Fly ash, a waste product of thermal power plants which is available in large quantities world over as 40% of the world’s power and about 65% of India’s power is generated in these thermal power plants using coal/lignite as raw material. Fly ash is a residual product of coal/lignite after combustion. This fly ash when stored in the ash ponds under dry condition can become air born, causing air pollution and thus resulting in serious health hazards.

Fly ash brick is a gift of modern engineering and an answer to many such environmental concerns today as these are made of fly ash, a non toxic residue of thermal power plants. A fly ash brick contains fly ash to the extent of about 60% and other components are gypsum, lime and coarse sand which also can alternatively be used in combination of cement and coarse sand. This eco friendly brick works in a variety of ways to conserve the different aspects of the environment.

Firstly by using the residual product as its main ingredient, it solves the problem of safe disposal of the waste as once this ash is converted into solid blocks there is no leaching of any type into the ground water. Secondly it does not create any air pollution or soil degradation as no baking/heating or even excavation is required in its manufacturing and processing, which is otherwise inevitable in conventional clay bricks. Thirdly the energy consumption while manufacturing is also minimal and what ever minimal energy is use is electricity and not fossil fuel. Thus there is no consumption of any fossil fuel or resulting emission of any of the greenhouse gases which is the major cause of global warming. The multiple environment conservational aspects in terms of controlling air pollution, soil degradation, underground water contamination and usage of fossil fuels thus marks the fly bricks high on eco friendly rating.

Not only this but these eco friendly bricks are also consumer friendly as they save up to seven to eight per cent of the building cost because of their bigger size where in one fly ash brick can replace up to eight clay bricks. The uniform structure of the bricks and larger size further cuts down the amount of mortar or the binding mixture which is used for structure construction, thus making it further more economical. The neat and uniform structure of each such brick makes it possible to do without the plastering of the walls without even compromising on the aesthetic aspect. Fly ash bricks are also lighter in weight by 10 per cent as compared to clay bricks, as they absorb less water than the normal clay bricks which adds on to their structural strength. The compressive strength of these bricks is more than 100 kg /sq.cm. These eco-friendly bricks are also easy on the pocket of the consumers as they are not very expensive and are available at almost comparable cost to that of the conventional clay bricks.

Dadri power station of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPW) which has been certified for both ISO 14001 and ISO 9002 has an Ash Technology Park within the plant premises where one of the product produced from fly ash is the fly ash bricks which conforms to IS 12894. Thus the next time when you plan for any construction whether commercial or residential do keep in mind the environmental cost involved apart from the financial cost and opt for the fly ash bricks which are easy on both the environment and your pocket, making your living more meaningful just by making the right choice.