Policy Intervention to Reduce Energy Consumption and Mitigate Environmental Emission in Cement Industries of Nepal

Abstract

Nepal is a developing country with huge potential of investment in agriculture, cement and hydropower sector. Industrial development in Nepal is at a pre-mature state and requires lot of technical and financial investment. Cement industry is one of the potential industries to grow in the future, mainly because of the reserved limestone and increasing developmental activities. This study analyzed the energy and environmental implications of implementing best available technologies in cement industries of Nepal by using Long-rand Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP) framework. Production capacity of cement in 2014 is estimated to be 2.46 million MT which is expected reach 25.41 million MT by 2030. The final energy demand for the base year, 2014 is 5.4 PJ. It would increase to 13.69 PJ, 16.91 PJ and 25.67 PJ in 2030, under normal (BAU), medium growth (MG) and high growth (HG) scenarios respectively. Compared to the BAU scenario, the cumulative energy demand would increase by 21.46% for MG scenario and 78.00% for HG scenario during 2014 to 2030. The CO 2 emission for the base year 2014 is estimated to be 365.40 thousand MT. It would increase to 1,540.70 thousand MT, 2,292.90 thousand MT and 4105.60 thousand MT in 2030, under BAU, MG and HG, respectively. Compared to the BAU scenario the cumulative CO 2 emission would grow as high as 78.06% under HG scenario. This indicates the need for introducing the energy efficient and low carbon technologies to address the issues related to energy supply security and environmental degradation. This study also analyzed the three policy intervention scenarios consisting of introduction of efficient technology (EFF) scenario, CO 2 emission mitigation (MIT) scenario and waste heat recovery for power generation (WHRPG) scenario. Under EFF scenario, the cumulative energy consumption would decrease by 11.67% during 2014 to 2030 as compared to the BAU scenario. Likewise, CO 2 emission would decrease by 33.64% under MIT scenario as compared to the BAU. Under WHRPG scenario, there would be cumulative electricity generation of 1,446.31 GWh worth NRs. 9.11 billion as compared to the BAU scenario during the study period. This study also indicates the need of formulating appropriate energy efficiency and climate change related policies of the country.