September 2024
Buzzi Unicem and Italgas to develop power to gas plants 19 January 2022
Italy: Buzzi Unicem has signed an agreement with Italgas to collaborate on the development of power to gas plants for implementation in combination with carbon capture systems. Their research will assess the possibility of producing and using synthetic methane obtained from the combination of green hydrogen from power to gas plants with captured CO2.
Buzzi Unicem’s group technical director at Luigi Buzzi said "We are very interested in the opportunity to collaborate with Italgas as an experienced partner to develop a project that is fully integrated into our industrial investment plan aimed at identifying technologies for capturing and reusing the CO2 released by our plants, in line with the roadmaps defined by industry associations.” He added “Our aim is to responsibly contribute to containing climate change by developing CO2 capture technologies and identifying the best solutions for its reuse. We are currently experimenting with calcium looping technology for capturing the carbon dioxide released by the production process at our plant in Vernasca, Piacenza. Thanks to the EU Horizon 2020 Cleanker project, it will be possible to assess the technical and economic sustainability of this technology and estimate the changes to the plant and the investments required to adopt this process in existing cement plants.”
RMIT University develops bubble column carbon capture method 19 January 2022
Australia: RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria, has developed a new method of carbon capture, called the bubble column method. The method uses liquid gallium at 100 – 120°C, through which flue gas is bubbled. This activates the CO2, leading to oxidation of the metal. The captured carbon accumulates on the surface of the pool.
Gallium is a by-product of bauxite and zinc ores mining. The United States Geological Service (USGS) has estimated its global reserves in these ores alone as 1Mt.
Project co-lead Torben Daeneke said “Turning CO2 into a solid avoids potential issues of leakage and locks it away securely and indefinitely. Because our process does not use very high temperatures, it would be feasible to power the reaction with renewable energy.” He added “Ideally the carbon we make could be turned into a value-added product, contributing to the circular economy and enabling the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to pay for itself over time.”
The Australian Government plans to invest US$719m in low emissions technologies by 2050 under its Net Zero Plan.
Kazakhstan: International Cement Group has resumed operations at its Almaty cement plant following its suspension of production due to political unrest.
The group said "To safeguard our employees and plant during the nationwide unrest, the company temporarily closed its cement plant located in the Almaty region of Kazakhstan." It added “As far as business is concerned, everything appears back to normal now, but last week we definitely did not know what was going to happen."
New cement plant to be built in Kyrgyzstan 19 January 2022
Kyrgyzstan: A new 1.8Mt/yr cement plant is to be built at Tunuk-Suu in Batken region. 10 hectares of land have been set aside for the project, according to local government sources quoted by Central Asia News. The initiative is a joint venture between the authorities and investors. Construction of the plant is scheduled to be complete by early 2024. A 60km road supporting the proposed plant is also being repaired.
Cemex harvests olives from rehabilitated Split quarry 19 January 2022
Croatia: Volunteers from Cemex collaborated with the Agricultural and Veterans’ Cooperative Lintar and local school pupils to harvest 6.5t of olives from the site of its rehabilitated Split quarry in Split-Dalmatia. The company says that the winter crop produced 900l of olive oil.
Cemex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa corporate affairs, sustainability and environmental resources manangement vice president Andrew Spencer said “We recognise that our industry has consequences for the environment, but Cemex is working hard to actively counteract climate change and this drive is present through all aspects of our business. In our cement and aggregate quarrying operations across Europe, we restore and recultivate our sites to provide optimal conditions that are managed well to deliver for biodiversity.” He added “Our vision is of a successful, sustainable Cemex that makes a positive contribution to people and the environment.”
Sumitomo Osaka Cement to raise prices in April 2022 19 January 2022
Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement says it plans to raise the price of its cement-related products by 20% in April 2022. It has blamed this on rising raw material, energy and logistics costs.
Morocco: Ciments du Maroc plans to commission its 0.7Mt/yr grinding plant at Nador in July 2022. The production unit, belonging to the subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement, is located around 18 km outside of Nador. The project has a budget of around US$36m and it intended to support development in northern and eastern regions of the country. Construction of the plant started in 2020.
Uganda: Preliminary findings into a fire at Hima Cement’s integrated plant at Kasese that took place on 16 January 2022 have revealed lapses in health and safety rules. Three people were reported killed in the blaze and a further eight others were injured, according to the Daily Monitor newspaper. Following an inspection of the site, Flavia Bwire, the executive secretary of the National Building Review Board (NBRB), said there were inadequate entry and exit points for the staff to evacuate the building. The NBRB will make recommendations to the relevant authorities when it has concluded its investigation. Hima Cement, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim, said that staff were conducting installation work at a light diesel oil tank when the incident happened. Production at the plant is yet to restart.
British Precast merges with the Mineral Products Association 19 January 2022
UK: British Precast, whose members include manufacturers of concrete masonry, paving slabs, structural sections and drainage systems, has merged with the Mineral Products Association (MPA) which represents all the UK’s cement makers, over 90% of aggregates producers and more than 70% of ready-mixed concrete suppliers. The merger is intended to give the British concrete industry a single voice, with the sector’s advocacy body, UK Concrete, lobbying on behalf of the sector on sustainability issues. It should also unite the industry behind the ‘Roadmap to Beyond Net Zero’ plan by 2050.
Alan Smith, who retires as President of British Precast, said, “British Precast has been affiliated with the MPA for the past decade and the successful relationship we have built has given our members the confidence to fully support this merger. Coming together enables the industry to operate more strategically, rejuvenating our determination to rise to the challenges of climate change and emphasise the importance of our industry in climate adaptation.”
Two new MPA product groups have been formed as a result of the merger: MPA Precast and MPA Masonry. They join existing MPA product groups including The Concrete Centre and the British Ready-mixed Concrete Association (BRMCA).
India: UltraTech Cement plans to invest US$129m in capacity expansion projects in order to increase the production capacity of its Birla White brand white cement by 93% to 12.5Mt/yr from 6.5Mt/yr. The Aditya Birla subsidiary says that it will commission the new capacity in a phased manner. The investment aims to strengthen Birla White cement’s presence in the growing white cement market and to reduce its dependence on high-cost imports.