Cement, Energy and Environment

~· Energy SHREE CEMENT ENTERS POWER TRADING BUSINESS Shree Cement, the largest cement manufacturer in north India and among top five in the country, on 24.3.2010 said it has got approval of the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to start inter-state trading business in power it produces at its merchant plant. The company has an installed captive capacity of 260 MW. An additional merchant capacity of 300 MW will be added by end of this financial year. Shree Cement is determined to enhance its presence in the power sector value chain through its power business development division Shree Power Trading, which has been granted category-! inter-state power trading licence by the CERC. Courtesy: The Financial Express, Chennai, 25.03.2010. EURO-IV SWITCH TO MAKE FUEL COSTLIER FROM APRIL 1 Petrol and diesel is set to become costlier in 13 major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai from April 1 when these cities will move for cleaner auto fuel (Euro-IV). The oil ministry is considering a proposal to raise pump prices of Euro-IV petrol and diesel to recover about Rs 15,000 crore spent by state– owned oil companies in upgrading their ret1nenes, a senior oil ministry official said. "We are in consultations for differential pricing of Euro-IV fuel ,'' oil secretary S NEWS BRIEF Sundareshan told reporters on the sidelines of the 6 1 h Asia Gas Partnership Summit. As per oil ministry officials, the price increase will be marginal and will remain below Re 1 a litre. But on one could give a definite numbers. Oil Minister Murli Deora will launch the Euro-IV fuel on March 24, 2010, an Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) official said. The 13 cities will switch from the Euro-111 grade of auto fuel to the Euro-IV (or Bharat Stage-IV) auto fuel from April1 . State-owned refiners such as Indian Oil Crop. (IOC) , Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) have already spend about Rs. 40,000 crore in upgrading their refineries to produce Euro Ill and Euro IV fuel. Capital expenditure on upgrading refinery to Euro-IV alone was about Rs. 15,000 crore, an oil ministry official said requesting anonymity. As per oil ministry officials, the price increase will be marginal and will remain below Re 1 a litre. As per a direction by the Supreme Court, oil companies are to sell higher grade (Euro– IV) petrol and diesel in 13 major cities and Euro-111 grade fuel in rest of the country from April 1, 2010. While oil companies are ready to supply E.ur u-i\1 fuel from April 1, some of their refineries are not in position to supply Euro-111 fuel. They will upgrade refineries in a phased manner. Euro IV fuel is cleaner having a maximum of 50 parts per million of sulphur in petrol and diesel. But Euro- 111 fuel have a maximum of 350 parts per million of sulphur. Courtesy: The Economics Times, March 23, 2010. P13. Alternative Energy, Fuels & Raw Materials USE PLASTIC WASTE TO BRIDGE COAL DEFICIT, CPCB TO CEMENT UNITS Chennai. Dec. 29: Cement industries giving a clarion call to bridge the 30% coal deficit from the domestic coal linkages should explore the option of buying municipal plastic waste to bridge the gap, chairman of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), SP Gautam said. Around 150 major and 300 minor cement manufacturers in the country consume close to 29 million tonne coal per year. Recently, the supply of coal from the linkages to cement industry has declined from 80% to 50%. Sensing the rebound in cement shipments, the industry associations have been clamouring for restoring the availability of coal from domestic linkages to the original 80%. Meanwhile, CPCB is urging cement industries nation-wide to cut back coal usage in kilns and opt for blending of plastic refuse from munici pal garbage for incineration to achieve the twin benefits of reducing carbon emissions and lower inorganic solid pollution load on the environment. 47