Jamshedpur's chemical units get 76% of their energy from biomass: how is that reported?
About 14 kg of fossil CO2 per tonne of product, once the biomass is set aside on its own biogenic line. The cluster emits about 1,400 t fossil CO2 a year for 99,950 t, and grid power carries over 60% of it, though biomass is three quarters of the energy.
The cluster in 2019-20
- 80 MSMEs, about 72 working. A fifth make under 200 t a year, two fifths 200 to 1,000 t, two fifths more.
- Sulphuric acid, sodium hypochlorite, hydrochloric acid, bleaching powder and alum; cement paints, thinners and varnishes.
- Tata Steel is a major buyer of the inorganic chemicals.
- Most units run on electricity alone; a few raise steam for heating in boilers of 1 to 5 t an hour.
The fuel behind the 76%
- Biomass: 2,160 t a year, 805 toe, at 3,200 to 3,700 kcal per kg.
- Coal: 259 t, 117 toe. Oil (LDO, furnace oil, diesel): 28 kL, 24 toe.
- Electricity: 1.3 million kWh, 110 toe, from Tata Steel Utilities or JBVNL.
How to report it
- Take biomass tonnes from purchase bills, by type: wood, briquettes or husk.
- Work out its CO2 with an IPCC factor and show it as biogenic, beside the scopes, not in them.
- Keep the methane and nitrous oxide from burning it in Scope 1; they are small but real.
- Coal, oil and diesel go fully in Scope 1; electricity in Scope 2 at 0.675 kg per kWh.
- Divide fossil CO2 by tonnes dispatched, per product where meters allow.
Where savings sit
Condensate recovery, air to fuel ratio and insulation on boilers; screw compressors in place of reciprocating ones; IE3 motors and VFDs on centrifuges and ball mills. Jamshedpur is on BEE's ADEETIE list for chemicals, so a loan for listed upgrades can carry interest subvention.
The cluster's carbon, two lines (estimate)
- Electricity: 1.3 million kWh x 0.675 = 878 t CO2
- Coal: 259 t x 1.76 = 456 t; oil: 28 kL x 2.645 = 74 t
- Fossil total: 1,408 t / 99,950 t = 14 kg CO2 per tonne
- Biogenic: 2,160 t biomass x about 1.75 = about 3,780 t CO2, reported separately
Fuel and output from the 2019-20 cluster profile. Oil at the diesel factor (furnace oil is higher); biomass at the IPCC default for wood at the profile's heat value.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads your electricity bills and coal and oil invoices into dated records with their CO2, the fossil part of your figure; the biomass tonnes go beside it on the biogenic line.
Sources: TERI for BEE, Cluster profile report: Jamshedpur chemical cluster, SAMEEEKSHA, Jamshedpur chemical cluster summary, GHG Protocol Corporate Standard (biogenic CO2 reported separately), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel emission factors), CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector (grid factor 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh, FY 2025-26)
Last reviewed 2026-10-31.