# What is the energy use of the Ramgarh refractory cluster in Jharkhand?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/ramgarh-refractory-cluster-downdraft-kiln-energy

5,218 toe a year for 34,920 t of refractories across 20 MSMEs firing downdraft kilns, by TERI's 2020-21 study for BEE. Kiln heat is 5,186 toe, over 99%; electricity for raw material processing is just 32 toe. That is about 6.3 GJ for every tonne fired.

## The cluster

- 20 MSMEs, all firing downdraft kilns.
- Refractory bricks, well blocks, ladle nozzles, castables, mortar and cement.
- 34,920 t of product a year.
- Heat 5,186 toe, electricity 32 toe, about 372,000 kWh.

## Which fuel: check your own invoices

The summary's text says these kilns mainly burn coal, while its table lists LDO, furnace oil, HSD and electricity; we follow the table and show both. The difference matters: the same heat from coal carries about a fifth more CO2 than from furnace oil. Your purchase invoices settle it for your kiln.

## What this means for your numbers

With heat at over 99% of the energy, your power bill tells a buyer almost nothing. Kiln fuel per tonne fired is the figure that decides your footprint, and the one any saving will show up in.

## The firing log a buyer can trust

1. Fuel per firing: tonnes of coal by weighbridge slip, or litres of oil by dip and invoice.
2. Tonnes set in the kiln and tonnes passed after firing, by product.
3. Firing hours and peak temperature for each cycle.
4. The month's electricity bill for crushers and mixers.

## Cluster CO2 at FY 2025-26 factors (estimate)

- Heat as coal: 5,186 toe x 41.868 GJ = 217,130 GJ x 94.6 kg = about 20,540 t CO2
- Heat as furnace oil: 217,130 GJ x 77.4 kg = about 16,810 t CO2
- Electricity: 372,160 kWh x 0.675 kg = about 250 t CO2
- Total 17,060 to 20,790 t on 34,920 t = 0.49 to 0.60 t CO2 per tonne fired

Unit count, products, output and energy from SAMEEEKSHA's summary of TERI's 2020-21 study for BEE. Coal at the IPCC 2006 default for bituminous coal and oil at the default for residual fuel oil; CEA FY 2025-26 grid factor.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible reads coal and furnace oil invoices and electricity bills into Scope 1 and 2 lines with CO2, at 1.76 kg per kg of Indian coal and 2.97 kg per litre of furnace oil; divide by tonnes fired for your per tonne figure.

- [Your MSME carbon number](https://senseible.earth/msme-carbon-number)
- [Ranchi refractory cluster CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/ranchi-refractory-cluster-coal-petcoke-co2)
- [Refractory brick footprint per tonne](https://senseible.earth/answers/refractory-brick-carbon-footprint-per-tonne)

Sources: [SAMEEEKSHA, Ramgarh refractory cluster summary (TERI for BEE, 2020-21 data)](https://sameeeksha.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=317&Itemid=502), [IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy](https://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol2.html), [CEA, CO2 Baseline Database for the Indian Power Sector, version 22.0](https://cea.nic.in/cdm-co2-baseline-view?mappingId=234&lang=en)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31.