Displaying items by tag: Emissions
Cemex Zement and Carbon Clean to install carbon capture system at Rüdersdorf cement plant
29 October 2021Germany: Cemex Zement’s Rüdersdorf, Brandenburg, cement plant is to host a new 100t/day carbon capture installation. Cemex Zement will collaborate with UK-based Carbon Clean on a front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the project. The system will combine captured CO2 with sustainably sourced hydrogen in order to produce green synthetic hydrocarbons. The partners aim to increase the system’s CO2 capture capacity to 300t/day by 2026, before finally scaling it up to 2000t/day.
Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia regional president Sergio Menendez said “This project with Carbon Clean is the latest development in Cemex’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality at the Rüdersdorf cement plant by 2030, through our pioneering carbon neutral alliance with expert industrial consortiums. Carbon capture will play a fundamental role in the efforts to succeed at this goal and ensure our operations are more sustainable.”
Switzerland: The Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) has validated Holcim’s 2050 net zero CO2 emissions pathway. The pathway consists of targets covering Holcim’s entire value chain, across Scopes 1 – 3.
CEO Jan Jenisch said “The building sector has an essential role to play to accelerate our world’s transition to net zero. I am proud to be joining the SBTi today to announce Holcim’s net zero pathway to 2050. By setting the first Net-Zero Standard for our industry, we are walking the talk on our commitment to take science-driven action to win the Race to net Zero.”
Carbon Re receives Euro1.19m in funding
28 October 2021UK: The Clean Growth Fund has led a Euro1.19m investment in cement industry decarbonisation software developer Carbon Re. Other investors are Blue Impact Ventures, Cambridge Enterprise Fund and UCL Technology Fund. The supplier says that its deep reinforcement learning AI product can reduce cement plants’ operating costs by Euro1.97 – 5.09/yr and eliminate 20% of Scope 1 emissions. Five pilot installations of its Delta Zero platform are installed at cement plants in the EU, India, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
CEO Sherif Elsayed-Ali said “Our mission is to reduce global emissions at the gigatonne scale, starting with the cement industry, and to become the leading global AI company to deliver industrial decarbonisation. Carbon Re’s AI technology provides heavy industry with an effective solution to address their critical challenges of energy costs and emissions reduction.” He added “The road to a zero-carbon world will be long, but with the support of the Clean Growth Fund and our other investors, our AI-products and solutions will evolve to accelerate the transition of energy intensive industries.”
Systems Change Lab report accuses cement industry of failing to make progress towards 2030 climate change target
28 October 2021World: A Systems Change Lab report on the state of climate change action has warned that the global cement industry is making insufficient progress towards its 2030 climate change targets and that a step-change in action is required. It recorded the carbon intensity of global cement production at 635kgCO2/t in 2018 with the 2030 target of no more than 370kgCO2/t. The rate of change over the previous five years was reported as being 2.9% but an annual rate of change of 22.5% would now be required to meet the 2030 target.
It also noted that emissions intensity from the cement industry had actually increased slightly in recent years. It reached this conclusion by using a different methodology from the Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) project. Instead it estimated the global emissions intensity by using global data on process emissions and energy data from the International Energy Agency and the GNR.
The report said that the cement sector would need to go beyond traditional mitigation options such as improving energy efficiency and switching fuels to meet its climate commitments. However, carbon capture utilisation and/or storage (CCUS) and novel cements were described as costly and immature. In its view, “Decarbonisation in the long term thus will depend on significant investments in research, development, and demonstration, alongside efforts to create a demand for low-carbon cements and policies to support investment in decarbonisation technologies.” It described both strategies as, “not yet fully mature in terms of technology development, costs and scaling.” The ‘critical enablers’ it identified to help the cement sector meet its target included stricter regulations, increased demand for low-carbon cement and investment in pilot and industrial scale projects looking at novel cements.
Overall, the report said that change towards averting climate change across 40 key areas in power generation, buildings, industry, transport, land use, coastal zone management and agriculture was not happening fast enough and that none were on track to meet their respective 2030 targets. Change was happening but not at the required pace. Systems Change Lab is a collaboration between the High-Level Climate Champions, Climate Action Tracker, ClimateWorks Foundation, the Bezos Earth Fund and World Resources Institute.
LafargeHolcim Croatia commissions Gasmet continuous mercury monitoring system at Koromačno cement plant
27 October 2021Croatia: LafargeHolcim Croatia has successfully commissioned a continuous mercury monitoring system in the stack of its Koromačno cement plant in Istria. Gasmet supplied the system via its regional distributor RACI.
LafargeHolcim Croatia Production Engineer Ivan Marićsaid “The product gives us exactly what we want – peace of mind. We now know where we stand with our mercury emissions.”
