Life Cycle Energy Assessment of a Typical Marble Processing Plant

Abstract

This article describes how marble is one of the most important stone resources in terms of durability. It is aesthetically pleasing, and a decorative material used by many architects, as well as plays an important role in the economy of India. Most of the marble processing activities are performed by small and medium scale industries (SMEs) not only in India but worldwide. These industries have low efficiency and productivity due to lack of new technologies, high productivity cost and a lack of proper sustainable waste management systems, thereby increasing the waste generated during the processing stage. There is a significant need within the sector for increasing production efficiency, combined with the need of a substantial reduction in waste generated that can be achieved by endorsing technological innovations. This is in addition to following best available processing practices, incorporating energy saving technologies and modernizing the sectors management and organization structure which will substantially increase efficiency as well as production. This article provides a systematic approach for assessing the current energy and present environment status of a typical SME processing units of Rajasthan area, and proposes measures for meeting cleaner production principles. An evaluation methodology was developed considering the realistic plant operation scenarios. The total energy inputs for processing the products with their appropriate environmental indices like CO2 emissions were calculated. Alternatively, the CO2 emissions were also calculated by Gabi educational software for different industries and the best way of reducing the energy consumption is suggested by following alternate source of energy.