There are over 30,000 fly ash brick plants in India, and the target is to increase them to 1 lakh to make sizeable penetration into the clay brick market, says N. Bhanumathidas, Director-General of the Institute for Solid Waste Research and Ecological Balance (INSWAREB).
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Despite Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressing concern over growing carbon emissions and the measures being taken to promote eco-friendly energy sources in her recent budget speech, the government seems to have failed to pay attention to the fly ash brick industry which has 454 times greater potential in reducing carbon footprint.
The dilution of laws that are made to make the ‘polluters pay’ offsets these efforts, according to N. Bhanumathidas, Director-General of the Vizag-based Institute for Solid Waste Research and Ecological Balance (INSWAREB).
Global carbon studies indicate the social cost of climate change, of every single ton of carbon dioxide emission ranges between 180 and 800 USD.
Meanwhile, a fly ash brick industry with an average capacity of 3 million bricks a year, brings down the carbon footprint by 723 tons a year, which amounts to ₹10.08 million per year.
A mere 220 fly ash brick plants, each producing 3 million bricks a year, can reduce CO2 emissions equivalent to that achieved through the production of 175 gigawatts of solar power, targeted to be achieved by 2030, says Ms. Bhanumatidas.
“There are over 30,000 fly ash brick plants in India, and the target is to increase them to 1 lakh to make sizeable penetration into the clay brick market. The cost of establishing solar plants of 175 GW solar power, a year, is about ₹35 billion and for producing 660 million bricks/year is ₹0.44 billion, and the land required is 1,75,000 hectares and 88 hectares respectively,” she says.
However, the economic spin-off from 175 GW of solar power is ₹1.41 billion and that from producing 660 million bricks/year is ₹3.30 billion. The carbon abatement to be achieved is computed at 1,57,000 tons and 1,58,000 tons respectively, says Ms. Bhanumathidas.
The ‘polluter pays’ principle was made to make greenhouse gas emitters pay the price for polluting the environment through carbon dioxide and other pollutants.
While the Ministry of Environment, and Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has been making efforts to make the Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) fall in line, the Ministry of Power (MOP) is trying to benefit the TPPs by encouraging them to go for bidding on fly ash, thereby defeating the very objective of ‘polluter pays’ principle.
Aggrieved entrepreneurs, who have set up fly ash brick plants on the assurance of the government to make available fly ash free of cost, filed a series of cases in various courts. Rapid proliferation of fly ash brick units suffered a setback with some units getting closed and some others putting off their expansion plans, according to experts.
The MoEFCC failed to play its regulatory role effectively due to which the fly ash utilisation has not reached 100% even after 22 years of contemplation, according to them.
Meanwhile, BJP leader, former MP and industrialist Mahesh Poddar has written to the Prime Minister to provide an audience to the INSWAREB representatives to end the legal tussles once and for all.
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