Que: How EKI Energy has been helping organisations across sectors in reducing carbon footprints?

Ans: We, EKI Energy Services Ltd. are a climate expert with 13+ experience of enabling businesses globally to reduce their carbon footprint through strategic end-to-end solutions. We offer a one stop destination for sustainable solutions for climate action starting from the estimation to developing definitive roadmaps with concrete steps to reduce emissions.

Once companies are able to track their carbon footprint, we work with them to help them to reduce it. For this, we offer companies a host of best practices and advisory services that they can adapt like carbon sequestration, energy efficient measures like nature based solutions, LEDs and efficient HVAC systems. The project selection and its implementation depend on its onsite availability as well as the financial capability of the company.

If companies are not able to reduce their emissions through these sustainable options, we help them to procure carbon offsets from the markets and this invariably helps them to reduce their carbon footprint and achieve net-zero in the long run. We believe in creating value for our customers and endeavor towards this with great perseverance.

Today, we are listed on BSE and offer climate solutions to 2500+ clients across 40+ countries.

Que: What are carbon credits and how these can be generated?

Ans: Carbon credit is an offset mechanism that enables reduction in carbon emissions. One carbon credit is one metric tonne equivalent of carbon dioxide absorption. In other words, it is the compensation of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere by preventing the same amount of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere elsewhere on earth. Carbon credit can be generated through any green project or initiative project that reduces, avoids, destroys or captures emissions.

These credits are then supplied to anyone and everyone aiming to reduce their carbon footprint. There are different standards of carbon offsets like Verified Carbon Standards, Clean Development Mechanism, Gold Standard, and Global Carbon Council, amongst other international standards. As global leaders in the carbon markets, we provide end-to-end advisory services starting from listing of projects for carbon credit generation.

Que: Recently EKI Energy won Indore Municipal Corporation’s tender for the second time. Shed some light on it.

Ans: As part of the new contract from Indore Smart City Development Limited (ISCDL), EKIESL will offer a comprehensive bouquet of end-to-end consulting services for carbon credit solutions to ISCDL. With this, EKIESL will enable ISCDL to elevate
its aggregator business model through which it offers sustainable solutions to urban and rural governance bodies enabling other smart cities to become climate sensitive. With this, ISCDL will be able to monetize emission reductions and realize additional revenue which it can use to support and fund its multiple welfare and developmental initiatives. Consequently, local bodies of other cities who join hands with ISCDL will also be able to monetize their climate initiatives.

Que: Kindly explain the significance of such tenders/projects in light of the Government’s Smart Cities Mission.

Ans: We can easily replicate our strategic solutions in other municipal corporations and smart city missions enabling them to reduce their carbon footprint and also generate an additional revenue source. With our expertise, we can enable smart city missions to monetize their green initiatives for additional funds to support other projects. We enable better ratings for smart cities in their ranking for sustainable innovations.

With the help of EKIESL, ISDCL was able to catalyze environmentally sustainable and financially viable waste management practices. EKIESL enabled the ULB to earn carbon credit from effective waste management and with this additional revenue, the municipal body was able to effectively fund its other welfare projects. The carbon credit earned acts as a means of subsidizing the establishment and operating cost and thus make the plant sustainable.

Que: What kind of challenges do you face, generally, while implementing such projects? And how do you deal with them?

Ans: Challenges include lower awareness levels and poor data collection mechanism currently. We solve it by working together with ULBs to identify and implement proper data collection mechanism appropriate for the respective projects.

Que: What will be your key suggestions to the policymakers to provide a further boost for the development of Smart Cities in India?

Ans: Commissioning of smart city projects is still at an elementary stage in the country even though India has very clear climate commitments. There is a need for regulatory frameworks and policy guidelines that provide clear mandates on emission reductions for smart city projects.

Policy frameworks will enable smoother commissioning of smart for energy and cost saving utilities that can help conserve natural resources and bring together environment and society for sustainable living on the planet.

Carbon footprint at a city level using Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC) from GHG Protocol should also be made mandatory.

Que: Besides reducing carbon footprints, how do carbon credits help organisations in generating revenues as well?

Ans: Carbon credits make their way into the market by way of issuance by a standard setting body that certify the credits issued by a project. The issuance is against every ton of GHG that is reduced, stored, or avoided. As businesses invest in these credits, they reduce their carbon footprint that consequently helps them to increase their brand value as well business productivity. Investments in technological advancements that are energy efficient also help lower business costs. Carbon credits enable companies to make higher profit margins as they champion climate action.

As companies increasingly use offset mechanisms to drastically reduce their emissions and improve their energy efficiency, they will significantly contribute to lowering and reversing the adverse effects of climate change. If more companies adopt climate action, this essentially translates into strong efforts towards lowering the country’s emission levels and consequently contributing to the climate goals of planet.

Que: Shed some light on EKI’s nature-based and community-based projects?

Ans: We have a deep focus on community development projects that empower the society as well as the environment. Nature based solutions harness the power of nature to solve climate crisis issues. It is the sustainable management, conservation and restoration of ecosystems to build resilience to adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. We have joined hands with Shell Overseas Investments B.V. (a unit of Royal Dutch Shell plc) to work on reducing carbon emissions in India through Nature based solutions. The joint venture will work on the conservation, enhancement and restoration of natural ecosystems – such as forests, agriculture, grasslands, wetlands and blue carbon –to prevent emissions or lower concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere while creating lasting benefits for people.

Green cooking initiative is our yet another community-based project. As part of this, we replace traditional inefficient mud stoves with improved cook stoves absolutely free of cost across rural households globally. We recently established a new associate – GHG Reduction Technologies Pvt Limited to oversee the end-to-end management of carbon offset supply chain with backward integration through cook stoves.

Que: What are EKI Energy’s targets in the next 2-3 years?

Ans: As we continue to take brand EKIESL to newer heights, we want to build a safer planet. In line with this, our top priorities are the community, our employees and our customers. We will continue our efforts to encourage more and more companies to start their climate action journey. We are also working with our existing customers, to widen the scope of their climate action goals for increased efforts. We foresee that our efforts will enable us to take the planet closer to a thriving future. As we move forward, we aim to increase our focus on community-based projects for an inclusive growth for all in line with the SDG goals established by the UN.

Que: What is your industry outlook for the carbon markets amid current global scenarios?

Ans: India’s carbon market is still at a growing stage even though India has very clear climate commitments. There is a need for regulatory frameworks and policy guidelines that provide clear mandates on emission reductions. While the country has been developing a voluntary mechanism, there is very little concrete action on it. A recent report by the Deloitte Economics Institute titled “India’s turning point: How climate action can drive our economic future”, quotes that India must act now to prevent the country losing US$35 trillion in economic potential over the next 50 years due to unmitigated climate change. It shows that the country could gain US$11 trillion in economic value instead over the same period, by limiting rising global temperatures and realizing its potential to ‘export decarbonization’ to the world.

India’s net-zero commitment at the COP26 has stabilized the climate market in the country. This together with the pledges of other countries has accelerated the global fight against climate change. With this, carbon credit will increasingly become an important solution for climate action. Consequently carbon credit pricing will also increase as the demand for it soars in times to come. As more and more businesses and organizations become active in cutting emissions using offsets, carbon markets are becoming increasingly robust and attractive. India is expected to witness a drastic change in its carbon markets in the next one to three years as increasing number of businesses join the climate action bandwagon.