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

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% (<i>P</i>-value <0.001) and decreased CO<sub>2</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub> emissions by 171 and 0.45 metric tons, respectively, per kiln per year. Valuing the CO<sub>2</sub> 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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2025-05-08
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr7394
Citations
5
Primary Topic
Energy and Environment Impacts
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.52
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article

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

Stephen P. Luby, Shoeb Ahmed, Grant Miller, Moogdho Mahzab et al.
5 citations
Science
Energy and Environment Impacts
2.52
article

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

Stephen P. Luby, Shoeb Ahmed, Grant Miller, Moogdho Mahzab, Nina Brooks, Sameer Maithel, Aprajit Mahajan, Debashish Biswas, Mahbubur Rahman, M. Rofi Uddin
article en
5 citations

Abstract

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% (<i>P</i>-value <0.001) and decreased CO<sub>2</sub> and PM<sub>2.5</sub> emissions by 171 and 0.45 metric tons, respectively, per kiln per year. Valuing the CO<sub>2</sub> 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.

ScienceVol. 388(6747)
Boston University (US), National Bureau of Economic Research (US), International Food Policy Research Institute (US), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BD), International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (BD), Palo Alto Institute (US), Center for Effective Global Action (US), University of California, Berkeley (US), Stanford University (US)
Affordable and clean energy
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Energy and Environment Impacts
2.52
DOISourceOpenAlex
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Reducing emissions and air pollution from informal brick kilns: Evidence from Bangladesh — Stephen P. Luby, Shoeb Ahmed, et al. · Science (2025) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS