Assessment of Carbon Footprint for the Bricks Manufactured in Bangladesh

To meet the ever-increasing demand for construction materials for various development projects and for the housing of growing population, the brick production trend is always upward. However, emission from brick industries is a significant concern, particularly in a developing country like Bangladesh. Carbon Footprint (CF) is an important and widely used environmental indicator defined as the equivalent carbon dioxide emitted into the environment from the direct or indirect activities linked with the manufacturing process of a product. This study reports a detailed evaluation of CF of brick technologies and compares comprehensive carbon efficiency of different types of kilns currently operating in Bangladesh from the perspective of Carbon Footprint analysis. A field survey of six different types of brick kilns was conducted to collect information regarding fuel, electricity, soil, and water used in various operations of the brick manufacturing process. The assessment was carried out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines. Among the four different technologies, two Zigzag kilns showed the lowest CF values, 217.561 gm CO2-eq/kg fired brick and 218.798 gm CO2-eq/kg fired brick, accordingly, for the production of 100,000 bricks. In comparison, the two Fixed-Chimney Kilns (FCK) obtained a higher value of 291.096 gm CO2-eq/kg and 265.547 gm CO2-eq/kg. Despite being the most efficient technology, Tunnel Kiln showed a higher CF value than Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHK). Their CF values are 284.170 gm CO2-eq/kg fired brick and 266.795 gm CO2-eq/kg fired brick, respectively. This study also identified HHK with the lowest CF value of 203.768 gm CO2-eq/kg if fired with natural gas. Being the first carbon footprint study of the brick industry of Bangladesh as per the authors’ knowledge, this paper aims to help policymakers taking appropriate policy interventions to progress specifically in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goal 10, i.e., take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.