Tanneries in Ranipet make transition to solar energy to reduce carbon footprint
From conventional firewood heating system, tanneries in the Ranipet-Ambur-Vaniyambadi region have been gradually inching towards clean energy technology especially solar power to run automatic sprayer driers, vital for drying the processed leather, in their factories to prevent pollution and save power bills.
For the past few years, a group of 15-20 tannery units including Overseas Leathers, a manufacturer and exporter of finished leathers, in the SIPCOT Complex in Ranipet have been running their units especially dyeing process and finishing stage of leather products by using solar air heaters and solar hot water heaters.
Earlier, these tanneries were running their units especially its heating systems with firewood, resulting in huge costs and pollution. 'Installation costs and space required for solar systems are challenges to adapt to clean energy technology by tanneries. However, in the long run, the benefits of clean energy are more stable,' said S. Gopalakrishnan, Engineering maintenance manager at Overseas Leathers.
A Theni-based solar energy company, SunBest, provides technical support for these heaters. At the micro level, each drier at a leather unit consumes 20-25 units of electricity per hour. A tannery, on an average, runs at least three driers. In other words, around 600 units of power is consumed by the tannery every day.
Many tanneries also depend on firewood to run driers in their units. To run driers for eight-hours a day, around one tonne of firewood is required. It costs around ₹7,500. In a month, it will cost ₹2.25 lakh to buy firewood from local vendors to run driers in tanneries. 'Except during monsoon, solar air heating panels can generate power to run driers. Government subsidy to tanneries, especially micro units, which find it challenging to afford solar powered driers, will help to promote clean energy technology to a wider audience,' says C.P. Rajkumar, CEO, SunBest.
At present, the leather-making region covers Ranipet, Walajah, Vellore, Ambur and Vaniyambadi. More than 700 tanneries are located in the region, with Vaniyambadi alone accounting for around 40%. Most of the tanneries are coal or thermal energy-based factories, emitting greenhouse gases. Thermal energy accounts for around 55% of the total energy consumption for leather-making. A group of tanneries in Ranipet SIPCOT region are breaking barriers to promote clean energy technology and cut costs.
Earlier in the day, Hans Raj Verma, Director General, Council of State Industrial Development and Investment Corporation of India (COSIDICI), and Ranipet Collector J.U. Chandrakala urged the leather manufacturers to go in for solar energy. They said Tamil Nadu has the highest radiation of solar energy that could be utilised for industrial growth. Clean energy champion awards for best practices in renewable energy and energy efficiency were also distributed on the occasion.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
19 minutes ago
- Time of India
China's Didi Q1 revenue rises 8.5% as recovery gains pace
Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Global reported an 8.5% rise in revenue in the first quarter of 2025 to 53.3 billion yuan ($7.42 billion) on Thursday, as its recovery from a regulatory overhaul of its operations gathered pace. The Beijing-based company reported net income of 2.4 billion yuan for the quarter, versus a loss of 1.4 billion yuan a year earlier, after adopting new accounting standards. Didi drew the attention of China's cyberspace regulator in 2021 over its pursuit of a US initial public offering without approval, prompting an inquiry that prohibited it from adding users and saw many of its apps removed from stores. The regulator fined Didi $1.2 billion in July 2022 over a data security violation, before granting the company permission to relaunch its apps in early 2023. The company was delisted from the U.S. in 2022. Live Events
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
Tesla is being eaten alive by Chinese rivals it inspired
The biggest story swirling around Tesla Inc. right now concerns Chief Executive Elon Musk 's sudden, if unsurprising, break with a leader who is as calm and unassuming as he is, President Donald Trump . The important story concerns what is happening far from these shores: China. Shipments from Tesla's Shanghai factory fell by 15% in May compared with a year before, according to preliminary data from China's Passenger Car Association. That marks eight straight months of declining output from Tesla's single biggest electric vehicle factory, accounting for around 40% of its global capacity. These figures don't break out which of those EVs get sold in China or get exported from there, but this trend is not Tesla's friend. Through April, its share of China's battery EV market had fallen by more than half over the past four years, according to data compiled by New AutoMotive, a UK-based research firm. Bloomberg Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now The numbers also suggest deteriorating economics. On a simple, calendar-day basis, they imply Shanghai factory utilization of 76% in May. That isn't terrible, but it's down significantly from last May. So far this year, excluding the month of February when Tesla was retooling for the refreshed Model Y, implied utilization is running 10 points lower than the same period in 2024. Speaking of that updated Model Y, it isn't a good sign that Tesla has already offered incentives like zero-percent financing in China. Taken together, lower capacity utilization, implying higher fixed costs per vehicle, and higher discounts, meaning less net revenue, point