Tea Board in bid to cut emission in Nilgiris region

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Coonoor, Sep 8: Efforts made by the Tea Board towards energy conservation in the ecologically- fragile Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu is slated to bring down carbon-di-oxide emission by 1.5 lakh tonne per annum ,RD Nazeem, executive director, Tea Board, told FE. The $2-million project is being implemented with the help of the United Nations Developement Programme (UNDP) over a four-year time period, he explained. Nazeem added that the project also has the potential to qualify for carbon credits. The cost will be jointly shared by the Tea Board and UNDP.

“Small tea factories in and around the Nilgiris consume 97,499 tonne of wood which is transported in 9,000 trucks annually. A reduction of 20% would save 18,000 tonne of wood and reduce transportation for the same,” Nazeem said. Building sheds to protect the fire-wood from rain and atmospheric moisture itself would save 20% of the energy. Tea Board studies pointed out that to make one kilogram of tea, it costed Rs 6.26 worth of energy. Of this thermal energy constituted 58% of energy costs, while electrical energy constituted 42 %.