# Does swapping cone polishers for a whitener cut a rice mill's carbon?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/rice-mill-whitener-vs-cone-polisher-carbon

No. The BEE and SAMEEEKSHA report for the Ganjam rice mill cluster lists the CO2 reduction as nil, because a whitener and a cone polisher use about the same power. The case rests on better rice quality and a higher market price, not energy.

## What the report says

- Cluster: about 250 rice mills around Berhampur, Hinjilicut, Bhanjanagar and Ganjam.
- Typical mill: 1 tonne an hour, 28 MWh a year, 14 kWh per tonne.
- Electricity use of the old cone polisher and the new whitener is about the same, so no saving.
- Environmental section: no impact on GHG emissions.

## Why do it anyway

Cone polishers are old, give low polish and lower yield, and sell at a lower price. The report found rice from whiteners fetched about Rs 10 to Rs 15 more per quintal. For 14,000 quintals a year that is Rs 1.4 to Rs 2.1 lakh.

## What to avoid

Do not describe this upgrade as a carbon saving in a loan or buyer file. List it as a quality and price upgrade, and keep the energy savings claims for projects that cut kWh, such as drives and motors.

## Downtime

About one week for dismantling and fitting, in the report's assumption.

## Worked CO2 of the mill itself, from the report's numbers

- Electricity: 28 MWh a year, or 14 kWh per tonne.
- At 0.675 kg CO2 per kWh (FY 2025-26): 28,000 x 0.675 = 18,900 kg, or 18.9 t a year.
- Per tonne of production: 14 x 0.675 = 9.45 kg CO2.
- After the swap the report expects about the same figures.

The Rs per quintal gap is the report's 2010 estimate.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads the mill's electricity bills into kWh and CO2 per month, so energy claims in a loan or buyer file match what the bills show.

- [Berhampur rice mills electricity per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/berhampur-raw-rice-mills-electricity-per-tonne)
- [Green loan check](https://senseible.earth/green-loan-check)
- [Carbon calculators](https://senseible.earth/calculators)

Sources: [SAMEEEKSHA and BEE, DPR: replacement of cone polishers with whitener, 1 TPH, Ganjam rice mill cluster](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/dpr/Ganjam_rice_mill_cluster/04_Replacement_of_cones_polishers_with_Whitener_10_ton_Ganjam_Rice_mill.pdf)

Last reviewed 2026-11-03.