Utilization of Waste for Energy Generation in ClinkerProduction: Environmental Perspective

Meeting the increasing energy need from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas causedtherapid depletion of natural resources. In a world where the need for energy is constantly increasingand resources are getting scarce; it is necessary to ensure the sustainability of energy. Clinkerproduction is a process which require high amount of energy in manufacturing industry. The factthat energy is mostly obtained from coal, which is a non-renewable fuel, puts the future of thesustainability of cement production at risk. Alternative fuel usage plays the most important role inachieving more than one goal, such as protecting natural resources and utilization of waste.In thisstudy, data was obtained from Turkish cement factories which used waste for fuel generation inclicker production in year 2017. The data was evaluated and amount of coal that could be savedannually was calculated. Results revealed that a10934.573TJ of energy was obtained from the useof waste for alternative fuel in 2017 in Turkey thus, it is demonstrated that 918871 tons ofnonrenewable fuel-lignite coal could bepreserved.