Bhutan considers coal alternatives

Bhutan is looking at options to reduce its carbon emissions. Given that the country generates 215t of municipal waste (MW) every day, about 50t of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) could be produced from sorted waste.

In Bhutan, the three integrated cement plants, Dungsam Cement, Penden Cement, and Lhaki Cement produce clinker using rotary kilns with dry-process and consume an average of 500tpd of coal.

Generally, energy costs of fuel and electricity represent 40 per cent of cement manufacturing costs.

In Bhutan, low volume of waste, distance between waste source and cement industries, low production capacity, lack of incentives, and limited technical capacity and guidelines were limitations identified by participants.