THE SUSTAINABILITY SAMARITAN

As the crusade against climate change continues to unfold worldwide, young entrepreneurs across India and beyond are stepping up their efforts to offer creative solutions to local problems on their way to unleashing a global renewable energy transition. Akshay Chawla, the CEO and founder Mumbai-based cleantech company SASA Green, is one such contributor. Through the use of a novel technique such as binderless biomass briquetting, his company is tackling the issue of rising pollution in Maharashtra on account of stubble burning head on. 

“MY interest in clean technologies was first sparked when I discovered the root cause of a health issue that I had experienced as a younger person: chronic bronchitis. As an athlete and footballer, this illness had been particularly devastating for me, and I found that the primary cause of the problem was the rapidly deteriorating air pollution situation in my home country. This led me to narrow my research and delve deeper into topics such as monitoring AQI and the impact of stubble burning on air quality,” explained Chawla.

While such health struggles were the initial catalyst, his interest in clean technologies was further catapulted due to being part of a family business, a 17-year-old company, which operates in the power plant development and renewable energy spaces. Having successfully led it for over eight years now, Chawla feels confident in running his own venture, SASA Green, which was launched in 2020.

“My experience in power plant development with my previous company allowed me to recognize the need for an alternative to the traditional practice of burning agro waste in open fields. SASA offers farmers a solution by buying their crop waste and converting it into biomass briquettes, providing an additional income for farmers while curbing air pollution caused by stubble burning. The company aims to contribute towards building a cleaner and greener future for Maharashtra by looking at the issue from a larger point of view which no one has currently,” he said.

THE WHAT AND WHY OF STUBBLE BURNING

A significant environmental issue, stubble burning is the burning of crop residue after the harvest season, which produces smog and air pollution that can have severe health consequences for residents in the region. In India, it is primarily prevalent in the Northern states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, where farmers practice rice-wheat crop rotation.