Displaying items by tag: Emissions
Ciments Calcia to increase rail transport
09 June 2022Belgium/France: Ciments Calcia plans to transition 60% of its truck transport of cement in Belgium and France to rail. The company says that the shift will eliminate 5% of its CO2 emissions. 400 rail cars currently distribute cement from Ciments Calcia’s 10 production sites. The producer said that the planned increase became possible due to logistics solutions developer Everysens’ transport digitisation software.
US: The US Department of Energy has granted Solidia Technologies US$2.1m in funding for the development and testing of carbonation methods for its Solidia Cement. Solidia will research synthetic supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) production methods using direct CO2 capture and utilisation.
CEO Russell Hill said “We are proud to partner with the US Department of Energy to continue innovating and ultimately deliver on our mission to provide commercially viable decarbonisation technologies and sustainable solutions for the global construction and building materials industries. The funding will advance our carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies and synthetic SCMs that can be easily integrated into Portland cement-based concrete formulations, offering manufacturers a solution that is sustainable environmentally and economically.”
Mannok’s sales rise in 2021
16 May 2022UK: Mannok recorded sales of Euro270m in 2021, up by 16% year-on-year from Euro233m in 2020. The company’s earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 17% to Euro25.8m from Euro31.1m. The group attributed this to substantial cost absorption beginning in mid-2021. Energy prices rose by 66% year-on-year, while the cost of carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) credits more than doubled to Euro80/t at the end of the year.
Mannok said that demand for its products remains resilient, supported by stronger cost recovery. It added that a levelling out in energy prices has driven stronger profitability in the first quarter and April of 2022.
Switzerland: Jura Cement has commissioned a regenerative thermal oxidation system at its Wildegg plant. The air pollution control system, supplied by Dürr, was installed to meet anticipated lower gas emission limits for carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and ammonia (NH3).
Pakistan: Lucky Cement plans to install a 34MW solar power plant at its Pezu power plant in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Balochistan Times newspaper has reported that the 48GWh/yr installation will be equipped with a 5.59MWh Reflex energy storage system. Both the power plant and energy system will be the country’s largest when commissioned. Fossil fuel generation will remain online, but be shut down in the daytime, saving 26,600t/yr of CO2 emissions.
Germany: Rohrdorfer and Austria-based Andritz Group are in the process of installing a 2t/day CO2 separation plant on the roof of the former’s Rohrdorf cement plant in Bavaria. The pilot plant will capture CO2 from the plant’s emissions for use by the regional chemicals industry. The Ingenieur newspaper has reported that it will cost Euro3m and is scheduled for commissioning before June 2022. It is the first installation of its kind at a German cement plant.
Rohrdorfer’s plant and process engineering manager Helmut Leibinger said “We must begin to see CO2 as a product of value rather than a problem. With CO2 as a carbon source, Germany can protect the climate and at the same time become less dependent on oil and natural gas. In addition, value creation and jobs will remain in the country.”
Cementos Molins targets 20% CO2 emissions reduction by 2030
16 February 2022Spain: Cementos Molins has committed to a 20% reduction in its CO2 emissions between 2020 and 2030. The company has set out its strategy in its 2030 Sustainability Roadmap. The roadmap covers five areas: health and safety, energy and climate change, the circular economy, nature and the environment, and corporate social responsibility. Thus, Cementos Molins aims to achieve an accident-free workplace, to source 55% of its electricity consumption renewably, to increase its alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate to 40% and reduce its cement’s clinker factor to 68%, to halve particulate matter emissions and cut nitrous oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx) emissions by 40% and 10% respectively and to have signed official agreements with all host communities and employ women in over 23% of management positions.
Chief executive officer Julio Rodríguez said “Sustainability is the cornerstone of our strategy here at Cementos Molins, and today we are delighted to announce the specific targets that we have set out in our 2030 Sustainability Roadmap. The targets and their corresponding action plans - the result of the hard work and dedication of the Cementos Molins team, together with our stakeholders – will help drive our company forward in actively tackling climate change.” He added “We are deeply committed to achieving zero emissions and building a better world for everyone.”
Catalan court orders closure of LafargeHolcim España’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant
10 February 2022Spain: The Catalonia government has received a court order to close down LafargeHolcim España’s Montcada i Reixac cement plant in Barcelona. The Spanish Collection newspaper has reported that the plant failed to conform to new environmental regulations. LafargeHolcim España has appealed the decision.
The Montcada i Reixac plant currently employs 300 people. A union involved in the issue said that the alleged breach is formal rather than substantive and that an administrative error by the regional government caused the plant to breach the regulations.
Hebei province to replace 1000 polluting factories before 2026
04 January 2022China: Hebei province will screen out a total of 1000 existing factories for replacement with less-polluting alternatives under the Chinese government’s 14th Five Year Plan, which covers the period up to the end of 2025. The Xinhua News Agency has reported that factories, including cement plants, will undergo upgrades in order to conform to the plan’s emissions restrictions or close down. The province currently has a total of 233 green factories. Under the 13th Five Year Plan, which concluded in 2020, it reduced its installed cement production capacity by 12Mt/yr.
Flender begins Voerde logistics centre expansion
17 December 2021Germany: Flender has launched the construction of a new 8000m2 storehouse at its Voerde, North Rhine-Westphalia, logistics centre. Along with the lease of an additional building from project developer Panattoni, the project will expand Flender’s total storage footprint by 19,000m2. The supplier says that the new facilities will reduce the Voerde centre’s CO2 by optimising its transport routes.
Flender CEO Andreas Evertz said "I am very happy that the expansion of our site in Voerde will allow us to centralise our logistics activities, bringing us another step closer to our goal of operating in a completely carbon neutral fashion by 2030. With the new warehouse space, we are making our logistics processes sustainable and thus reducing a significant part of the previous transport routes and the associated CO2 emissions.”