Even as the Central Government has tightened norms for cement industry emissions, an ongoing Indo-Swiss collaboration since 2005 is researching less energy intensive “LC3” cement which has reached a stage where it can be tested for feasibility in construction. India is the first country where LC3 is being tested in the laboratory and in the field on a large scale.
Swiss Ambassador Linus von Castelmur told The Hindu that the collaboration project since 2005 was a practical one to jointly develop climate change adaptation. “We have been looking for high impact solutions on low carbon as part of our global programme on climate change project ,” he said.
The research project involving the Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, and three Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Delhi, Madras and Mumbai, and Technology and Action for Rural Development (TARA) showcased the results to industries recently in the capital.
“We would like to see low carbon cement become the standard eventually,” Dr. von Castelmur said.
The project funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation has a provision of $5 million in the next three years as it goes into a more intensive phase of trial production.
The research will be validated by three countries involved in scientific research-India, Switzerland and Cuba. The project proposes standards similar to what is being discussed in the European Union and seems to have evinced a lot of interest in the industry which wants to try out the new product.
AdvantagesShashank Bishnoi, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Delhi, said the new cement was less energy intensive by 30 per cent and had other advantages. “We are testing this in a construction site and have built a two-storeyed building in Jhansi,” he said. The industry too seems keen for once. S. P. Pandey, Executive Director of Dalmia Bharat, said, “Less energy intensive cement is a technology of the future specially when there is a scarcity of limestone, the new process allows us to use less of it.
The clinker factor will be reduced and the cost of cement production will be lower and carbon emissions will be less. We are looking 10 years ahead in terms of conserving limestone.”
LC3 or Limestone Calcined Clay Cement, substitutes up to half of the carbon intensive materials and has the potential to generate 30 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions compared to traditional cement, a major reduction since cement today accounts for 5-8 per cent of man-made emissions, a statement said.
