Cement, Energy and Environment

' I Renewable ene rgy st atu s "The Wadi cement plant has the world's largest kiln and is capable of producing up to 9 MW. We are exploring various options of funding the projects," he said. The cement industry has urged the Government to give renewable energy status to waste-heat recovery plants. Most of the cement companies are power surplus as they have captive power plants. The surplus power produced through waste heat is sold at ~ 2.30 a unit due to lack of renewable energy status. A few cement plants buy grid power at ~ 6.20 a unit, while the production cost of thermal power works out to ~ 4.50-5 a unit. The industry with a cement production capacity of 350 million tonnes is capable of producing about 1,000 MW through waste heat recovery, said Rao. "The industry has to invest ~ 12,000 crore to set up 1000 MW heat recovery plants. It would be viable only if the Government fixes a competitive price for the surplus power," he said. Apart for heat recovery plant, ACC has drawn an elaborate plan to bring down energy consumption by 5 per cent at its 10 plants by improving efficiency. Energy saving measures The company targets to take up energy saving measures, which call for low investment and early payback. For instance, Rao said installation of variable speed drive to control the speed of large motors used in the cement plant does not call for huge investment and the project can be completed in short span , besides payback is less than a year. Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line, Mumbai, 25.03.2014 Pg. No. 5-6 • ACC INSTALLS NEW WHR SYSTEM AT GAGAL ACC has taken an important step in energy conservation with the installation of a new Waste Heat Recovery System (WHRS) at its Gagal cement plant in Himachal Pradesh. This is the company's first WHRS plant and also the first project in HP state to deploy waste heat recovery technology. The newly commissioned WHRS project, which can generate about 7.5 MW of electricity, comprises a suspension pre-heater boiler, an air quenching chamber boiler, a steam turbine generator, distributed control system, water– circulation system and a dust removal system. The electrical energy thus generated requires no additional fuel as it utilises waste heat. The cost of generating such energy is significantly lower than that of a captive power plant and only a fraction of the cost of grid power. Apart from the economy involved, WHRS units simultaneously offer several advantages. These systems play a vital role in energy conservation , they are entirely environment-friendly as they do not need any additional fuels to generate electricity and hence directly help conserve fuels and reduce overall carbon emissions. The WHRS at Gagal is expected to lead directly to a reduction of over 44,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per annum. Since this energy is based on waste heat and requires no additional fossil fuel , the energy thus produced is green energy, equivalent to renewable energy. Courtesy: The Indian Cement Review, Apri/2014, Pg. No.18 Environmental Protection & Resource Management -· . Climate Change ,~ ~lobal yvarming GOVT TO WORK FOR DEVELOPMENT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE IN MIND In a move that signals changed priorities, the ministry of environment and forests has undergone a nomenclature change. It has been renamed as the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. The nomenclature change indicates the government's acknowledgement of the serious challenge that climate change poses. Climate change is not an addition to the ministry's portfolio, however the focus has largely been on international negotiations . With climate change being made one of the three focus areas of the ministry, the government has made it clear that it considers climate change to be an issue with domestic implications as well. "Renaming signifies a broadening of the mandate and a realisation of the impact that the threat of climate change has on growth. The revised mandate will ensure that the ministry plays a necessary and important role in integrating