Cement Energy and Environment

smooth flow of its robot machines - a pattern resembling a railway rather than a road system, with all its intersections and halts. The present plan calls for the movement of three million tonnes of material a day on 20 mines by December 2015, half of it using autonomous trucks and mining systems. The ore itself will be blended and delivered to the company's West Australian seaports by 40 trains, and loaded onto ships bound for customers worldwide at the staggering rate of up to a million tonnes a day. As a consequence of expansion, the workforce will grow by several thousand - and the jobs will be increasingly high-tech, specialised and decentralised. While large numbers will continue to fly-in and fly-out of giant remote mines, others will enjoy a permanent capital city lifestyle while helping to run them. As the robots of tomorrow begin their intricate dance amid the billion-year-old landscapes of Western Australia, a new era in global mining is being born. Status Check Mining company's AutoHaul autonomous railway system is behind schedule, reports the Wall Street Journal. The much-anticipated AutoHaul project, which Rio Tinto mining company hoped to have operating last year, hasn •t advanced beyond tests. It expects to produce less ore in the coming years because of the delay, says the publication. Driverless trains hauling ore from 15 mines in Australia 's Pilbara region were aimed at transforming the mining industry. In 2012, Rio Tinto disclosed its plans for the trains to travel roughly 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) of rail to ports where the company loads cargo ships full of the steelmaking commodity destined for customers across Asia. It expected AutoHaul to cost $518 million but save money by using fewer workers and fuel and giving the company more flexibility on train schedules. Courtesy: Indian Cement Review, October 2016 : Energy MAKING TPPS SUSTAINABLE The new MoEFCC norms impose huge costs on power generators, even as they are necessary for the country in the emerging global ecosystem. For this the government has to play a balancing act.? The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified the revised standards for coal-based Thermal Power Plants (TPPs) in the country in December 2015, with the primary aim of minimising pollution, in line with the country"s intent/commitments made at CoP21 at Paris last year. These standards are proposed to be implemented in a phased manner over two years · timeframe. It may be recalled that India 's Paris commitments include reduction of the emissions intensity of its GOP by 33 to 35% by 2030, from 2005 level; achieving about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030, and introduction of new, more efficient and cleaner technologies in thermal power generation. The new environmental norms deal with pollutants like Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), sulphur dioxide (SOx), Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and Mercury. Norms for specific water consumption by TPPs have also been notified to conserve water. The installed capacity of coal based TPPs was 1,85,172 MW as on March 31, 2016 and 72,355 MW is under construction which is likely to be affected by the new norms. The new standards are aimed at reducing emission of PM10 (0.98 kg/MWh), sulphur dioxide (7.3 Kg/MWh) and Oxide of nitrogen (4.8 kg/MWh), which will in turn help in bringing about an improvement in the Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) in and around TPPs. The technology employed for the control of the proposed limit of SOx and NOx will also help in control of mercury emission (at about 70-90%) as a co-benefit. Limiting the use of water in thermal power plant will lead to water conservation (about 1.5 M3/MWh) as TPP industry is water-intensive, the ministry said. 41