Cement, Energy and Environment

compulsory Energy Audit by designated consumers eg, energy-intensive i ndustries, wherein standardisation and labelling of energy equipment is going to be mandatory and defaulters are liable for penalties. With a commendable record of energy conservation measures and initiatives over recent decades, Indian cement industry in general has earned plenty of accolades both on national and international platforms. Even so, experience with "command and control" regimes would urge that statutory impositions are not free from distortions in implementation nor can one preclude "overkills". In the realm of environment, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has recently constituted a National Environmental Task Force for cement industry with representatives from the Board, the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the cement industry, NCB, TIFAC of DST, etc. The objective of this Forum is effective implementation of total pollution control compliance by the cement industry. The provocation for this might be the findings of a recent survey of the industry by CPCB, which revealed that out of 98 opera~ing major cement plants, 25 were not complying with the stipulated emission control norms. ,Besides, it is alleged that while cement plants usually comply in abating particulate emissions from stacks, control of fugitive dust emissions at handling and transfer points remains neglected in most cases . In another extreme measure, the Tamil nadu Pollution Control Board has recently (06.05.2002) issued a circular urging all cement plants to adopt "on-line continuous monitoring with computer recorder and printer arrangement to measure suspended particu late matter, 50 2 , NO. emission of all stacks attached to kiln, coal mill, cement mill and clinker cooler within three. months." The circular further advised plants "to furnish consolidated stack emission report with graphic printout showing peak emission in a day on monthly basis". This obviously is a tall order for most plants which already have to grapple with day-to-day problems of availability and quality of grid power, varying quality of linkage coal, all of which seriously affect the smooth functioning of pollution control equipment and installations. The message is loud and clear that the statutory bodies are becoming increasingly stringent in the implementation of energy conservation and pollution control measures. Regardless of these, Indian cement industry has long adopted environmental protection and ecological preservation, as well as community welfare as articles of faith, and is steadfastly pursuing social forestry, greening of the environs, and social upliftment activities in surrounding areas, besides of course, instituting advanced pollution control measures in modern plants. It would ~hen seem that the industry's good work is short on visibility and a communication gap exists between the industry and the powers-that-be. Precisely to bridge this gap, CMA has introduced the Programme - " Performance Improvement in Energy Conservation and Pollution Control through Benchmarking and Rating". The Programme is aimed at continuous improvement in performance of the participating companies through voluntary sharing of data and "knowledge'', and comparison with the ''best practice". The results, particularly comparison with best performers in the world, will bring in transparency and a realistic picture will become available to the statutory bodies. Participation in the programme is bound to bring in rich dividends, so much so all cement plants stand to gain by enrolling themselves in it. The Journal, as always, continues its mission of providing a window on \'appropriate technologies" and latest "concepts" on energy, environment and sustainable development from published literature across the world. In view, however, of the possibility of an information overload in the journal, its bulk has been limited to an optimum by transferring the surplus of the information being garnereq to CMA website ( in addition to what is printed in the journal) which can be accessed by the members. In this manner, CMA will build a wealth o.f i.nformatjQfl/database, which eventually can add to the contents of the Cement Portal. ,, C. M. t.. 1 _ • • >~AR¥- C~ASS BOOK NO ACCr.:..SSJ O• DATE A.V. Srinivasan Secretary General