Re-designing Brick Kilns
Traditional coal-fired brick kilns in Bangladesh are responsible for 11% of the country’s annual PM2.5 emissions and 17% of annual CO2 emissions – making them a leading national contributor to air pollution, as well as a key global driver of climate change. Across South Asia, total annual emissions from brick kilns are roughly equivalent to those produced annually by the entire US passenger car fleet. The health effects are devastating: the air pollution generated by brick kilns results in respiratory symptoms for nearby populations, child pneumonia, and an estimated 6,000 premature adult deaths in Bangladesh a year. Brick making can also negatively impact agricultural productivity by degrading soil health; as farmers sell soil to brick manufacturers, they can see 40-80% reductions in crop productivity, impacting local food security.
Stanford researchers identified improving the efficiency of coal combustion within these brick kilns as a feasible step for both public health and climate mitigation.
Innovations that improve efficiency are a low-cost strategy that can also circumvent challenges with government regulation (difficult for informal industries like brick manufacturing) and can lower production costs for producers while improving working conditions.
After first tracing an increase in child pneumonia in Bangladesh to pollution from brick kilns 20 years ago, Stanford researchers, led by the Luby Lab, have pursued research, partnerships, and strategies to better understand the challenge and opportunities for solutions. Together with local partners, including the icddr,b, Greentech Knowledge Solutions, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), and the Bangladesh Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Stanford researchers have identified operational improvements and recommend best practices for implementing these improvements through delivering technical training to brick manufacturers and communicating cost-savings benefits.
While it’s ultimately important to develop and scale the use of more sustainable building materials, improving the efficiency of brick kilns today is a potent harm-reduction strategy that protects the environment and health while still supporting local livelihoods. As Stanford researchers have found, focusing on low-cost interventions that brick manufacturers are incentivized to adopt because of profitability improvements is the most promising strategy to reduce the environmental and health impacts of an enormous part of the Bangladesh economy. So far, 65% of brick kilns in Stanford studies have adopted recommended efficiency interventions, resulting in over 20% reductions in both CO2 and PM2.5 emissions, as well as a nearly 20% improvement in production of high-quality bricks.
Learn more about icddr,b’s success in reducing air pollution from brick kilns in Bangladesh: