GSH wins major environmental award for replacing coal with turmeric.
GSH Group India has won the Environment category at this year’s prestigious Energy Institute Awards for its work with Indian FMCG firm Kaleesuwari switching from coal to biomass products, including turmeric and sawdust, to produce steam for its refineries in India.
The announcement was made last week (22nd November) at a glittering awards ceremony at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane in front of the industry’s leading figures. The awards recognize schemes and projects that enhance the environment or offset carbon emissions including a demonstrable commitment to managing the risks of energy to the environment and reducing the carbon footprint of the industry. GSH faced fierce competition in this category – including a project to reduce air pollution in Beijing and another in an Iranian gas refinery.
GSH has worked with Kaleesuwari since 2015 managing its refineries in India to produce steam used in the extraction of oils from nuts, seeds, and other raw materials for sale into the food, personal, and household markets in the country. In November 2017 they started to mix biomass – including sawdust, wood charcoal powder, and turmeric – with coal as a fuel for the fluidized-bed combustion boilers in two power refineries in Palani and Chennai. Over the course of the following six months, this increased to 60% and 20% biomass respectively, and GSH achieved a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions together with a 15% reduction in the cost of steam. Biomass ash content is low compared to coal, making for easy and more environmentally-friendly disposal. And the products, which are sustainably sourced from close to the refineries, are safer to store.
The results have been so positive that GSH is now in the process of switching over completely to biomass and increasing the range of biomass products it uses including chili powder.
“Innovation is at the heart of the GSH approach, and this project epitomizes the way we do business,” said Mark Thomas, CEO of GSH Group. “I am thrilled that our engineers’ hard work and dedication to our clients and the environment has been recognized by the Energy Institute.”
“GSH Group should be proud of the inroads they’ve achieved in reducing the environmental impact of Kaleesuwari’s steam production process and showing other businesses in India that shifting from coal to alternative fuels can be a viable option,” said Energy Institute president Malcolm Brinded. “Beating climate change – while extending the tremendous benefits of energy to all populations ¬– calls for innovation and a lot of hard work, by many smart people, all around the world.”
The EI Awards, now in their 19th year, is run by the Energy Institute to recognize those individuals and businesses shaping the world’s energy future. The awards celebrate the achievements of the energy industry across the globe, giving recognition to individuals and organizations who take an innovative and responsible approach to solving the industry’s challenges of providing society with clean, sustainable, low cost, and dependable energy.
About GSH Group:
GSH Group is a global integrated facilities management company headquartered in Parsippany, NJ. GSH was founded in the UK in 1895 and expanded to the US in 1996 and India in 2012. GSH has diverse capabilities and experience to deliver integrated facilities management solutions to large, multi-faceted, and prestigious sites across the globe with the added support, financial stability, and comfort of worldwide technical expertise.