Cement Energy and Environment

generate electricity or make steel, aluminium or cement. This policy of allotting coal mfnes for captive use must go. First, steel or cement makers are interested in coal only as an input, not as a final product. They, therefore, have no incentive to mine coal economically or in a sustainable way, or to research and invest in modern m1n1ng technologies. Specialized mining companies, on the other hand, have every incentive to bring technology and economies of scale into their mining operations, since for them, coal is the final tradable output. The second problem with granting mines for captive use is inefficient utilization of an essential fuel. If a steelmaker, say, has access to coal assets that are disproportionately larger than its requirements, it will simply dig up what it needs and keep the rest underground, even when coal prices soar. It would be much better if companies with their own mines have the option of trading the coal as well as using it for their own needs. This will balance, through the price mechanism and trade, supply and demand for coal and lead to a market that is far more efficient than today's. So, the government has to do two things; take away captive mines form producers of metals, power, cement and so on and auction them to specialized miners. And give the miners the right to trade coal in an open market in competition with CIL and Neyveli. For this , of course, the government has to first scrap the Coal Nationalization Act. Courtesy: FIMI (Federation of Indian Mineral Industries) News Bulletin, 1 51 April 2011. P5. DECLARE COAL AN ESSENTIAL COMMODITY A parliamentary committee has asked the government to include coal in the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) to control its pilferage while asking the ministry of coal to prepare a comprehensive document having details of human lives lost, environmental degradation and resultant loss to the exchequer due to illegal mining. Coal was removed from the ECA earlier through an amendment. Now, the committee wants Centre to control its production, supply and distribution to stop illegal mining and pilferage. A study carried out by the Jharkhand government with the help of Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, estimated loss to coal companies to the tune of Rs 106 crore annually and to the exchequer of about Rs. 34 crore a year. Courtesy: FIMI (Federation of Indian Mineral Industries) News Bulletin, 1ShMarch 2011, P2. Alternative Energy, Fuels & Raw Materials CEMEX UK ALTERNATIVE FUELS UPDATE Cemex UK has announced that it replaced more than 52 per cent of the traditional fossil fuels used to heat its cement kilns with alternative fuels during 2010, up from 45 per cent in 2009. Based on the renewable organic materials content in the alternative fuels referred to as biomass, this meant Cemex saved nearly 194, OOOt of C02 over a 12-month period across its cement plants. This is the equivalent to saving the C02 emissions generated by around 77, 000 cars in a year. In the UK, Cemex uses alternative fuels at its two integrated cement plants, one in Rugby, Warwickshire and one in South Ferriby, North Lincolnshire. These used 49 per cent and 67 per cent alternative fuels respectively during 2010. The alternative fuels used at Rugby are climafuel and chipped tyres, and at South Ferriby Climafuel and secondary liquid fuel (SLF) are used. Climafuel is derived from household and commercial and industrial waste which is diverted from landfill and processed through a Mechanical . and Biological Treatment (MBT) plant. Secondary liquid fuel is made from industrial liquid wastes that cannot be recycled, such as paint thinners , inks and varnishes . According to Carlos Uruchurtu, VP of Cement Operations for Cemex UK: "increasing the use of alternative fuels to replace traditional fossil fuels, such as coal, is key to improving environmental performance at the plants and in our downstream concrete products. It helps to reduce the carbon footprint in particular, but also to drive down other emissions, such as oxides of nitrogen and sulphur dioxide. The use of alternative fuels also helps to reduce waste sent to landfill. In Cemex's case, more than 300, OOOt of waste that would otherwise go to landfill was used to fuel the kilns in 2010." Courtesy: International Cement Review, March 2011, P14. 18