Cement Energy and Environment

Mahendra Singhi, group CEO, Dalmia Cement (Bharat) Limited said, "Being one of the greenest cement companies in the worlcl, we are committed to decarbonising our operations in a way that makes business sense. Courtesy: Indian Cement Review, Volume 31, December2016, Pg. 10 MNRE TARGETS ONE LAKH FAMILY TYPE BIOGAS PLANTS FOR FY 2016-17 With an objective to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic biomanure as a by– product, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has allocated to the States /UTs an annual target of setting up one lakh family size biogas plants (1 m3 to 6 m3 capacities) for the current financial year, 2016-17. This will result in a likely saving of about 2,190,000 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cooking cylinders annually, besides providing biogas plant processed bio– manure to reduce and supplement use of chemical fertilizers. There would be saving of about 10,000 tonnes of urea equiva lent. The average envisaged saving of emissions through carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere would be about 450 ,000 tonnes and about 250,000 tonnes respectively, that would help in reducing the causes of climate change. The MNRE is implementing a National Biogas and Manure Management Programme (NBMMP) for setting up family-type biogas plants in the country. The objective of the scheme is to provide clean gaseous fuel for cooking and organic bio– manure as a by-product in the form of biogas plant left over slurry, which contains higher values of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. NBMMP also helps in mitigating drudgery of women in rural and semi-urban areas by saving in their time both in collection of firewood, making cattle dung cakes and cooking . Courtesy: Akshay Urja, Volume 10, Issue 1, August 2016 INDIA'S FIRST BIOBUS LAUNCHED The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has introduced the country's first biobus which runs on 100 per cent biodiesel. The Transport Minister Shri Ramalinga Reddy flagged off the biobus, which operates between Bengaluru and Chennai. Buoyed by the positive response it received in the pilot project in 2015, during which the KSRTC ran 10 biobuses on 20 per cent biodiesel and 80 per cent regular diesel, the transport utility decided to introduce a biobus which runs completely on biodiesel. In an effort to reduce emissions and release of greenhouse gases by stateowned buses and to enhance revenue to the state exchequer, the transport utility is keen to run more buses on biodiesel. A litre of biodiesel is cheaper by ~ 5 than regular diesel. The four state-run transport corporations consume close to 5.43 lakh kilolitre of diesel a year. KSRTC alone consumes around 2.1 lakh kilolitre. Courtesy: Akshay Urja, Volume 10, Issue 1, August 2016 46 r