Reducing emissions and air pollution from informal brick kilns: Evidence from Bangladesh

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Brooks, Nina; Biswas, Debashish; Maithel, Sameer; Miller, Grant; Mahajan, Aprajit; Uddin, M. Rofi; Ahmed, Shoeb; Mahzab, Moogdho; Rahman, Mahbubur; Luby, Stephen P.
• 署名单位: Boston University; International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR); Stanford University; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET); CGIAR; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Stanford University; University of Western Australia
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-8477
• DOI: 10.1126/science.adr7394
• 发表日期: 2025-05-08
• 关键词: DEVELOPING-COUNTRIES; sector; balance; stoves

摘要

We present results from a randomized controlled trial in Bangladesh that introduced operational practices to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in 276 zigzag brick kilns. Of all intervention kilns, 65% adopted the improved practices. Treatment assignment reduced energy use by 10.5% (P-value <0.001) and decreased CO2 and PM2.5 emissions by 171 and 0.45 metric tons, respectively, per kiln per year. Valuing the CO2 reductions using a social cost of carbon of 185 USD per metric ton, we find that the social benefits outweigh costs by a factor of 65 to 1. The intervention, which required no new capital investment, also decreased fuel costs and increased brick quality. Our results demonstrate the potential for privately profitable, as well as publicly beneficial, improvements to address environmental problems in informal industries.