Displaying items by tag: Alternative Fuels
Pakistan cement industry demands tax cuts
03 March 2014Pakistan: The All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) has asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to exclude cement from the 'Third schedule' of the Sales Tax act or to fix the maximum retail price (MRP) on the basis of two different zones in the upcoming budget of 2014 - 2015.
In a letter to the FMR chairman the APCMA said, that as the dynamics of every province and region are different, collection of sales tax on the basis of a single MRP across the country would force producers to restrict sales to nearby markets. It added that this would restrict sales to further-away markets reducing the potential revenues the FBR could collect.
The APCMA has proposed a zone-based MRP to protect both local consumers from paying excess prices and producers from paying more to sell cement in outlying markets. It also asked the FBR to introduce a uniform tax rate for the corporate sector.
Cement in Pakistan is subject to various taxes including: Corporate Income Tax - 34% of taxable income; Minimum tax – 1% of turnover; Federal excise duty (FED) – US$3.8/t; and Sales Tax 17% of the MRP. The APCMA has also proposed removing the FED and reducing the duty on alternative fuels to zero. Further suggestions included restoring the initial allowance on plants and machinery to 50% (from 25% at present) to encourage production capacity development and reducing import taxes on raw materials and capital goods for industrial development from 5 to 1%.
Environmental group challenges permit for Lafarge
14 February 2014Slovenia: A local environmental non-government organisation (NGO), Eko Krog, which has been fighting Lafarge in the city of Trbovlje for years, has launched a challenge to the environmental permit issued to Lafarge in January 2014.
Eko Krog stated that that the basis for issuing the environmental permit for the operations of the cement factory was flawed and that the permit will result in new pollution in the Trbovlje valley. It has appealed to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, which will now have to review the Environment Agency's (ARSO) decision to issue the permit.
ARSO said that the permit for unlimited cement production at the plant meets EU rules. However, Eko Krog has branded the decision was flawed, as key potential emissions were omitted, including those generated at the nearby quarry. Eko Krog also claimed that the documentation for the permit contains other flaws, including the failure to respect all of the recommendations of internationally-adopted standards for use of the best technology in the cement industry.
It is unclear how long the review of the permit by the relevant ministry will take, but Eko Krog has already once succeeded in having Lafarge stripped of the permit. Lafarge first received the permit in 2009, at which time it had invested Euro33m in upgrades, but its plans to use alternative fuels in its kiln subsequently prompted anger among locals and led to the successful challenge of the permit by Eko Krog in 2011. As a result, the plant had to scale down operations, making the January 2014 decision by the Environment Agency a major victory for Lafarge.
The plant responded to the decision by labelling it a first step in restarting cement production and obtaining a permit for the use of alternative fuels, which would be crucial for Lafarge's sustainability in Slovenia.
A TEC supplies equipment for Messebo Building Materials Production
06 November 2013Ethiopia: A TEC has released progress information on contracts to provide an alternative fuel system, which can process sesame straw and stalks, and a cement big-bag filling station for Messebo Building Materials Production in Mekelle. Both commissions were awarded in the first quarter of 2013 and local manufacturing and the erection will be performed by Mesfin Industrial Engineering PLC, a sister company of Messebo.
Installation of the alternative fuels system will start in the fourth quarter of 2013 with a planned start-up in the first quarter of 2014. Collection and preparation of straw and the production of bales will take place at Kafta Humera. The first phase of the project includes building a baling capacity of 50t/hr and an alternative fuel feeding capacity to the calciner of 10t/hr at the cement plant in Mekelle. A future upgrade, phase two, will scale the system up to a baling capacity of 71t/hr and an alternative fuel feeding capacity of 20t/hr.
The new station for big-bag filling will be installed at the cement plant in Mekelle. The system will consist of three filling stations in modular design. Each station can handle 15 bags/hr. A total number of 45 big-bags/hr with an overall capacity of 90t/hr can be reached. The big-bag filling station will be installed and commissioned at the end of 2013.
Losing energy in Egypt
05 June 2013ASEC Cement CEO Giorgio Bodo has cited security, fuel scarcity and general instability as the challenges facing cement producers in Egypt.
