ISLAMABAD: As many as 49 of the total 63 conventional brick kilns located within the federal capital territory, which were mainly responsible for air pollution, have been converted into zigzag technology, said a senior climate change ministry official.

“This will help mitigate air pollution woes in the capital and surrounding areas.” He said four traditional brick kilns had been dismantled and the remaining 10 were presently being shifted to the environment-friendly zigzag technology.

Talking to Dawn, Mohammad Saleem, deputy director and spokesperson Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination, said the traditional brick manufacturing sector significantly contributed to the country’s breath-choking air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Such brick kilns relied on dirty energy sources for baking bricks, mainly coal, rubber and shoe soles as fuel, emitting lethal black carbon emissions into the atmosphere, he said.

Four traditional kilns dismantled and remaining 10 also being shifted to environment-friendly technology, says official

The conversion to the zigzag technology would help reduce levels of the suffocating carbon emissions by 60pc and save their owners’ energy expenses by 30pc, he added.

“It’s an important achievement by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination and Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) supported by the Islamabad administration and other stakeholders to achieve the milestone with well-coordinated efforts despite various bottlenecks to fight escalating problem of air pollution in the capital city and its rural areas,” he added.

While most of the air-contaminating brick kilns were located in rural areas of the capital city, these adjoining areas would particularly benefit from the cleaner air after the conversion of the traditional kilns to the cleaner brick-making zigzag technology.

Explaining the traditional brick-making process, which was damaging for health and environment, he said such brick producing process consisted of handmade bricks, which were baked in Fixed Chimney Bull’s Trench Kilns (FCBTK). It was a widely used brick firing technology in South Asian countries, including Pakistan, and ranked as the most contaminating techniques for brick production, resulting in 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 made it difficult to accurately identify the make-up of air pollutants emitted by the sector. They likely included sulfur oxides, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide (CO2), forms of particulate matter (PM) including black carbon and additional compounds released by burning coal and other fuels, the official added.

He said the black carbon, a major component of soot from the brick kilns, was produced as a result of the incomplete combustion of fossil fuel and biomass. Besides, it was also notoriously known for planet-warming impact on climate for being 460 to 1500 times stronger than CO2.

The official explained that the black smoke emitted by the traditional brick kilns, transport and industrial sectors was highly polluting and toxic, which was extremely dangerous for the public health and environment as well as key cause of blinding and suffocating smog. The black smoke was among the main causes of asthma, respiratory diseases, eye infections and other various lungs-related diseases in humans.

Mr Saleem said, “Given the backdrop of adverse health and environmental impacts, efforts were taken by the ministry for introducing the zigzag technology to mitigate the issues of not only the emission black carbons that cause black smog but also overall air pollution in the federal capital and its adjoining rural areas.”

Published in Dawn, January 14th, 2024