Displaying items by tag: Government
Kyrgyzstan: The state-owned Bishkek heat and power plant has secured a US$437,000 contract to supply its waste ash and slag to two cement plants in Kemin, Chüy Region. The cement producers party to the contract will be responsible for extraction and transport, commencing in August 2024.
The Bishkek heat and power plant has previously invested US$280,000 in clearing its waste dump. The government says that it has also received interest from a China-based autoclave aerated concrete blocks producer in its waste.
Cementos Portland Valderrivas' Alcalá de Guadaíra cement plant to raise alternative raw materials and alternative fuels use
30 January 2024Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas' Alcalá de Guadaíra plant has secured environmental clearance to use more alternative raw materials and alternative fuels (AF) in its cement production.
The company said "This achievement is a further boost to our sustainable work practices, respecting the environment and contributing to combatting climate change."
Portland Cement Association expects US economy to weaken in first half of 2024 before recovery
26 January 2024US: Portland Cement Association (PCA) chief economist and senior vice president of market intelligence Ed Sullivan forecast a recovery of the US economy in the second half of 2024 at the World of Concrete conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. However, Sullivan told attendees that the economy will ‘gradually weaken’ in the first half of the year. The anticipated weakening is compounded by the end of Covid-19 relief programmes, delayed monetary policy effects and credit tightening. Supporting growth throughout the year are some of the US$550bn infrastructure investments under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. The US government says that 40,000 new projects under the act are either in progress or completed.
Ed Sullivan said "In terms of the construction outlook, there will be a battle between interest sensitive construction sectors and less interest sensitive construction activity such as infrastructure spending and the construction of large manufacturing plants associated with the CHIPS and Science Act."
Carbon capture for the US cement sector, January 2024
24 January 2024It has been a busy week for carbon capture in the cement sector with Global Cement covering five stories. However, increasingly, the topic has become a regular feature in the press as the industry bends to the demands of the carbon agenda. This week’s selection is notable because three of the stories cover North America.
Holcim US announced that it is working with Ohio State University and GTI Energy to design, build and test engineering-scale membrane carbon capture technology at the Holly Hill cement plant in South Carolina. The information builds on an earlier release from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) in late December 2023 about the project. It has a total budget of US$9m, with US$7m supplied by the DOE. It plans to build a 3t/day CO2 capture unit that uses a method intended to retain 95 - 99% of CO2 from cement kiln gas with a purity exceeding 95%. The new information at this stage is that GTI Energy is involved. Specifically, it will support the development of the pilot skid for site deployment.
The other two stories from North America are worth noting because they both concern commercial equipment or technology suppliers joining up to work together. First, 10 companies - Biomason, Blue Planet Systems, Brimstone, CarbonBuilt, Chement, Fortera, Minus Materials, Queens Carbon, Sublime Systems, and Terra CO2 - announced they were launching the Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance (DC2). The group’s principal aim is to lobby the US government toward using new low-carbon cement and concrete products in public infrastructure. It also intends to look at advocacy and public sector engagement including expanded tax credits, development of standards for novel cements, consistent ecolabeling and accounting, and customer demand support. DC2 was formally launched in January 2024 but it follows previous work by the companies in the area. The other related story was a memorandum of understanding that Aker Carbon Capture and MAN Energy Solutions have also signed this week to jointly pursue opportunities related to carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and CO2 compression in the North American market. These two companies have worked on the full-scale CCUS unit at Norcem’s Brevik cement plant, which is due to be commissioned later in 2024. They are likely intending to capitalise on the publicity that is likely to be generated once it officially starts up.
Back in North America the DC2 Alliance noted in its press release the DOE’s release of its Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement report in September 2023. Although it is similar to many other varied sector roadmaps, including the Portland Cement Association’s Road to Net Zero that was released in 2021, this document is well worth reading due to its details and local market context. The headline figure, for example, is that following a set of pathways to fully decarbonise the US cement industry would cost US$60 - 120bn by 2050. Doing so would involve reducing the clinker factor, improving energy efficiency, increased use of alternative fuels, using CCUS, using alternative feedstocks and adopting alternatives to traditional cement production methods.
Graph 1: US active cement kilns by capacity and age. Source: PCA survey data used in Department of Energy Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement report.
One other interesting tidbit to consider from the report is an analysis of the age of the US cement sector’s kilns versus their production capacity as shown in Graph 1 above. The largest 10 kilns in the country account for 22% of the country’s total capacity and these were all built after 2000. Then, the next 44% of the national capacity comes from 38 kilns out of a total of 120 kilns at 98 cement plants. The report itself does not make this assertion but the implication is that retrofitting CCUS units at one third of the country’s clinker lines would capture the CO2 being emitted from two-thirds of the sector’s production capacity. This is not to say that this could actually work technically, logistically or economically. Yet seeing the scale of the challenge presented in this way is fascinating and one starts to have thoughts about how a retrofit roll-out of CCUS units might actually be approached.
