The 120,000 brick kilns scattered across South Asia release huge amounts of greenhouse gases and black carbon into the atmosphere. Commonly known as soot, black carbon is the second biggest global warming pollutant after carbon dioxide; it affects health and visibility and accelerates the melting of Himalayan snow and ice. The brickmaking process is highly energy- and labor-intensive. In South Asia, bricks are mostly hand-molded and then baked in fixed chimney bull’s trench kilns (FCBTKs). In recent years, mechanized brick making plants and other varieties of kilns have been introduced, such as tunnel kilns, the Hoffman kiln, the modified FCBTK, the zigzag, and the vertical shaft brick kiln technology (VSBK). Earlier attempts to introduce mechanized brick making and brick baking had not been successful because of operational and adaptability problems.

Most FCBTKs emit thick black smoke that contains pollutants (carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, black carbon, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides) and fine particulate matter, which present serious health hazards  to surrounding communities, causing human illnesses and destroying animal and plant life.

After the 2015 Nepal earthquake, The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), along with FNBI and MinErgy and with support from the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), published an engineered design manual for zigzag brick firing. (CheRN also supported this initiative separately.) The manual became popular with brick kiln owners as the technique improved brick quality and reduced coal consumption considerably. It also lowered emissions. Many entrepreneurs from Nepal and other South Asian countries are eager to learn zigzag brick firing for improved business, environment, and health.

Projects

1. Mitigating black carbon and other pollutants from brick production

ICIMOD works to promote the Asia regional Brick Kilns Policy and Advocacy Network with regional policy and capacity building activities. The goal is to provide decision makers, national governments, and sub-national entities with tools, information, and programmatic support to develop comprehensive policy frameworks to improve brick kiln conditions.

2. Clean Brick Initiative

The Nepal Clean Brick Initiative intends to transform Nepal’s brick sector into a cleaner and healthier industry and to reduce negative environmental impacts. It expects entrepreneurs and government policymakers to adopt cleaner brick-making technologies. To do so, it works closely with policymakers to develop a regulatory framework acceptable to both the producer and consumers. It also works closely with the private sector to improve local technical capacity in the design, manufacture, mechanization, efficient operation, and maintenance of energy-efficient brick kilns, and limit the personal exposure of laborers by improving their working conditions. The initiative will share best practices from Nepal with other countries in the region and vice versa.

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