The comments came with the announcement that ASEC Minya had started clinker production at its 2Mt/yr Minya plant. In the news report ASEC congratulated itself on reaching clinker production within 28 months. Construction originally began in December 2010, just before the Egyptian Revolution of early 2011 occurred.
Bodo's comments will come as no surprise to delegates of the recent Global CemTrader conference which took place on 23 – 24 May 2013 in London, UK. In his presentation on current political unrest in the Arab countries and the implications for the cement industry, Bodo outlined seismic changes to the Egyptian cement market. As per his comments with the Minya announcement, challenges included the loss of fuel subsidies, fuel shortages, oversupply of cement and a decline in export prices. However, the overall picture was a mixed one. Bodo expected growth to be driven by growing political stability, increased government and private-sector spending, new development projects coming on-line, new export opportunities and other reasons.
Meanwhile, battles over the energy costs and supply in Egypt became public this week when Jose Maria Magrina, the CEO of Arabian Cement Company (ACC) implored the government to help cement producers move away from using natural gas, by removing operating licenses and speeding up the granting of environmental permits. Around the same time a member of the Federation of Egyptian Industries revealed that the government plans to increase the price of natural gas by over 75% for cement producers by 2016. Eventually the cement industry will be expected to source its energy needs independently.
Misr Cement announced in May 2013 that it too was preparing to use coal following a 14-hour shutdown of its kilns due to a shortage of mazot (heavy duty fuel oil). Figures with the ACC release stated that energy shortages have caused the cement industry in Egypt an effective loss of 20% (3.7Mt) of its production capacity since February 2013, with a 25% loss for ACC (350,000t). Suez Cement has also confirmed that it too has cut production by 20 - 30% so far in 2013. ¬
Unsurprisingly in this situation the alternative fuels sector has shown considerable interest in Egypt as Dirk Lechtenberg, MVW Lechtenberg & Partner, reports in the June 2013 issue of Global Cement Magazine [LINK]. Agricultural waste such as rice straw has shown potential as an alternative fuel for cement kilns. Refuse-derived fuels present a harder challenge given competition from the informal economy scavenging through rubbish tips.
Despite the many problems facing local cement producers, Egypt's compound annual growth rate in expected to be 3% for the next five years. In addition it was recently announced by the Minister of investments that Brazilian investors intend to invest US$2bn into the local cement sector.
Cemex to step up Egyptian environmental performance
05 June 2013Egpyt: The Mexican cement giant Cemex has said it plans to invest US$100m to expand its operations in Egypt. The planned investments were discussed in a meeting between Sergio Menendez, President of Cemex in Egypt, and Yehia Hamed, Egyptian Minister of Investment.
The investment will allow Cemex to 'significantly improve its operations in Egypt and continue supporting the country's housing, commercial and infrastructure development, according to the company.
New environmental equipment will be installed to reduce emissions of pollutants and increase the use of alternative fuels. "Cemex is constantly providing industry-leading building solutions that help improve the well-being of the people of Egypt," said Menendez. "This investment is expected to support the sustainable development of Egypt for many generations."
Cemex said that more than 250,000t of waste have been processed into alternative fuels in Egypt since 2000. "In 2010 Cemex inaugurated a new US$12m dust filter equipped with the latest technology to reduce emissions in its Assiut cement plant," said Cemex.
Goa plant to go-ahead with waste fuels
05 June 2013India: The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a cement company to use the plastic waste generated across the state as fuel for its manufacturing plant. Vasavadatta Cement, a company with its plant in Karnataka, would procure the plastic waste collected by the state agencies and villages in Goa.
State Environment Minister Alina Saldanha said that the plastic waste collected from the highways and other internal roads would be baled before being handed over to the cement company. Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation, a state run agency, has already taken up the task of collecting garbage from the highways, while villages would be asked to clean up their own roads.
"Two baling machines have already been installed one each in North and South Goa to treat the plastic before handing it over to the cement company," said GSPCB Chairman Jose Manuel Noronha. "The state requires six such machines to bale all of its plastic waste."
Cemex shows the alternative way in Germany
15 May 2013Congratulations to Cemex for their work on alternative fuels in Germany. In April 2013 Cemex reached an alternative fuels substitution rate of over 80% at its German cement plants, with the Kollenbach plant beating 90%. Impressive stuff.
