Vedanta Aluminium, leading the way in climate-conscious manufacturing

Climate change is real, and it is here. The world is increasingly witnessing extreme weather events that are disrupting the way humans live. Encouragingly, governments, organizations and individuals around the world are waking up to the urgency, taking crucial steps to mitigate and offset their impact on the environment. Leading this endeavor are global manufacturing industries such as Vedanta Aluminium, the largest producer of aluminium in India and a global leader of aluminium industries. Through their massive, multi-location operations, the world’s top aluminium producers such as Vedanta Aluminium represent an opportunity to make the biggest contribution to combating climate change.

The increasing prevalence of climate-conscious manufacturing is there for all to see. This is especially true for a energy-intensive industry like aluminium. Previously a significant source of carbon emissions due to an excessive reliance on non-renewable energy sources, the aluminium industry is now rapidly pivoting to cleaner technologies and energy efficient, sustainable methods of manufacturing. Pressing need for climate action and the urgency to make businesses climate resilient have made global leaders in aluminium like Vedanta Aluminium to redouble their efforts on decarbonizing operations, leading the way in sustainable development for Indian aluminium industry.

Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium and value-added products, has been taking mega initiatives to conserve the environment by reducing emissions, conserving water, preserving biodiversity, and embracing renewable energy. It has consistently delivered on critical ESG targets through a keen focus on manufacturing excellence, backed by the deployment of top-of-the-line technologies. For instance, its largest aluminium smelter has substantially reduced its GHG or greenhouse gas emissions intensity (carbon footprint) by around 12% in FY22 over the previous fiscal, while increasing production volume by 20%. Historically, Vedanta Aluminium has reduced its GHG emissions intensity by 21% in the 2012-21 period, while almost tripling its production in the same period.

Vedanta Aluminium has deployed a multi-pronged approach for combating climate change. This includes operating plants at high levels of operational efficiencies, increasing quantum of renewables in energy mix, and transitioning to cleaner fuels from fossil fuels. Testimony to this, Vedanta Aluminium is the first from India to launch low carbon ‘green’ aluminium, branded Restora, whose carbon footprint is nearly half of the global threshold for low carbon aluminium (4 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per tonne of aluminium produced). The company is India’s largest industrial consumer of renewable energy in FY22, procuring 3 Billion Units of renewable energy from India’s power exchanges.

Recently, Vedanta Aluminium also announced plans to source 380 MW of renewable energy on a long-term basis for its smelters. This step is going to help reduce the company’s GHG emissions by 15,00,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent every year, in line with its vision of achieving Net Carbon Zero by 2050. The largest producer of aluminium in India, Vedanta Aluminium has also commissioned India’s largest electric fleet of 27 forklifts, powered by lithium-ion batteries – a significant step in its journey of decarbonizing industrial vehicle fleet. This ‘green’ fleet will help in eliminating diesel consumption by more than 2.5 lakh litres annually, and GHG (greenhouse gas) emission savings of nearly 690 tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

Vedanta Aluminium is expanding its existing carbon sink year on year with plantation of indigenous trees. In FY22, the company planted 4 lakh saplings, adding to the biodiversity of the region. The company also created 9 rainwater harvesting infrastructures in last fiscal alone, having a combined water saving potential of 194 million litres

Energy conservation is another major focus area for Vedanta Aluminium. Operational efficiency and energy conservation resulted in energy savings of 23 lakh Giga Joules in FY22 for the company. Vedanta Aluminium’s BALCO plant continues to be the national benchmark in lowest Specific Power Consumption or SPC (a metric which establishes the energy efficiency of operations; lower SPC denotes higher energy efficiency). The company has also signed several MoUs with India’s leading technology institutes for extracting residual value out of industrial by-products like fly-ash and bauxite-residue, as well as establishing circular economy avenues for their utilization.

Being one of the global leaders of aluminium, Vedanta Aluminium firmly believes in its role as climate action steward. The past year has seen Vedanta Aluminium increase its focus significantly in the areas of carbon reduction, renewable energy, biodiversity, air, water, waste management and communities. The company’s 360-degree approach to sustainable development forms the basis for its mission to create sustainable long-term value for its customers, communities, the nation and the world at large.