Most cement companies have developed specific initiatives and road maps to reduce their organisational carbon footprint. Then, the major focus areas for c are improving thermal energy efficiency and process technology, optimising fuel composition, including the use of waste as fuel, waste heat recovery, reduction in clinker factor, especially through increased rates of blending and renewable energy.

The importance of greening the entire value chain as one of the vital parts of sustainability initiatives, has picked up momentum which is reflecting the way cement manufacturers and major plant and machinery and auxiliary equipment manufacturers are putting in tireless efforts to integrating sustainability issues, essentially in energy conservation, resource optimisation and environmental planning. The industry which is on top in the Certified Emission Reductions Projects list registered with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, has been able to contribute significantly to the eco-friendly use of industrial wastes and thereby, has succeeded in reducing its carbon footprint. No wonder then, that the Indian cement industry is probably one of the most energy- efficient in the world today and some of the plants have thermal and electrical specific energy consumption (SECs) comparable to the best cement plants in the world, resulting in low emission intensities.

According to Sumit Banerjee, Vice-Chairman, Reliance Cement, technological improvement is a key pillar in the cement industry’s drive to reduce emissions levels and energy consumption. Research and development investments have enabled cement producers worldwide to install modern, energy-efficient technology in new, and to some extent, in existing cement plants. New technologies have enabled the increased use of clinker substitutes and alternative fuels in cement production, leading to significant direct (e.g, from limestone decarbonisation and fuel burning) CO2 emissions reductions. Technology developments have also enabled significant indirect emissions reductions, like from electricity use. The Indian cement industry has a comparatively better technology as most of the plants are new and are equipped with the latest technology. Moreover, they have taken various measures to upgrade their old plants and to achieve higher energy efficiency.

Speaking about the initiatives taken by Reliance Cement, Sumit says, "At Reliance Cement, we are committed to sustainable growth. All our cement plants, either in the project phase or in the project development phase, are highly energy- efficient. These plants are designed to use alternative fuel and raw materials (AFR) and are equipped with the waste heat recovery system for power generation. A sustainability roadmap with medium and long- term action plans to adopt various carbon emission reduction levers has also been developed."

"Our stated goal towards sustainability includes minimising breakdowns and achieving MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) 160, achieving specific power consumption 78 Kwh/t cement, increasing PPC sales and fly ash addition in PPC, slag per cent in PSC; and also increasing alternate fuel substitution and AF substitution, and reducing dependency on the State Electricity Board for power, says BLN Murthy, Director-Works of Bharati Cements. He further adds, "Bharathi Cements has taken an initiative from the project stage itself, to optimise energy. We have installed VFDs for both LT & HT drives for all process fans like pre-heater fan, RABH fan, raw mill fan, coal mill fan, cement mills fans and cooler fans, and also high efficiency fans, low pressure drop cyclones in pre-heater, etc. We also have belt weighers for optimum loading of conveyors to avoid the idle running of equipment, and have provided VFDs whereever fans are operating with less than 75 per cent damper opening."

Bidyut Bhattacharya, Technical Director, Sinoma International Engg Co India, says "The Indian cement industry, over the years, has employed the best available technology for production. Thanks to a high degree of blended cement utilisation, Indian cement producers are at the forefront of fuel and electrical energy consumption on a per tonne-of-product basis. An additional benefit in terms of sustainability is the lower per tonnage of CO2 emission. Stricter regulatory requirements are leading to greener technologies, and they in turn, lead to further energy efficiency."

Says K N Rao, ACC, Director (Energy & Environment), "Our major objectives are to bring down CO2 intensity considerably, become water- positive and biodiversity- positive; reduce the use of natural raw materials and fossil fuels, and ensure that there is no harm done to the environment. ACC is on track as per the stated goals. Only in renewable energy, the progress is not quite upto the mark due to recent changes in the government’s fiscal policy with respect to the wind energy and the economic crisis. ACC is striving hard to increase the renewable energy portifolio in the coming days. A lot of investment has been made in improving energy efficiency by installation of variable speed drives (VSDs). The capacity for water conservation and harvesting is increasing day by day across all the ACC plants. One of our units in Himachal Pradesh will be commissioning a waste heat recovery- based power generating unit of 7.5 MW capacity shortly. We are also planning similar units in other plants in a phased manner."

G Jayaraman, Executive President, Birla Corporation, says, "BCL has taken up the task of reducing its carbon footprint by adapting energy efficiency in all units. BCL was rewarded the carbon emission reduction certificate for 1 lakh tonnes of CO2, and successfully traded on the UNFCCI platform. As a roadmap for the next three years, BCL is focusing on renewal energy, basically solar and biomass power plants." He further adds, "Optimisation of fuel mix is regular practice in all the units which stabilises the fuel feed to the pyro-process. Our coal washery at Satna is under stabilisation to convert low- grade coal to useful coal requirement to the kiln. The reject coal will be utilised for power generation in a CFBC boiler. This step will result in the transformation of waste to energy." Speaking about the challenges in the green initiatives, Rao had this to say, "Many challenges lie ahead of us, especially when it comes to energy. With currency depreciation, fuel costs are spiralling for coal, thus raising the cost of thermal power generation. Quality coal and its availability, availability of quality raw materials like limestone continues to be a concern. What’s more, power shortages have been driving us to set up captive power plants (CPP) to fulfil our energy needs. Then, there is the increased pressure of complying with mandatory energy regulations such as Perform- Achieve- Trade (PAT), where we must meet energy reduction targets and also meet our renewable energy purchase (RPO) obligations. Then, there is the continuous reduction in SEC, which to some extent helps mitigate the rising cost of electricity generation."

