LANXESS has implemented the concept of conserving natural resources and lowering energy costs by switching from oil to biomass at its LANXESS India Private Limited (LIPL) subsidiary in Thane, India – which received special recognition for this accomplishment.

LANXESS India began retooling its Thane facility some time ago, and today the company uses briquettes from climate-neutral biomass rather than fossil fuels to generate high-pressure steam. The briquettes are made using agricultural waste materials such as peanut shells, grain husks, and bamboo dust. As a renewable energy source, biomass offers an advantage over fossil fuels like oil and coal in that its CO2 cycle remains largely closed. In other words, only that amount of carbon dioxide is released during combustion that the plants absorbed while growing.

The biomass power plant in Thane pays off in two ways: it has led to a reduction of between 30 and 40 percent in the energy cost associated with producing steam, and in the period from November 2004 to December 2006 it saved roughly 11,830 tons of CO2 equivalent. The project has been certified as the first in the world on such a scale by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.