Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA)

73 Introduction Nowadays, more sustainable energy technologies are required to replace conventional electricity generation resources such as fossil fuel, due to the worldwide demands especially in developed and developing countries. Fossil fuel-based energy sources are causing detrimental environmental issues such as global warming and climate change. The greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere from power generation has increased exponentially in the past few decades. Therefore, renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal and hydrogen energies have been introduced to generate electricity to overcome current environmental crisis. Due to their environmentally friendly characteristics and ability to generate power with zero or almost nil emission of air pollutants, renewable energy is getting more and more attention, due to the increasing awareness of clean environment among the society. Renewable energy not only helps in sustainability but also has economic importance. It benefits the economy by reducing the cost of electricity generation, as it generates energy using natural, renewable resources. Also, it can be a secondary medium of income as consumers can sell their generated electricity back to the power grid. Although the adoption of renewable energy sources for power generation is increasing, majority of power generation is still performed by utilizing fossil fuel due to the intermittency of renewable energy and the high initial cost. For example, photovoltaic system can only operate during daytime, wind turbine can only operate when there is sufficient air flow, and hydro turbine only operates when there is potential energy caused by water flow. Hence, researchers around the world are performing researches rigorously to improve the efficiency of Renewable Energy, as well as overcoming their limitations. India ranks third globally in renewable energy capacity, with a total installed renewable energy capacity of 274.68 GW, in which Solar Power capacity is 150.26 GW, Wind Power capacity is 56.09 GW, Hydro Power capacity is 56.58 GW & Bio Energy 11.75 GW respectively. The objective of this article is to present different renewable energy sources and their applications for power generation, and to promote/introduce the latest renewable energy technologies proposed by researchers around the world, as well as discussing the limitations of current renewable energy technologies. Cement, an important construction ingredient, is a carbon-intensive product. Limestone and other components are heated to very high temperature to get clinker, generating expansive carbon footprints. However, various processes have evolved over the years to reduce the carbon footprint from cement manufacturing process. One way is to reduce clinker use by substituting it with slag, fly ash, and other cementitious-material that does not involve emission of CO . Another way is to 2 replace coal or any other fossil fuel with alternative fuel (AFR) resources like municipal waste, biomass, non-hazardous industrial and commercial waste. Recovery of heat and its utilization, by employing the Waste Heat Recovery System (WHRS), to produce electricity is a good way of reducing carbon footprint. Last, but not the least, use of renewable energy, like solar energy, is another way to produce electricity and reduce carbon foot print. At Birla Corporation Limited, we are committed to minimizing our impact on the environment and are using all the above levers to reduce progressively the carbon footprint by utilizing green or renewable energy and use of AFR.