Displaying items by tag: Environment

Australia: Researchers from Murdoch University in Western Australia have developed a cement-free concrete called Colliecrete. ABC News has reported that the concrete comprises of 80 – 90% fly ash. Other ingredients are bauxite residue and recycled aggregates. Developer Ramon Skane said that customers can make Colliecrete ‘anywhere, at room temperature.’

Spain: The Balearic Environmental Commission has set more stringent environmental requirements than previously in its authorisation of Cemex’s Lloseta plant’s licence to operate. The Diario de Mallorca newspaper has reported that the authority has followed standards set out by European Commission decisions. The requirements cover emissions, dust and hazardous waste volumes.

India: Dalmia Bharat subsidiary Dalmia Cement (Bharat) has marked World Environment Day with the ceremonial planting of a tree at the Bokaro cement plant in Jharkhand. In Assam, the company planted 6000 Neem, Royal Poinciana and Yellow Poinciana saplings and 4km of bamboo fence around its Alsthom Industries cement plant in Jagiroad.

Dalmia Cement (Bharat) executive director Indrajit Chatterji said, “We at Dalmia Cement have been firm believers in creating a clean and green ecosystem, especially in this pandemic situation across the world. With this tree plantation drive, we would humbly like to make a contribution towards the nature. I would urge all, to come forward and join hands to do our bit towards enabling a greener environment not only for us, but for the future generations to come. We, as a responsible corporate citizen, will always come forward to do whatever we can for the society at large.”

Colombia: The Regional Autonomous Corporation of Antioquia (CorAntioquia) approved the modification of the environmental license of Cemex Colombia’s upcoming 1.0Mt/yr Cementera del Magdelena Medio integrated cement plant in Maceo, Antioquia. The modification will allow for the production of up to 1.5Mt/yr of cement annually. It will additionally enable the company to extract up to 990,000t/yr of limestone and clay. The producer called the authorisation an ‘important step’ towards the plant’s completion.

Cemex Colombia and Peru president Alejandro Ramírez said, "The modification of the environmental licence is a milestone that allows us to resume work to make this project a reality, through which it is expected that we will offer our materials for infrastructure and housing works in the country more efficiently."

Spain: A regional court has ruled in favour of Cementos Cosmos in a case brought by local environmental group Bierzo Aire Limpio. The protestors alleged that the company had violated regulations at its Toral de los Vados cement plant in El Bierzo, León. The court ruled that the producer had acted correctly and in continuous communication with the administration.

Spain: Following a partial easing of Spain’s coronavirus lockdown on 25 May 2020, LafargeHolcim España employees returning to the company’s Villaluenga de la Sagra cement plant in Toledo, Castile-La Mancha were surprised to discover that an Iberian lynx had moved in during the 2.4Mt/yr integrated plant’s 10-week suspension due to the coronavirus lockdown. Staff contacted the Castile-La Mancha Environmental Agency, which determined that the site was ‘not an ideal habitat’ for lynx due to the risk presented by vehicles inside and outside of the cement plant when operations resume. The Castile-La Mancha Environmental Agency has tweeted that it has released the one-year-old female cat at a secret location in the Montes de Toledo region, following a medical check-up and tagging.

India: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has asked the government to restart home and road building to help cement producers. The Press Trust of India newspaper has reported that all construction work has stalled since 25 March 2020 due to the coronavirus lockdown. The FICCI believes that Indian cement demand is currently set to decline by 10-12% year-on-year. To relieve the sector, the FICCI urged the Indian government to lift the lockdown in metropolitan areas in order to allow the continuation of residential construction, which accounts for 60-65% of cement demand.

To protect domestic producers from any import dumping post-crisis, the FICCI has suggested that Indian cement sales should be subsidised. It also requested a ‘relaxation of environmental emission norms’ until mid-2022 ‘to save the industry from additional capex expenses.’

Norway: Private accreditation body DNVGL has certified Aker Solutions’ 400,000t/yr carbon capture and storage (CCS) system installation at Germany-based HeidelbergCement subsidiary Norcem’s 1.2Mt/yr integrated Brevik plant in Telemark as safe. HeidelbergCement Northern Europe director of sustainability and alternative fuels Per Brevik said, “The promising results from pilot testing in Brevik give us confidence that realisation of the full-scale capture plant will be successful. We trust that the project risk related to novel technology elements is low.”

Following an 18-month test of the partial installation, the certification ensures that the full-scale project will receive government funding.

Germany: Lubricants specialist Fuchs has announced its collaboration with chemicals company BASF in performing a cradle-to-grave analysis of different mineral oil hydraulic fluids that takes into account all environmental and economic aspects of their lifecycle. The study concluded that high performance multigrade hydraulic oil (HVLP) has a lower environmental impact and lower overall cost than monograde hydraulic oil (HLP). Fuchs said, “This advantage is mainly based on an improved diesel fuel economy throughout the use phase - primarily due to improved volumetric fluid efficiency, lower friction and lower fluid mass circulation ratio.”

Fuchs and BASF both supply lubricants and chemical products to the cement industry.

Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has postponed a four-day hearing over Irish Cement’s alternative fuel (AF) licence application, scheduled for May 2020, to an as yet unspecified date due to the coronavirus. Under the terms of the proposed licence, Irish Cement will be able co-process a maximum of 90,000t/yr of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), including tyres, in the single dry line of its 1.0Mt/yr Mungret plant in County Limerick. The EPA said that emissions from operations under the terms of the licence ‘will meet all required environmental protection standards.’

Irish Cement received its preliminary licence to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in September 2019. The move attracted local resistance, with 4500 people participating in a protest on 5 October 2019.

The EPA has said that it will give all relevant parties notice ‘well in advance’ of the date of the rescheduled hearing, which will take place after the government lifts the country’s coronavirus lockdown. On 14 April 2020 County Limerick had 234 coronavirus cases out of an Irish total of 10,647.