As coal supply to non-power sources continues to be regulated, the steel and cement industry are looking for ways to ensure that the government-mandated rationing doesn’t affect their day-to-day operations.
Managing Director (MD) of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), Vidya Ratan Sharma, feels that the solution is to increase the production of coal in India, with private and merchant miners being allowed to mine coal. He is of the view that the government needs to target extraction of 3 million tonnes of coal per day, up from the current aim of 2 million tonnes per day. Pointing to over 350 billion tonnes of coal reserves in India, Sharma said that coal gasification technology can also be used to produce synthesis gas (Syngas) in an eco-friendly, closed atmosphere. Syngas is a reaction intermediate produced during gasification of coal and can be used for various industrial purposes.
Vice-Chairman and Managing Director (MD) of India Cements, N. Srinivasan, points to lack of availability of any sizeable quantity of alternatives to coal as a fuel for the cement industry. Use of municipal waste as an alternative by the cement industry also compromises the cost of production and quality, which Srinivasan terms as a big deterrent for the industry.
ALTERNATIVES TO COAL: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES
Program Director (Climate Change and Renewable Energy) at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Samrat Sengupta is of the view that despite the chemical possibility of the use of biomass, there is no commercially viable alternative to coal for use in the steel and cement industries.
JSPL’s MD told ET Now that the steel industry can use biomass through gasification, where the by-product Synthesis gas (Syngas) can be used to produce power, fertilisers, PVCs, sponge iron or methanol and many other liquids like petrol and diesel. However, he laments that installation of a Syngas plant based on biomass is both time-consuming as well as expensive, which makes it difficult for the industry to switch over to biomass directly.
Also the President of the South Indian Cement Manufacturers’ Association, N Srinivasan pointed to lack of incentive to use alternatives of coal, and said that “any government organisation that is involved to make the environment clean by adopting cleaner techniques and natural principle of “polluter to pay” (in supplying alternative types of fuel from wastes), wants an equivalent cost of coal to be paid for using the fuel.”
He questions why local municipal bodies ask for the price of coal to charge the same or an equivalent amount, on calorific value terms, from any industry which uses municipal waste. He terms this policy as a big disincentive for using alternative fuel or waste material, as it completely disregards the principle of “polluter to pay” from the value chain.
THE WAY AHEAD
As use of alternative fuel sources like agricultural and non-agricultural biomass is being considered to substitute use of coal and reduce emissions, the industry has plenty of problems to solve before it can make a successful switch and scale up use of sources of renewable energy. While the importance of round the clock power supply can’t be underscored, raw material disruptions will further raise the cost of construction by increasing steel and cement prices.
Srinivasan cites laws in various nations where cement makers receive compensation in the form of negative fuel costs to dispose off wastes, clarifying that in absence of a government-backed incentive the use of alternative fuel with a low calorific value may not be viable.
