Reconciliation of energy use disparities in brick production in India

Kushal Tibrewal, Chandra Venkataraman (), Harish Phuleria, Veena Joshi, Sameer Maithel, Anand Damle, Anurag Gupta, Pradnya Lokhande, Shahadev Rabha, Binoy K. Saikia, Sayantee Roy, Gazala Habib, Shubham Rathi, Anubha Goel, Sakshi Ahlawat, Tuhin Kumar Mandal, M. Azharuddin Hashmi, Asif Qureshi, Abisheg Dhandapani, Jawed Iqbal, Sandeep Devaliya, Ramya Sunder Raman, Yang Lian, Govindan Pandithurai, Sudheer Kumar Kuppili, M. Shiva Nagendra, Sauryadeep Mukherjee, Abhijit Chatterjee, Tanveer Ahmad Najar, Arshid Jehangir, Jitender Singh and Baerbel Sinha
Additional contact information
Kushal Tibrewal: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Chandra Venkataraman: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Harish Phuleria: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Sameer Maithel: Greentech Knowledge Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
Anand Damle: De Boer Damle (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Anurag Gupta: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Pradnya Lokhande: Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Shahadev Rabha: CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology
Binoy K. Saikia: CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology
Sayantee Roy: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas
Gazala Habib: Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas
Shubham Rathi: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Anubha Goel: Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Sakshi Ahlawat: CSIR-National Physical Laboratory
Tuhin Kumar Mandal: CSIR-National Physical Laboratory
M. Azharuddin Hashmi: Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
Asif Qureshi: Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad
Abisheg Dhandapani: Birla Institute of Technology
Jawed Iqbal: Birla Institute of Technology
Sandeep Devaliya: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal
Ramya Sunder Raman: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal
Yang Lian: Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune
Govindan Pandithurai: Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology Pune
Sudheer Kumar Kuppili: Indian Institute of Technology Madras
M. Shiva Nagendra: Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Sauryadeep Mukherjee: Bose Institute
Abhijit Chatterjee: Bose Institute
Tanveer Ahmad Najar: University of Kashmir
Arshid Jehangir: University of Kashmir
Jitender Singh: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali
Baerbel Sinha: Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali

Nature Sustainability, 2023, vol. 6, issue 10, 1248-1257

Abstract: Abstract Energy conservation in brick production is crucial to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from the building sector, especially in countries with major expansions in the built environment. However, widely disparate energy consumption estimates impede benchmarking its importance relative to the steel and cement industries. Here we modelled Indian brick production and its regional energy consumption by combining a nationwide questionnaire survey on feedstock, process variables and practices with remote sensing data on kiln enumeration. We found a large underreporting in current official estimates of energy consumption, with actual energy consumption comparable to that in the steel and cement industries in the country. With a total estimated production of 233 ± 15 billion bricks per year, the brick industry consumes 990 ± 125 PJ yr−1 of energy, 35 ± 6 Mt yr−1 coal and 25 ± 6 Mt yr−1 biomass. The main drivers of energy consumption for brick production are the kiln technology, the production capacity and the fuel mix used. The results suggest that improving operating practices would be a first step in making brick production more energy efficient.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-023-01165-x

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