How Indian IT Giant Infosys Is Going Carbon Neutral
Originally published on Sustainnovate.
One of India’s leading information technology companies, Infosys, has emerged as a shining example of sustainable growth for the Indian economy. The company has taken significant strides with regards to renewable energy usage over the last few years, and it has even been nominated as a finalist in the 2016 Zayed Future Energy Prize.
A substantial portion of electricity consumed in Infosys’ campuses across India comes from renewable energy projects. The company has installed in-house solar power projects, but a huge majority of the renewable energy is still being sourced from the grid. Campuses around the country acquired 75 million kWh electricity from renewable energy projects in FY2014-15, which accounts for 29% of the total electricity consumed. In-house solar power projects generated 2.9 million kWh. The rest was procured through the grid.
The company has not only moved towards greener sources of electricity but has also managed to significantly reduce its per capita electricity consumption. Through various initiatives, the company has managed to reduce per capita consumption per month by 40%, from 266.5 kWh in 2009 to 159.9 kWh in 2015.
While total emissions (Scope 1, 2, and 3) have increased from 0.24 million tonnes of CO2e in FY2008 to 0.33 million tonnes of CO2e in FY2015, they have fallen sharply from a peak of 0.36 million in FY2011. Per capita emissions are down 36% between FY2008 and FY2015.
In FY2016, the company plans to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity consumption to 40%. In FY2015, the company announced plans to invest in 40 MW solar power capacity, part of which is expected to be commissioned soon.
Over the next few years, the company plans to source its entire electricity consumption from renewable energy sources. The company is looking to develop 175 MW of solar power capacity. Once operational, these projects will offset over 0.27 million tonnes of CO2e every year and make the company carbon neutral.
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The striking item here is Infosys’ 40% reduction in electricity consumption per employee since 2009. I get the impression that India’s government greatly underestimates the potential for efficiency gains, and is rather myopically concentrating only on increasing production. Clearly per capita consumption needs to rise, but perhaps less than they think. Efficiency is cheap.
Yes efficiency is cheap, perhaps cheapest, and almost the fastest way to reduce and help us get off FF.
They don’t say where the 40%/cap reduction came from. But you can see a large increase in employees from 2009 to 2015. And that nice new building above. So guessing a goof bit came from building improvements. When in Pune India (big IT area) in Jan 2013, I noticed a lot of new building (not small) being built to a rather loose standard. So India is rip for deep retro-fits and building to higher standards like Infosys’s building above. Of course I was just riding by and maybe they would get much better in a later pass.