According to Shashank Jain, Senior Progarmme Officer, Energy Efficiency (Industry) Shakti, Sustainable Foundation the Indian cement industry has made significant progress in terms of improvement in energy efficiency and productivity. Still, the use of alternate fuel and raw material (AFR) to replace coal for thermal energy needs remains an area where the Indian cement industry is yet to catch up with global benchmarks. Though a few cement plants use large quantities and varieties of AFR in their kilns, on an average, co-processing in the Indian cement industry is less than one per cent, compared to the European average of 40 per cent. As per a Ministry of Environment & Forest (MoEF) estimate, even ten per cent of thermal substitution through the use of AFR in cement kilns, has the potential to reduce the emission by three million tonnes of CO2 per year, which is about 0.2 per cent of emissions from the country in 2007. Sandeep Shrivastava, Head, Environment, Ambuja Cement had this to say: "Right from mining to production to sales and distribution, across our all our units and disciplines, we have been adopting best practices and working constantly to demonstrate our commitment towards sustainability through our actions. That commitment is reflected in strict adherence to our environment, sustainability, OH&S, CSR, climate change mitigation, green procurement and other policies, as well as initiatives." According to him, Ambuja Cement has been adopting best manufacturing practices optimising energy, natural resources and technology.. Sandeep adds, "We ensure a varied and holistic perspective the way we manage our operations. Right from mining to production to sales and distribution, across our all our units and disciplines, we have been adopting best practices and working constantly to demonstrate our commitment towards sustainability through our actions. That commitment is reflected in the strict adherence to our environment, sustainability, OH&S, CSR, climate change mitigation, green procurement and other policies as well as initiatives."

According to Suman Mukherjee, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, SDCC û India, the key levers to reduce emission in the Indian cement industry are increased rates of blending leading to a reduction in clinker to cement ratio, increased use of AFR, widespread implementation of WHR, transportation of raw materials through conveyor belt instead of road transport, installation of various VFD/high energy- efficient equipment to reduce SPC. In line with this, a low-carbon technology roadmap for the Indian cement industrywas launched on 25h February 2013, with a targeted estimated emission of 0.35 T CO2/t cement in 2050, about 45 per cent down from its level in 2010. Cement manufacturing process from surface mining/quarrying, more usage of WHR, locating main clinkerisation unit near limestone deposits, transporting clinker through rail, transporting fly ash through pipeline, are a few measures which will help in achieving and sustaining this targets.

"KCP has designed the road map with milestones to achieve the CO2 emissions reductions required for the future. We are also putting in all efforts for shifting from OPC to blended cements. The aim is to increase blended cement percentage from the present 35 to 55 per cent by this year- end and one hundred per cent by 2015," says Dr GVK Prasad, Executive President û Operations, KCP.

Says C K Jain, Unit Head, Vasavadatta Cement, Sedam, which has recently bagged the coveted GreenCo Rating launched by CII-Godrej GBC, "VC has always been a believer of sustainable growth and has taken several initiatives on the ecological front. These initiatives helped in achieving GreenCo certification. However, the missing component was the meticulous system of documentation required for GreenCo certification. The certification system helped us in documenting the initiatives taken. The system presented a challenge that turned into an opportunity for us to record our savings in terms of energy savings, water savings, and GHG emissions mitigation and track the results on a regular basis. The plant has one of the best specific energy consumption figures in the country. VC also adopts a cradle- to- cradle approach to environmental sustainability as recommended by GreenCo. The GreenCo Rating System, the first of its kind in the world, provides a much needed holistic framework to evaluate industries on their environmental performance on these parameters. CII, through an extensive stakeholder consultations and interaction with experts, has developed the guidelines of GreenCo. This rating will act as a milestone for companies pursuing green to assess where they stand and help them in defining the path forward," says KS Venkatagiri, Principal Councellor, CII-Godrej GBC. Says Alok Sanghi, Director, Sanghi Industries, "We use fly ash generated from the thermal power plants and also use waste from steel plants. By manufacturing blended cements, we are adding to the sustainability of the country. We are one of the few companies in the country using the most eco- friendly mining technique. Instead of drilling and blasting, we use surface miners which have near zero pollution and zero dust emission techniques. We operate in the region of Kutch where we face a lot of water scarcity, and we have promoted rain water harvesting there."