In a bid to tap India’s potential in the renewable energy sector, Finnish cleantech companies are looking for stronger partnerships in the country, especially in the field of energy efficiency, water treatment and bio-energy.
The companies, part of Cleantech Finland — a network of top cleantech experts, have claimed that their technological innovations have made them global leaders in energy efficiency, water management and bio-energy.
Offering new renewable energy solutions for India, a Finnish company, Chempolis, has said that it has developed and patented bio-refining technologies to refine residual agricultural biomasses into high-quality products while minimising environmental impact and maximising social benefits.
“India is in demand of solutions for the energy crisis due to increasing population and dependence on imported foreign fossil energy sources….The business potential in India is remarkable. India has a wealth of biomasses that could be utilised more efficiently,” Pasi Rousu, President, Chempolis Asia and Pacific has told a group of Indian journalists here.
He said that the most potential biomass sources are bagasse and straws.
Noting that the need for renewable energy, both transportation fuel and electricity, are “very large” in India, Rousu said, “If only 30 per cent of straws and bagasse is utilised, there is potential for profitable bio-refining of 120 Mt/a of straws and bagasse into 40 Mt/a of bio-ethanol, biodiesel and biochemicals.”
He said Chempolis intends to establish a subsidiary in India in order to enable multiple bio-refinery projects.
Aija Jantunen, a top official of Kemira, a two billion euro water chemistry company, said that it has a strong application knowledge of drinking and waste water treatment, which can solve both urban and rural India’s water-related problem.
The company’s new application offers sludge treatment, municipal and industrial water treatment and water recycling in water-intensive industries, she said.
Timo Luukkainen, President and CEO of the Ensto Group, which is claimed to be mastered in the development of electric grids, has said that it has technological solutions to deal with the India’s huge problem of power distribution losses.
Observing that India’s mining industry will continue to grow and is set to reach $36.2 billion by 2016, Andrew Benko, President of the Mining and Construction Company Metso said that it can offer “solution mining” a technology to extract minerals using chemicals through many small holes instead of digging a big hole in the ground.
