Displaying items by tag: Alternative raw materials

US: Charah Solutions has signed a contract with Associated Electric Cooperative (AECI) to receive bottom ash, fly ash and boiler slag from its Thomas Hill Energy Center coal-fired power plant in Missouri until 2026. Charah Solutions will recycle the by-products to produce supplementary cementitious products and redistribute these through its MultiSource materials network. The network consists of 40 locations across the US.

President and CEO Scott Sewell said "We are delighted to partner with AECI to manage their ash marketing needs at Thomas Hill while supplying our concrete producers with the high-quality material they need."

World: 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.”

Russia: Holcim Russia has committed to realising a 15% CO₂ emissions reduction in its cement production between 2019 and 2030 to 475kg/t from 561kg/t. It plans to further reduce its cement’s CO2 emissions to 453kg/t by 2050, and to implement further measures to ensure its net carbon neutrality at that time.

Corporate relations director Vitaly Bogachenko said “The company's goal is to drastically reduce carbon emissions, and there are two working solutions for this. The first is the use of alternative fuels (AF) obtained from different types of waste: residues of municipal solid waste after sorting and extraction of all useful fractions from them, used tyres and others. The presence of biomass in them makes such fuels carbon neutral, so emissions during production are significantly reduced. The second solution is to replace carbon intensive raw materials. For example, instead of limestone, we use slags. The 'recipe' for cement is completely different: thanks to the new composition and the lower temperature during the firing process, the carbon footprint in the production of cement is reduced.”

Benelux: Belgium-based building supplies chain EcoBati has signed a distribution agreement with France-based Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies. The producer will supply its H-Iona clinker-free cement for EcoBati to sell online and in its shops in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies owners Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said "Signing a distribution agreement with an international specialist in ecological materials shows the competitive edge and relevance of our H-Iona cement within the context of the fight against global warming. We are therefore delighted with the signing of this partnership that allows us to benefit from the EcoBati network’s strategic retail outlets and provide a response to the exponential demand for sustainable cement. We intend to sign more such partnerships in the future in order to spread our responsible vision of the construction sector and contribute to the environmental transition."

Croatia: Holcim Croatia plans to invest Euro1.28m to upgrade the dosing equipment of its Koromačno cement plant’s kiln line. The planned upgrade will enable the line to increase the proportion of alternative materials used in its cement production, thus equipping the plant for low-carbon cement production. Innovation Norway has granted the producer Euro441,000 towards the cost of the project.

Managing director Nikola Kovačević said “Mineral admixtures in cement have a threefold benefit: on the one hand, different characteristics are created in the cement to meet the requirements of different types of construction; on the other hand, the exploitation of natural resources decreases. Thirdly, the carbon footprint of the cement is thus reduced through the lowering of the clinker factor.”

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has launched H-Iona clinkerless cement, its first cement to be made available to retail customers in bagged form. Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that H-Iona cement production’s CO2 emissions are 150kg/t, according to the producer. It claims that this is just 17% that of ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies produces H-Iona, primarily from ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and gypsum, heat-free at its fully automated Bournezeau plant.

Co-founder Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmannsaid "By launching H-Iona, the lowest carbon cement on the European market, Hoffmann Green Cement is following its continuous innovation approach.” They added “This is the first low-carbon cement to have received CE marking. Thanks to this ground breaking technology, we are democratising access to low-carbon cement.”

Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos has created a business unit to manage and provide services throughout the co-processing chain of alternative materials used in cement production with a five-year investment plan of US$98m. Valor has reported that the unit, named Verdera, will offer waste disposal services to various industries. Votorantim is targeting 80% petrocoke use in future cement production, compared to 25% at present. Its 2018 production used 0.9Mt of alternative materials, corresponding to a reduction of 0.5Mt in CO2 emissions compared with conventional materials.