Governments around the world have pledged to limit rising temperatures to 1.5°C by 2050. The UN body has warned that exceeding 1.5°C warming will push us into “a highly uncertain world”. To keep us below 1.5°C, carbon emissions are needed to be cut off by 45% by 2030, and reach Net Zero by 2050. In line with UN targets, we focus on distributed & rural projects in its endeavor to provide clean power for all the state of societies. We have been providing sustainable form of energy solutions since a decade.
Some of the COP26 outcomes for India are like India will achieve New Zero status by 2070; India’s non-fossil energy capacity will be 500 GW by 2030; India will reduce its total carbon emissions by 1 billion tons; the entire railway system of India will achieve Net Zero status by 2030.
We are extremely delighted to announce that Navitas Solar is a CARBON NEUTRAL ORGANIZATION for CY 2021. We are also humbled to announce that Navitas Solar has achieved a ‘Silver’ level from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on climate reporting under the ‘Climate Neutral Now’ initiative. Navitas Solar is immensely proud to become one of the participant in the Climate Neutral Now initiative by UNFCCC. By becoming a Carbon Neutral Company, Navitas Solar is supporting COP26 outcomes for India. To become more responsible towards environment and sustainability, Navitas Solar pledges to become fully carbon neutral by 2023 and Net Zero by 2030.
We have bifurcated our emissions into 3 categories viz. Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 as per GHG protocol. Scope 1 refers to the direct emissions within the Organizational boundary. Operational boundary is set as the premises of Navitas Solar, Surat. Scope 2 refers to the indirect emissions of Organizational boundary like purchased electricity. Electricity generated in thermal power plant is generated at other premises than operational boundary but Navitas Solar consumes the purchased electricity, therefore it is calculated as indirect emission of the company. The electricity used in the company premises for production and office usage is covered in scope 2. Scope 3 refers to other emissions, which are indirectly attributed to the company like supply chain emissions, employee commute etc. The boundary has been defined in line with ISO 14064 guidelines considering scope 1, scope 2 and scope 3.
| Sr. No. | GHG Emissions from Sources | tCo2eq |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Direct GHG Emissions(Scope 1) | 107.62 |
| 2 | Indirect GHG Emissions(Scope 2) | 297.76 |
| 3 | Other indirect Emissions(Scope 3) | – |
| Total* tCO2eq | 405.38 | |
All the emissions incurred in the company premises related to Scope 1, 2 and 3 are monitored and emissions are calculated respectively for the calendar year 2021. Navitas Solar has appointed a third party consultant as a “Carbon Neutrality Partner” for the emissions as well as for offset of emissions.
Scope 1 emissions includes Emissions due to company owned vehicles, Emissions related to Diesel consumption by DG sets, fire pump and forklift, Emissions due to Refrigerant Gas usage and Emissions due to Fire extinguisher usage. Scope 2 emissions includes emission due to Consumption of Purchased Electricity. Right now, we have not incorporated Scope 3 emissions into the total emissions and we wish to offset Scope 3 afterwards.
To go green in true sense, we have installed rooftop solar of 273 kW as per space availability. We have increased our rooftop capacity from 203 kW to 273 kW in the year 2021. Therefore, firstly we have offset our electricity consumption units with the units generated from 273 KW rooftop solar plant. Then, we have 9 RESCO projects(8 schools and 1 Rohini Jail) at different sites in Delhi, we have secondly offset our emission of purchased electricity with RESCO projects generation and then after calculated the net difference units as our emission in scope 2. In this way, we have calculated emissions for scope 1 and 2, which comes as 406 tons of CO2 equivalent.
Therefore, to become a Carbon Neutral company, 406 CERs (Certified Emission Reductions) needs to be purchased as an offset. A carbon offset is a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases made in order to compensate to offset an emission made elsewhere. Another way to reduce emissions and to pursue carbon neutrality is to offset emissions made in one sector by reducing them somewhere else. This can be done through investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency or other clean, low-carbon technologies. One carbon offset represents the reduction of one ton of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse gases. We have offset our emissions by purchasing credits of Babanpur, Killa and Sahoke Mini Hydroelectric Projects, India CDM project. These projects are generating electricity successfully by converting the potential of kinetic energy of the canal water and the renewable electricity produced is fed into the Punjab State Electricity Board Grid thereby replacing the equivalent amount of electricity produced from thermal stations and thus reducing greenhouse gas emission.
Commenting on the achievement, Vineet Mittal, Co-Founder and Director of Navitas Solar, said, “We are delighted to become a CARBON NEUTRAL ORGANIZATION. We achieved the Silver level for 2021 from the UNFCCC. We at Navitas Solar have always worked to build a sustainable organization and will continue to contribute to the global clean energy movement via practical solutions. In our efforts to deliver sustainable energy to society, we also prioritize distributed and rural initiatives. As part of this mission, we regularly engage in skill development and awareness campaigns in local communities. We wish to deep dive into carbon market and ESG and explore more areas in which we can work in future”
Roadmap to become Carbon Neutral
In addition, we are conducting awareness campaigns for local community skill development through JYOTI initiative and we have sensitized thousands of students through this initiative until now. Navitas Solar is a part of a project named as Pulwama Vann for creating Dense Miyawaki Forest of 40,000 trees. We are happy to report that the Project is a resounding success so far. Navitas Solar has planted 5000 trees till now.
Solar Industry is already into sustainable business and by taking these steps the industry can achieve more milestones towards carbon neutrality and net zero and collectively we’ll be able to reduce carbon emissions of the industry and then country. Please have a look at our Carbon Neutrality Report at www.navitassolar.com.