The German cement industry as a whole is already one of the leaders in the industry for alternative fuels use, reaching levels above 60% in 2010. This compares favourably with, for example, the UK's (high) rate of 40% in 2011 and the Cembureau average rate of 28% for its 27 European member states in 2009.
To show how fast the change in alternative fuels usage has been in Germany, in 2000 the rate was around 25%. For Cembureau members it was about 10.5% in 2000. Cemex's achievement at Kollenbach even surpasses HeidelbergCement's alternative fuels rate of 85% that it achieved across the border in 2011, at its Eerste Nederlandse Cement Industrie (ENCI) plant in the Netherlands.
Globally, Cemex seems likely to meet its 2015 target of 35% alternative fuels substitution rate. The other large multinational cement producers have similar plans in place. For example, Lafarge intends to reach 50% usage by 2020.
For more information on the German cement industry, read our feature 'Germany: A modern force in cement' in the May 2013 issue of Global Cement Magazine.
This week we present the 100th issue of Global Cement Weekly, Global Cement's weekly cement industry news digest. To mark the occasion we would like to know what you think about what we are doing. Let us know by taking the Global Cement Reader Survey 2013. All completed submissions will be entered in a draw to win an iPad Mini.
Germany: Cemex achieved an alternative fuels substitution rate of 82.6% for its cement plants in Germany in April 2012. According to a press release, this is the first country that the Mexico-based multinational cement producer operates in to reach this level. Its Kollenbach cement plant in Beckum, Germany, averaged a 90.9% substitution rate for the month.
"Beyond significantly reducing fuel costs, our expanding use of alternative fuels fosters the sustainable management of our earth's natural resources," said Eric Wittman, president of Cemex in Germany. "In April 2012, our Kollenbach plant replaced 12,000t of coal with refuse-derived fuel, bone meal and old tires."
In 2012, Cemex reached an alternative fuel substitution rate of 27.1%. Overall, the company's alternative fuel strategy enabled it to avoid the use of 2.3Mt of coal and the emission of 1.8Mt of CO2.
Canada: Lafarge Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environmental Policy and Carbon Management Canada have announced that they are investing more than US$8m to develop the use of alternative fuels at Lafarge Canada's cement plant in Bath, Ontario. This multi-partner initiative intends to produce low-emission, low-carbon fuels from local supplies such as construction and demolition site debris (wood based), railway ties, and other energy containing materials that aren't presently recycled.
"We are delighted to bring this world-class demonstration initiative to the Canadian cement industry. We believe that this project is exactly in line with our mission of building better cities by lowering our carbon footprint, making use of local fuel supplies and creating local sustainable jobs," said Bob Cartmel, President and Chief Executive Officer in Eastern Canada for Lafarge Canada Inc.
According to figures released by Lafarge, the Canadian cement industry currently emits about 3.8% of the country's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and about 30 - 40% of those emissions are due to fossil fuel use.
Carbon Management Canada (CMC), a network of Centres of Excellence that supports research to reduce CO2 emissions, is providing a US$400,000 grant over three years to a research team working on the project. Natural Resources Canada is awarding US$2.68m to Lafarge Canada to construct a full-scale demonstration plant. Other project partners include Pollution Probe, WWF Canada, Queen's University, the Cement Association of Canada, Mesa Bioenergy, Scott Environmental and Rail Link, a Metis company.
Holcim Lebanon to burn expired pharmaceuticals
20 March 2013Lebanon: Holcim has been named by the Environment Ministry as the country's sole disposer of pharmaceutical waste, according to a press release. The ministry issued a permit to the company to burn the drugs in its cement kiln. Holcim is in the process of destroying hundreds of tons of expired pharmaceuticals in the kiln at its factory in Shekka, in the north of Lebanon.
The drugs that are to be burnt were discovered during investigations that uncovered hundreds of tonnes of expired medicinal goods around the country. Officials sought a responsible way to dispose of the material and discovered that they could be used as an alternative fuel for a cement kiln. The high temperatures (~1500°C) in the kiln ensure that organic materials are completely destroyed during combustion.