A brick kiln control law is under the active consideration of the government for curbing serious environment pollution by outdated and energy-intensive brick kilns, state minister for environment and forests Hasan Mahmud said on Sunday.
Speaking at a workshop in the city he said such pollution was having an adverse impact on the environment.
The Clean Air and Sustainable Environment Project of the Department of Environment and the World Bank jointly organized the workshop entitled, ‘Introducing energy-efficient clean technologies in the brick sector of Bangladesh’ to share the key findings about the country’s brick manufacturing industry.
The speakers included, among others, Ministry of Environment and Forestry joint secretary Mohammad Nasiruddin, Department of Environment director general Monowar Islam, WB acting country director Zahid Hussain and Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Abul Quasem.
World Bank senior environmental specialist Shakil A. Ferdausi presented a paper on ‘alternative and improved brick kiln technologies’ and WB economic consultant Lelia Croitoru on ‘economic costs and benefits of different technologies’.
Chinese energy specialist Jie Li and brick expert Hui Xiao presented a paper on ‘China’s experience in transforming the brick industry.’
The two WB environment specialists said that pollution by fixed chimneys in more than 90 percent of brick kilns in Bangladesh account for up to 20 per cent of premature mortality due to environmental factors.
They said that 530 highly polluting and energy-intensive kilns with fixed chimneys in north Dhaka which produce 2.1 billion bricks a year are also the city’s main source of fine particulate pollution.
They called for immediate replacement of the out-dated kilns by cleaner brick making technologies such as the vertical shaft brick kilns and the hybrid Hoffmann kilns which are more socially profitable than the highly polluting fixed chimney kilns.
They said that replacement of northern Dhaka’s existing brick kilns with vertical shaft brick kilns would cut down premature mortality by more than 60 percent while hybrid Hoffmann kilns would reduce it by 45 percent.
They said that the brick-making industry contribute about one per cent to the country’s GDP and generate about a million jobs.
Other speakers described the higher cost of flood free land and its shortage as hindrances to switching over to brick kilns with cleaner technologies.
They said that operating brick kilns with cleaner technologies would require flood free land.
For a solution they suggested for setting up of industrial parks on flood free land exclusively for a brick kilns.
The two experts said that their reports would provide the government and other stakeholders the information they need for developing an energy efficient brick making industry in the country that would use only cleaner technologies.
More on Dhaka Map | Source: newagebd.com
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