Environmental research

Brick remains one of the most important building martial used everywhere. Along with the economic development in Vietnam, the need of infrastructure construction increases, leading to strong growth of the construction industry, including brick industry. Brick industry is one of the largest industries which generate much employment and income. In Vietnam, brick sector is traditionally a small and family-based industry and common in rural areas. By the year 1998, there were about over 300 enterprises of brick making (this does not include more than 1,000 private units). Based on the ownership, these enterprises are divided into two kinds: state sector (about 100 units) and non-state sector (about 200 units) (NEDCEN 2000). The non-state units, including the medium, small and family-based enterprises, produce annually about 700 - 800 million pieces, accounting for over 70% total brick production. However, there is growing concern about the environmental impact of this industry. Brick sector is the largest single contributor to pollution in the building material industry. All types of energy consumption for the brick sector manufacturing process cause negative impact to the environment because of their inefficient energy use and reliance on fossil fuel as the main source of energy. Traditional intermittent kilns, using coal of low quality and containing high sulphur content, are used for brick making in Vietnam. Brick making has been identified as a sector with high energy conservation and efficiency potential. Among the energy efficient and environmentally sound technology brick kilns available and being developed, the vertical shaft brick kiln (VSBK), which was developed in China, is claimed to consume less energy for burning bricks and is also less polluting. Efforts to refine this technology have been made at the Energy Research Institute of the Henan Academy of Sciences at Zhengzhou. These pioneering efforts have resulted in recommendations on an optimum design offering high energy efficiency, better quality brick production and high economic viability of production. The project meets the goal of GEF/SGP by reducing greenhouse gas emission from brick making through developing a model of vertical shaft brick kiln, demonstrating the effectiveness in energy saving and efficiency. The project will focus on technology transfer and awareness raising on environmental protection and sustainable energy use for brick makers. It will be carried out in Xuan Quang, a commune in Van Giang district, Hung Yen Province. Family scale producers keeps the most important role in brick making in the area. Environmental impact of brick making has attracted considerable attention and strict action by the local environment authorities. The local government has issued a local decree severely restricting the polluting brick kilns. Considering the importance of brick making, great attention is also paid to abate pollution by promoting application of new technologies. Due to the lack of information on energy conservation technologies, low public awareness of environmental issues, and especially the strong lack of projects which demonstrate the effectiveness of energy conservation technologies, new technologies on energy conservation and efficiency in brick making have not been adopted. The project develops the model, which has the potential to be largely replicated in other localities in Vietnam where brick kilns have been operated.

Vietnam