which is answerable to the countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.
6. There are currently six projects registered as CDM projects in UNFCCC across the globe, under the methodology AMS-III Q. The SGG I project is the first that attained registration without queries (straight shot registration) by the CDM Executive Board.
7. This is the second project which has been registered under AMS-III Q in India.
8. This is the first project in Indian Glass Industry and among the Saint Gobain Group of Companies.

1. The project approval is listed in the UNFCCC website ,where all relevant documents can be downloaded.

https://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/registered.html