ISLAMABAD: All the 11,000 traditional brick kilns running on smog-causing fossil fuels in Punjab have been converted into the environment-friendly zigzag technology in six months.

The new technology would help reduce carbon emissions by 60pc and help save energy by 30pc, said a spokesperson for the Ministry of Climate Change, Mohammad Saleem Shaikh.

Talking to this agency, he said the zigzag kiln technology had been established to embellish fuel efficiency, energy savings and lessen emissions by 60pc compared to the traditional brick kilns.

The remaining brick kiln owners, who have not yet installed the pollution control technology, have submitted affidavits with Pak-EPA Islamabad to convert their kilns into the zigzag technology.

“Conversion of all traditional brick kilns to new technology in Punjab province has helped reduce air pollution by about 15pc,” he added.

Other provinces should follow suit to fight environmental degradation, protect public health, says official

The spokesperson said converting the traditional brick kiln system to modern technology was a difficult task which required investment and training.

He said many kiln owners were not ready to take the risk but efforts and hard work of their representative organisation helped improve about 11,000 kilns.

Other provinces should also follow suit to fight environmental degradation and protect public health.

There are around 20,000 traditional brick kilns in the country, which use mainly coal, rubber and shoe soles as fuel, emitting lethal back carbon into the atmosphere, he said.

Most of them were located around urban areas and contribute significantly to air pollution.

Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency Islamabad, the Environment Protection Department, Punjab and National Energy Efficient Conversation Authority (NEECA) are working closely with the All Bricks Kiln Owners Association of Pakistan to introduce the cost-effective brick kiln technology.

The country’s brick sector is responsible for around 1.5pc of the gross domestic product.

The traditional brick production consists of handmade bricks, which are baked in fixed chimney bull’s trench kilns, a widely used brick firing technology in South Asia, ranked as the most contaminating techniques for brick production, resulting in myriad adverse social and environmental effects including air pollution, climate change, cardio-respiratory diseases, land use impacts and deforestation.

The traditional kiln type and fuels burned make it difficult to accurately identify the make-up of air pollutants emitted by the sector but they likely include sulphur oxides, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide (CO2), forms of particulate matter (PM) including black carbon and additional compounds.

Efforts were made a couple of years ago for introducing the zigzag technology to mitigate the issues of not only black carbons that caused black smog issue but also overall air pollution in the country under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for clean green Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, January 17th, 2022