to a continuing problem with what was all too apparent in Tesla's first quarter results: Crushed profit margins in its main business. Unlike Tesla's weaker EV sales in other important markets such as California and Europe, the slide in China has nothing to do with Musk's politics. Tesla's reputation within China remains high, viewed as an essential catalyst in revolutionizing the quality and scale of the country's auto sector. Except that 'catalyst' isn't quite the right word, because the beauty of catalysts is that they spark transformations but don't get used up in the process. In this case, it would be more accurate to call Tesla a reactant, because the domestic Chinese EV industry spurred on by its example is now eating it alive. Live Events You Might Also Like: Tesla board members dump nearly $200 million in shares just before robotaxi launch – should investors worry? While Tesla's share of China's battery EV sales is down to about 10% so far this year, that drops to 5.8% when you include other so-called 'new energy vehicles' such as plug-in hybrids, according to figures compiled by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Competitors including BYD Co. Ltd., which holds about 27% of China's NEV market, are now delivering the sort of excitement that Tesla used to in terms of looks, range and driver assistance features — and at lower prices. Xiaomi Corp., the smartphone maker, is in the process of launching the YU7, a high-tech, fast-charging electric SUV that resembles a Porsche or Ferrari but is perhaps best pictured as a Model Y-seeking missile. In an alternate dimension, China would serve as a hothouse laboratory for Tesla to hone world beating, profitable EVs that might even be exported to its home market. In the dimension we've got, Musk has seemingly lost his ambition to develop brand new, affordable EVs that can compete across the world. Tesla's last genuinely new model, the Cybertruck, is certainly big but only about as 'beautiful' as the Trump tax bill that Musk now openly derides as an 'abomination.' While Tesla sits apart from the legacy automakers in the US, Germany and Japan in many respects — certainly in terms of valuation — it has, like them, seen its position in China eroded rapidly. And regardless of Musk's latest posts on X, he worked hard to secure the election of a president and Congressional majority intent on crushing EV sales in the US. With the end of the second quarter approaching, and the sales figures emanating from China and Europe portending another set of weak earnings, it is perhaps little wonder that this narrative is crowded out by all manner of other things. Musk, who ditched Tesla's public relations team and routinely denounces the media as 'propaganda' has nonetheless plunged into a media blitz of late, and has now whipped up a new political intrigue. Is the break with Trump real? My litmus test: watch out if @elonmusk posts a picture of a taco. Plus, of course, we have the imminent launch of Tesla's self-driving cars in Austin. Whatever they actually turn out to be, with the always dubious narrative of Musk's White House job boosting Tesla's fortunes now played out, those robotaxis constitute the main pillar supporting Tesla's triple-digit earnings multiple. Certainly, that number has nothing to do with what's happening in the biggest EV market on the planet. You Might Also Like: Big task ahead for Elon Musk: After Canada, Germany, and most of Europe, Tesla sales now tank in Sweden Did Elon Musk mislead investors about Tesla's future EV plans? What you need to know
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on OpenAI's findings.
OpenAI is seeing an increasing number of Chinese groups using its artificial intelligence technology for covert operations, which the ChatGPT maker described in a report released Thursday. While the scope and tactics employed by these groups have expanded, the operations detected were generally small in scale and targeted limited audiences, the San Francisco-based startup said. Since ChatGPT burst onto the scene in late 2022, there have been concerns about the potential consequences of generative AI technology, which can quickly and easily produce human-like text, imagery and audio. OpenAI regularly releases reports on malicious activity it detects on its platform, such as creating and debugging malware, or generating fake content for websites and social media platforms. In one example, OpenAI banned ChatGPT accounts that generated social media posts on political and geopolitical topics relevant to China, including criticism of a Taiwan-centric video game, false accusations against a Pakistani activist, and content related to the closure of USAID. Some content also criticised U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, generating X posts, such as "Tariffs make imported goods outrageously expensive, yet the government splurges on overseas aid. Who's supposed to keep eating?". In another example, China-linked threat actors used AI to support various phases of their cyber operations, including open-source research, script modification, troubleshooting system configurations, and development of tools for password brute forcing and social media automation. A third example OpenAI found was a China-origin influence operation that generated polarised social media content supporting both sides of divisive topics within U.S. political discourse, including text and AI-generated profile images. China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on OpenAI's findings. OpenAI has cemented its position as one of the world's most valuable private companies after announcing a $40 billion funding round valuing the company at $300 billion.
