FaL-G : The Advanced and Appropriate Technology of the Country

An appropriate technology may be defined as a practice that takes care of resource conservation and ecological welfare through the simultaneous use of local raw materials, preferably generated without any ecological or industrial costs, deploying local workforce to maintain the socio-economic fabric, with techno-economic logistics over the contemporary products in vogue.

A technological advancement in today’s context does not mean merely to resort to mechanisation or automation but primarily to comply with the parameters of sustainable development and ecological welfare which occupy the first place in the global agenda in the current definition of industrialisation.

By virtue of standards cited above, FaL-G technology is the most advanced and appropriate technology, more so in the background of the draft notification dated 22.5.1998 issued by Union Ministry of Environment & Forests that bans clay brick activity with the objectives of top soil conservation.

FaL-G is a composition of flyash, lime and gypsum, that could dispense away with the need of heavy duty press and autoclave for flyash brick/block production, thereby bringing down the multicrore investment cost to a few lakhs. Thus, Fal-G technology, being suitable for cottage and small scale sector, facilitates the rehabilitation of entrepreneurs and artisans from clay brick production to flyash brick industry. FaL-G is a process devoid of any energy requirement it contributes to fuel conservation as well as CO2 abatement.

FaL-G Facts
1.	FaL-G has its antecedents in the cementitious practices of 2000 years ago where volcanic ash was used, proving its durability over millennia
2.	The present strength of over 400 FaL-G brick plants is poised to grow to 10,000 plants on account of overwhelming response throughout the country
3.	The country consumes about 180 billion bricks, exhausting approximately 540 million tons of clay every year, leading to the destruction of about 65 thousand acres of land
4.	FaL-G bricks can be made to order with engineering properties comparable to cement concrete, befitting specailised applications such as canal lining, dam construction, water tanks etc.
5.	The scope of FaL-G is not confined to brick and block but enlarged to structural purposes also when used in blended from with Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC)
6.	By using FaL-G blocks, equivalent to 4 to 8 bricks (depending on size), cement mortar is saved by about 50-65%

The importance of FaL-G technology is to offer cementitious virtues at the price of clay brick. Fal-G can give to the brick a strength as high as 250 kg/sq cm and water absorption of 6% by which the scope of its utilisation is enlarged from the potential 180 billion walling segment to infrastructure applications such as Khadanza pavements, canal linings, construction of minor irrigation projects etc. Thereby, the estimates indicate that in the form of brick alone, both for walling and infrastructure applications, it is possible to put to use the total generation of 90 million tpa of flyash, if conducive administrative support, entrepreneurial development and consumer awareness are channelised.

Fal-G is an eco-friendly product compared to its competitor, the eco-hostile clay brick which is a major cause of soil erosion. The Human Development Report 1998 of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicates that 83 to 163 million hectares of land is eroded every year in India, causing productivity loss of about 4.0 to 6.3% of the total agricultural output annually which is worth of $ 2.4 billion. This data alone gives thrust to the need to switch over from clay brick to alternate walling material.

FaL-G is a down-to-earth technology, offering a product that possesses engineering properties at par with cement concrete but without fouling the price logistics of clay brick. The operation of over 400 plants throughout the country is testimony which is, of course, too small an achievement in the context of the potential for one lakh plants but it summons the need for rapid dissemination at the national level. The government can not remain mute spectator. Hence, it is essential for the government to identify FaL-G as a national product and draw up strategies to tap the vast potential of this appropriate technology.

The basic strategy to promote fly ash utilisation is to take the technology to the doorsteps of entrepreneurs and users rather than confining it to workshops and seminars. On the part of government, instead of drafting directions and notifications, administrative strategies have to be drawn with pragmatic programmes for field applications and demonstrations. The key to success primarily lies in making available flyash as simple as clay and then creating an environment for transformation of clay brick producers into flyash brick manufacturers. q

The authors work in the Institute for
Solid Waste Research & Ecological Balance (INSWAREB), Visakhapatnam.