Ambuja Cement introduces green fuel on captive ships

MUMBAI : Switching to bio-diesel will reduce CO2 emissions from shipping lines by 25 per cent, which in turn will strengthen India’s ability to deliver on its commitment made under the Paris Accord.

Ambuja Cement said it has successfully completed sea trials of using soya extract-based biofuel in two of its cement carriers — Ambuja Mukund and Ambuja Vaibhav.

This makes Ambuja Cement not just the first Indian company to move towards the decarbonisation of the country’s coastal shipping lines but also advancing its focus on two of its strategic priorities: innovation and sustainability.

The sea trials were conducted with the approval of Directorate General of Shipping and Indian Register of Shipping. DGS has approved biofuel trials on the remaining fleet of Ambuja Cements that are mostly deployed on Indian coastal routes.

Switching to bio-diesel will reduce CO2 emissions from shipping lines by 25 per cent, which in turn will strengthen India’s ability to deliver on its commitment made under the Paris Accord.

With the successful trials, Ambuja Cements has also helped India deliver on its promise to decarbonise the global shipping industry, a commitment made under the International Maritime Organisation’s Norway Green Voyage 2050 Project.

India is among a small group of 11 nations that are part of this environmentally significant global project.

“Our efforts in introducing green fuel in our ships will significantly contribute towards the reduction of GHG emissions that will help achieve our parent LafargeHolcim’s sustainability vision of net zero pledge 2030,” said Mr. Neeraj Akhoury, CEO India for Lafarge Holcim and Managing Director & CEO of Ambuja Cements Ltd.

Source : The Hindu