Finland: Wärtsilä’s sales fell by 6% year-on-year to Euro3.18bn in the first nine months of 2021 from Euro3.39bn in the corresponding period of 2020. It increased its order intake by 11% to Euro3.58bn from Euro3.24bn. The company’s cash flow from operating activities fell by 12% to Euro360m from Euro407m. It expects that demand for its offering will increase ‘considerably’ year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The supplier announced that it will aim to achieve carbon neutral operations and to provide a product portfolio which will be ready for zero carbon fuels by 2030. It published a report entitled Front Loading Net Zero on how production economies can make savings while managing the renewable energy transition. The report concludes that full decarbonisation before 2050 will be financially viable if properly supported by governments and energy companies.
President and CEO Håkan Agnevall said “These new targets demonstrate our commitment to a sustainable future. Our aim is to support our customers on their decarbonisation. Our products, solutions, and services will meet the stringent environmental requirements, and the fuel flexibility and fuel efficiency of the engines powering these sectors are key to enabling the transformation.” Agnevall added “Naturally, we also need to do our part as an organisation and minimise our own environmental footprint.”
China to set cement production energy efficiency benchmark
25 October 2021China: The government plans to implement a benchmark level of energy efficiency for cement plants by 2025 in order to realise its national goal of no CO2 emissions growth by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. Local press has reported that the government has yet to set a specific benchmark for the cement industry. The corresponding figure for aluminium production will be 13,000kWh/t.
UK: The government has awarded funding to the planned HyNet North West low-CO2 industrial cluster. The cluster will reduce industrial CO2 emissions by 10Mt/yr in North Wales and North West England. It includes a planned 800,000t/yr carbon capture installation at Hanson UK’s Padeswood cement plant in Flintshire. The producer is currently carrying out a feasibility study at the plant. Parent company HeidelbergCement said that the project will play a ‘critical role’ in the UK’s transition to net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Chair Dominik von Achten called the decision “A well-deserved recognition for the HyNet consortium and our colleagues working on carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK as part of this collaborative project. Cutting CO2 emissions is a key priority for us, and we are delighted to add our Padeswood cement works to our growing range of CCS activities, as a key part of our pathway to reaching net zero.”
FLSmidth to supply 11,500t/day kiln line for Shree Cement’s upcoming Nawalgarh cement plant
12 October 2021India: Shree Cement has hired FLSmidth to supply a 11,5000t/day kiln line for its planned Nawalgarh, Rajasthan, cement plant. The line will consist of a six-stage preheater and a three-support kiln. The supplier will also deliver an OK vertical roller mill, which it says has a 5 – 10% lower energy consumption than a standard vertical roller mill. The project focuses on sustainable productivity and emissions control. Shree Cement has opted for JetFlex burners to give the lowest possible nitrous oxide emissions for various fuel types.
Shree Cement managing director Prashant Bangur said “Based on the experience of working with FLSmidth on the installation of a 9,000t/day pyro system at the Raipur, Chhattisgarh, cement plant earlier this year, we felt confident about approaching Carsten Riisberg Lund and his team regarding the Rajasthan project.” He added “Being recognised as a Sustainability Champion by the World Economic Forum is a testament of our emphasis on sustainability at every stage of our operations. The new line will push that agenda even further in terms of lowering the benchmarks on energy consumption and emissions, and thereby reducing our environmental footprint.”
FLSmidth also supplied a second OK mill for Shree Cement’s operations in Kolkata, West Bengal.
Forty cement and concrete companies commit to the Global Cement and Concrete Association’s Roadmap to Net Zero
12 October 2021World: Forty cement and concrete producers, representing 80% of concrete production outside of China in 2020, have together affirmed their commitment to the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA)’s Roadmap to Net Zero concrete decarbonisation strategy. The roadmap’s seven-point plan consists of increased cement plant efficiency, which should eliminate 22% of emissions, increased concrete production efficiency (11%), adjustments to cement and binders (9%), decarbonisation of raw materials (11%), carbon capture and storage (CCS) (36%), a transition to renewable energy (5%) and the natural recarbonation of concrete (6%).
Besides full decarbonisation by 2050, the strategy provides for a 25% reduction in the global concrete sector’s CO2 emissions by 2030 and the elimination of 4.9Bnt of CO2 emissions by 2030 alone. The GCCA called the new commitment a ‘significant acceleration’ of cement and concrete producers’ on-going decarbonisation efforts, and said that it represented ‘the biggest global commitment by any industry’ to carbon neutrality. Acknowledging the burden on cement producers, the GCCA called on downstream companies and governments to support the industry’s transition.
GCCA member China National Building Material (CNBM) CEO Cao Jianglin said “This is a landmark for industry co-operation in decarbonisation. As part of a global industry, it will need collaboration across our sector to achieve it. As one of the leading cement and concrete producers in China, we will play our part in decarbonising the industry.”