Reducing Emissions or Increasing Electric Vehicles?

The photo from here

Basically the main background of the two things above is climate problem due to greenhouse gases, especially CO2 (carbon dioxide), so of course the fundamental answer or priority is to reduce these emissions (greenhouse gases). Electric vehicles can reduce these emissions if the prerequisites are met. The main prerequisite, of course, is where the source of the electrical energy used comes from. If the source of electricity is from fossil energy sources such as oil, coal and natural gas which produce greenhouse gas emissions, in essence the electric vehicle is not environmentally friendly, even though the power plants is far from the use of the electric vehicles.

Electric vehicles should use electricity from renewable energy sources so they don't increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, one of which can be read here. Production of electricity from renewable energy should be encouraged and supported first so that the amount is sufficient and after that only proceed with these electric vehicles. If this is not done, then no matter how many electric vehicles (buses, cars, and electric motorcycles) it will still not have a positive effect on the climate. A comprehensive understanding of the climate problem including its solutions and especially in the field of transportation with electric vehicles is something important, before moving on to the implementation stage.

Carbon capture and storage technology (Carbon Capture and Storage / CCS) has indeed been introduced, but its implementation is still very minimal and expensive so this technology has not been applied in Indonesia, especially in fossil-fuel power plants, the majority of which are coal. A number of CCS technologies that are being tested are amine-based adsorption (organic compounds and functional groups whose contents consist of lone-paired nitrogen atoms) are the most advanced carbon capture technologies. But apart from technical factors, economic factors are still the main obstacle.

So the best choice is to encourage and support as much as possible the use of renewable energy sources as a source of energy for these electric vehicles. If the electric vehicle operates with a renewable energy source that is environmentally friendly because it does not increase CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere or is an effort to decarbonize the transportation sector, then that is essentially a program that is perfectly successful according to the intent and purpose of developing the electric vehicle.

Green Economy in the Cement Industry Part 3

Fly ash is a byproduct or waste of coal power plants. Like slag, fly ash is also an additive or supplement (SCM/supplementary cementious material) in cement production. The difference is that fly ash is very fine so it doesn't need to be refined anymore and can be mixed directly with clinker and gypsum. Every ton of fly ash used prevents about 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) from escaping into the atmosphere. This is in line with the green economy or decarbonization as a climate solution effort for the industry.

Unloading fly ash

As the same with slag, the chemical content of fly ash also influences the quality of the cement produced, for example certain regions or countries have requirements for grade 120 alumina in the slag. Cement with a certain quality can be designed with the use of these additives. In the current era, apart from technical factors such as mechanical strength or cement adhesion, microstructure, durability and so on, and economic factors, environmental friendly product factors are also a concern or have their own positive image. Circular economy in the form of utilizing waste from other industries to become raw materials for this industry, also occurs in the cement industry. And basically the cement industry besides being able to process waste is also a waste destroyer.