A BEE report for a shared rice husk brass facility claims 439 tonnes of CO2 a year: does it hold?
Not from coke alone. Burning the 60 tonnes of coke the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) report says a shared 500 kg rice husk facility saves could give at most 220 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), and the report claims 439. It does not show how it got there.
What the report says
- One rice husk gasifier with 500 kg melting and 500 kg reheating furnaces, as a common facility for 10 to 12 brass units, with production of 72,000 kg a year.
- Hard coke saved 60,048 kg at Rs 8.50 a kg; charcoal saved 95,760 kg at Rs 22.50. Rice husk used 22,540 + 13,146 = 35,686 kg at Rs 1.50. Blower power 14,515 kilowatt hours (kWh), Rs 33,385.
- Net saving Rs 25,78,095 a year on Rs 38.40 lakh, payback 1.49 years. Carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction stated: 439 tonnes a year.
Why 439 tonnes cannot be coke alone
The ceiling comes first: burning 60,048 kg of pure carbon gives 60.048 x 44 / 12 = 220 tonnes of CO2, and no coke can pass it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) default for coke gives about 181 tonnes, but that uses 28.2 gigajoules a tonne. The report's own coke is 4,500 kilocalories (kcal) a kg, about 18.8 gigajoules, which gives about 121 tonnes.
The report does not show how 439 was reached, so it may include charcoal or be a slip. Ask for the working before you quote it.
What a lender or buyer can use
Count fossil CO2 from the coke you stop buying, at the IPCC factor for your own coke's heat value, and show any charcoal CO2 separately as biogenic. Base both on invoices: fuel bought plus opening stock minus closing stock.
Three carbon dioxide numbers for 60,048 kg of coke (estimate)
- Ceiling at 100% carbon: 60.048 x 44 / 12 = 220.2 tonnes
- IPCC default at 28.2 gigajoules a tonne: 60.048 x 28.2 x 107 / 1,000 = 181.2 tonnes
- At the report's 4,500 kcal a kg (18.8 gigajoules a tonne): 60.048 x 18.84 x 107 / 1,000 = 121.0 tonnes
- Report: 439 tonnes, 7.3 kg for every kg of coke
Coke at the IPCC 2006 default factor for coke oven coke, an estimate. Other figures from the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) report.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads fuel invoices and electricity bills into monthly records with carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), so fuel bought before and after the facility is on record with its bills. The green loan check shows what a lender asks for.
- Green loan readiness check
- Bhubaneswar brass cluster: melting furnace efficiency
- Coke pit furnace: efficient brass melting
- Brass melting: coke to wood gasifier
Sources: BEE, Detailed project report: common facility rice husk gasification for melting and reheating (500 kg), Bhubaneswar brass cluster (SAMEEEKSHA), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy, Tables 1.2 and 2.3
Last reviewed 2026-11-04. Report figures are from a Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) programme project report; costs and paybacks are at the report year's prices. Check today's prices and a current quote before you rely on the payback.