CEE Oct-Dec 2012

up to 15 per cent of biochar, which aids in carbon sequestration. Further, Concord Blue intends to apply to the United Nations Framwork Convention on Climate Change for benefits under the clean development mechanism (COM) scheme. With successful implementation of this WtE model in Pune, municipal corporations across the country have awarded Concord Blue a contract to develop such plants. These comprise two power plants in Gujarat of 1,250 tpd, including a 1,000 tpd plant in Surat; two power plants of 450 tpd in West Bengal, including a 300 tpd plant in Maida; a 350 tpd plant in Aurangabad, Maharashytra; and a 100 tpd plant in Sikar, Rajasthan . Courtesy: Renewable Watch, Oct. 2012, P26. FROM TRASH TO CASH Waste-to-energy scheme plans to make use of India's increasing rubbish dumps The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has developed a National Master Pl an for Development of Waste to Energy (WtE) in India. With the booming growth rate, increasing urban population and a shift from an agriculture– based economy towards industrialization, India has seen a massive ri se in waste in urban and semi-urban areas. The increase in purchasing power has also resulted in a huge growth in consumption of goods and services. " In most places, waste is dumped in an unregulated way in low, open spaces on the outskirts of cities." Inevitably this has led to a rapid escalation in the amount of municipal waste. Munici pal Solid Waste (MSW) is dumped in most cities in an unregulated way in low, open spaces on the outskirts of cities. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) publicized the Municipal Solid Wastes Management and Handling Rules in 2000 demanding municipalities across India adopt sustainable and environmentally friendly ways of processing MSW. In this regard , WtE offers a plausible solution towards achieving integrated solid waste management. WtE is perceived as a process through which MSW is properly utilized and produces energy. This also frees up va luable land that would otherwise have been used for waste dumping. Courtesy: Urban News Digest, July 2012, P17. - India Country Profile ACC FOR HIGHER CEMENT BLENDING STANDARDS K.N. Rao, director, energy & environment, ACC completed his post-graduation in chemical engineering from liT Madras in 1982. In the past 30 years, his work has focused on pollution control equipment design and manufacturing environmental performance improvement and sustainable development for the cement industry. He spoke to R N Bhaskar. Excerpts: What would be the share of raw material and energy for cement plants in general, and for ACC in particular? Cement manufacture is an energy intensive process. At ACC raw material was 14 per cent of the total cost last fiscal, while the share of energy was 22 per cent. Typically, a modern cement plant in India would incur about 17 per cent of its costs on raw materials. The share for energy would be about 30 per cent. How has ACC managed to reduce its raw material costs and energy costs over the last 5 -10 years? We adopted measures such as the enhanced utilization of alternative raw materials like marble slurry, in additi on to the use of industri al wastes like fly ash and slag. ACC has managed its energy costs through several different strategies - continuous upgradation of plants with latest technologies, through continuous adaptation of energy conservation measures, the use of alternative fuels and innovative means such as promoting green buildings, green energy and the promotion of waste heat recovery energy. How has ACC managed to deal with residuals? The cement manufacturing process does not produce any residual waste or discharge any solid or effluent waste. In fact, the cement industry gain– fully utilizes waste materials of other industries. ACC has achieved spectacular results in the utilization of the two industrial wastes - slag from steel plants and fly ash from thermal power stations - to make blended cements that offer unique advantages to concrete. 46 >