Concrete gain
germany's kfw Bank Group might soon purchase carbon credits from Indian companies manufacturing eco-friendly fal-g bricks. kfw recently approved a project idea of Hyderabad-based Eco Carbon Private Limited to use its proprietary technology to produce such bricks. Unlike clay bricks, fal-g bricks can be produced without using thermal energy and so can earn carbon credits for Indian companies under the Kyoto Protocol (kp). kp, the global treaty to fight climate change, allows developed nations to achieve their greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by buying carbon credits from clean projects in developing nations.
" fal-g bricks and blocks are manufactured without using thermal energy in contrast to the sintering involved in clay bricks. In making these bricks, the baseline emissions involved in the manufacture of clay bricks can be considered as emission reductions,' explains N Kalidas, director, Institute for Solid Waste Research and Ecological Balance, Visakhapatnam and Eco Carbon's co-founder. fal-g bricks are made of fly ash, lime and gypsum or fly ash, cement and gypsum. They harden in the presence of moisture without being baked.
Kalidas' plan is to involve around 20 corporates to set up plants producing about 30 million bricks a year, implying a sale of about 1.7 million tonnes of credits in 10 years. "I have got blue chip companies to set up at least nine mechanised plants,' he claims. k f w has reportedly sent the idea to Germany's environment ministry for approval. In 2004, the World Bank proposed to buy 800,000 tonnes carbon credits from 300 fal-g plants at us$5 a tonne.
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