Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide US$ 50 million to Bangladesh to improve the environment by financing more energy-efficient brick kilns in the country.
A loan agreement to this effect was signed at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Wednesday.
Senior Secretary of ERD Iqbal Mahmood and ADB country representative M Teresa Kho signed the agreement for Bangladesh and ADB respectively.
The ADB and Financial Institutions Division under the Ministry of Finance will be the executing agency and the Bangladesh Bank the implementing agency of the project to be implemented during 2012-2015 period.
Under the project, ADB will provide US$50 million in local currency to the Bangladesh Bank which will re-lend the funds to participating financial institutions (FIs). The FIs will then provide loans to brick makers seeking to upgrade their existing kilns to cleaner kinds of kilns or to those looking to build the cleaner kilns for the first time.
“Brick-making is one of the industries that generates large amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases,” said ADB country director M. Teresa Kho. “By helping brick makers to switch to cleaner kinds of kilns, the air in Bangladesh will be cleaner and people’s health much improved,” she added.
The brick sector contributes around one percent of the Bangladesh economy. However, it is highly polluting, burning at least six million tons of coal and emitting about 9.8 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year, largely because most of Bangladesh’s estimated 5,000 brick fields use the highly polluting fixed chimney kilns.
A fixed chimney kiln uses 240 tons of coal and emits 582 tons of CO2 per million bricks produced. This compares with the cleanest tunnel chimney which uses only 100-120 tons of coal and produces 291 tons of CO2.
As part of efforts to reduce pollution and coal use, the Bangladesh government has already passed a ruling that no new yearly licenses for fixed chimney kilns will be renewed after September 2012 and banning all such kilns from September 2013.
BBN/SSR/AD-21June12-10:20 am (BST)
