How much wood and diesel do Allahabad (Prayagraj) bakeries burn a year?

About 18,750 t of wood and 462 kL of diesel a year, by TERI's count for Allahabad's 130 or so bakeries in 2014-15, plus 1.335 million kWh. Wood is 5,625 of the cluster's 6,179 toe. Its CO2 is biogenic, so diesel and power make the fossil figure, about 2,120 t (estimate).

Who bakes what

• About 130 bakeries with about 250 ovens: 78 make biscuits and pastry, 32 rusk and cake, 20 paav.
• About 90 have a turnover under Rs 1 lakh a month.
• More than 80% bake in wood fired ovens; rotary ovens burn diesel.
• Energy is about 25% of production cost, raw materials about 45%.

A day's fuel in three oven types

• Wood fired oven: 250 kg of wood and 4 kWh; 22.6 toe a year.
• Rotary oven: 50 litres of diesel in the oven, 5 litres in the generator, 32 kWh; 16.5 toe a year.
• High end rotary oven: 15 litres in the oven, 18 in the generator, 530 kWh; 23.1 toe a year.
• Bread and buns bake near 250 C, cakes and pastry at 180 C, biscuits at 150 C.

The wood oven looks clean on paper

Because wood CO2 is biogenic, a wood oven's fossil figure is little more than its 4 kWh. Switching to a rotary oven, about Rs 4 lakh with about 150% more output, raises fossil CO2 per day while cutting fuel per kg baked. Show a buyer both numbers: fossil CO2, and wood burnt with its biogenic CO2. Methane and nitrous oxide from burning wood still count in Scope 1.

Savings TERI listed

• Biomass gasifier on wood ovens: up to 50% less wood.
• Lighter racks with steel mesh trays: about 20% less dead weight, 5 to 10% less fuel.
• Recuperative burners on diesel ovens, and hot face insulation keeping the outer surface within about 20 C of the room.
• Thyristor control on electric ovens: 7 to 15%.
• Direct coupled mixers, IE3 motors for 3 to 7%, and cogged V-belts.

One day per oven, and the cluster (estimate)

• Wood oven: 4 kWh x 0.675 = 2.7 kg fossil CO2; 250 kg wood at 0.3 toe per tonne x 41.868 GJ x 112 kg = about 352 kg biogenic
• Rotary oven: 55 L diesel x 2.645 = 145 kg, plus 32 kWh x 0.675 = 22 kg: about 167 kg fossil
• High end rotary: 33 L x 2.645 = 87 kg, plus 530 kWh x 0.675 = 358 kg: about 445 kg fossil
• Cluster: diesel 462 kL x 2.645 = 1,222 t, power 1.335 million kWh x 0.675 = 901 t: about 2,120 t fossil
• Cluster wood: 5,625 toe x 41.868 GJ x 112 kg = about 26,380 t biogenic

Fuel figures from TERI's Allahabad bakery profile (2014-15). Wood CO2 uses the IPCC 2006 default for wood; diesel 2.645 kg per litre; grid factor from CEA for FY 2025-26.

What Senseible does here

Senseible reads diesel slips and power bills into monthly CO2 at published factors, which is your bakery's fossil figure, each line traced to its bill for a hotel or retail buyer.

• Your carbon number for buyers and banks
• Bakery oven CO2 per kg of bread
• Biomass gasifier vs LPG furnace
• Biomass boilers still have Scope 1

Sources: TERI, Cluster profile: Allahabad bakeries (SAMEEEKSHA, 2014-15 data), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy, CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0

Last reviewed 2026-10-31.