Whether the cement sector adopts CCUS at scale remains to be seen but demonstration projects are definitely coming in both Europe and North America. The DOE report from September 2023 suggests that decarbonisation will cost a lot of money. No surprises there and, as ever, there is rather less detail on who will actually pay for this. One thing that might help here, that the DOE report mentions frequently, is the 45Q carbon capture tax credit scheme, which was introduced by the Trump administration in 2020. Regardless of the potential bill for consumers of cement though, the suppliers are clearly taking note of the investment potential as evidenced by all the non-cement plant CCUS news stories this week.
China: The Ministry of Environment and Ecology has enacted new requirements for ultra-low emissions clinker production in the Chinese cement industry. OPIS News Alerts has reported that 50% of clinker production capacity (850Mt/yr) must conform with the standard by 2025, rising to 80% by 2028. The standard encompasses the whole value chain, from raw materials production to transport of the finished product. The ministry expects the regulations, together with similar ones for the coking sector, to reduce domestic CO2 emissions by 10Mt/yr. In the cement sector, the new requirements will intersect with upcoming emissions trading scheme (ETS), which is expected to come online by 2025.
The Ministry of Environment and Ecology said “Oversupply and a persistent demand lull has resulted in declining profit and lower operating rates for the cement industry in China for the past three years. Setting up low emission standards and providing policy incentives for production with higher efficiency and lower environmental impact will help promote green transformation within the industry, while driving out inefficient capacities.”
Afrimat acquisition of Lafarge South Africa draws closer
24 January 2024South Africa: Mining and materials company Afrimat says that further regulatory conditions as part of its ongoing acquisition of Lafarge South Africa have been met. The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of South Africa has consented in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank has approved the acquisition in terms of the Exchange Control Regulations and the respective Competition Authorities in Botswana and eSwatini have approved the implementation of the acquisition. Approval by the Competition Commission is still outstanding but it recommended the transaction to the Competition Tribunal in November 2023. However, the Competition Commission highlighted ‘horizontal overlaps’ in the aggregates and ready-mix concrete sectors and recommended that the parties be required to divest assets across the affected sectors.
Afrimat first announced in June 2023 that it had agreed a share purchase agreement with a Holcim Group subsidiary, Caricement, to acquire 100% of the issued share capital of Lafarge South Africa. The proposed acquisition will become unconditional and be implemented once approval by the Competition Tribunal has been obtained.
Nepal Cement Manufacturers Association signs memorandum of understanding for limestone calcined clay cement technology
23 January 2024Nepal: The Cement Manufacturers Association (CMA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Department of Mines and Geology and non-governmental organisation Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA) for the adoption of limestone calcined clay (LC3) cement in Nepal. The parties say that LC3 cement can reduce CO2 emissions by 40% and reduce coal consumption in cement production. Enewspolar News has reported that the Swiss Development Cooperation has previously supported the diffusion of the technology in the global cement sector.
Uzbekistan's 11-month cement production rises in 2023
23 January 2024Uzbekistan: Cement production was 11.1Mt nationally from January to November 2023, up by 2.5% year-on-year, according to Statistics Agency of Uzbekistan data. Trend News has reported that Uzbek Building Materials Producers’ Association expects annual production to eventually rise by 3Mt/yr after China Energy International Group Samarkand Cement commissions its upcoming Samarkand cement plant.
US: Holcim US, in partnership with The Ohio State University and GTI Energy, will install membrane carbon capture technology at its Holly Hill, South Carolina, cement plant. The project is partly funded by a US$7m the US Department of Energy. The partners aim to capture 99% of the plant’s CO₂ emissions.
GTI Energy vice president of carbon management and conversion Don Stevenson said "This project will showcase the power of collaboration and innovation in tackling the complex challenge of transitioning to cleaner energy systems. The development and implementation of cost-effective carbon capture technologies are key to meeting our decarbonisation goals."
Hetauda Cement Industry to resume production in February 2024
19 January 2024Nepal: Hetauda Cement Industry (HCI) will resume cement production at its Hetauda cement plant in early February 2024, following a suspension due to coal shortages. HCI uses 36,000t/yr of coal, and currently has 600t in stockpiles. The República newspaper has reported that on-going issues with equipment have reduced the Hetauda cement plant’s effective capacity to 10,000 bags per day. Additionally, HCI has failed to find a buyer for a shipment of 225,000 bags of cement. The Nepali government is reportedly considering paying new subsidies to the company.
General manager Basanta Raj Pandey said "The management of the factory has requested the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies to provide subsidies to help resume its production."
Nepal’s Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Prasad Rijal said "The Prime Minister and his government are discussing arranging all possible subsidies to bring the industry back into operation as soon as possible."