Displaying items by tag: Partnership

India: UltraTech Cement has entered a collaboration agreement with the Institute for Carbon Management (ICM) at the University of California (UCLA) to develop new technology that aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement production. The partnership will see the construction of a demonstration plant at one of UltraTech's integrated cement plants. Further details on the technology are available in Global Cement’s news story from 15 October 2024.

Germany: Schwenk Zement will utilise Germany-based Orcan Energy's organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology at its Allmendingen cement plant in Baden-Württemberg. The installation of five ORC modules aims to harness residual heat from the clinker cooling process to generate electricity, saving 8.5GWh/yr. Orcan Energy expects operations to begin in the first quarter of 2025. The company has previously worked with Dyckerhoff and Cemex.

Philippines: Holcim Philippines and Universal Robina Corporation (URC) have entered a tripartite agreement with the local government of Obando, Bulacan, to provide incentives for workers at the town's material recovery facility, based on the volume of refuse diverted. The material recovery facility in Obando has collected and sorted 785t of plastic waste for co-processing. Since 2021, URC and Holcim's waste management unit Geocycle has been processing plastic from URC's operations for co-processing. The plastics are converted into alternative fuels used to power the kiln at Holcim’s plant in Misamis Oriental.

Irwin Lee, URC president and CEO, said "This new agreement, with Obando as a key partner, aims to further drive community-based ‘waste’ diversion efforts. We hope to replicate it in other towns and cities to amplify the impact of what we set out to do three years ago."

Canada: Heidelberg Materials has invested in EnviCore, a Canada-based startup that is developing low-carbon solutions. Together, the companies will focus on increasing the use of recycled construction and demolition materials as supplementary cementitious materials (SCM). This collaboration includes planning a pilot SCM production facility near one of Heidelberg Materials' recycling hubs, pending an upcoming feasibility study. Heidelberg Materials has also acquired a minority stake in EnviCore.

Katharina Beumelbur, chief sustainability and new technologies officer and member of the managing board of Heidelberg Materials, said “EnviCore’s novel approach has the potential to unlock new possibilities of increasing the amount of recycled materials we use in our products. This could pave the way to further reduce our need for virgin materials, contributing towards preserving valuable natural resources and protecting our environment.”

China: Anhui Conch Cement (Conch Group) and AVIC International Beijing have entered a strategic agreement to combine their expertise and promote technological solutions for decarbonising cement production. The partnership will leverage Conch Group's experience in cement production and equipment manufacturing with AVIC International Beijing subsidiary KHD Humboldt Wedag International (KHD)'s expertise in equipment and engineering. The collaboration aims to expand their cooperation to include building AI-powered, smart and ‘green’ research and development platforms overseas. This will involve modernising traditional cement plants and enhancing operation and maintenance services.

Additionally, the Conch Technology and Industry Research Institute will work with AVIC International Beijing and KHD to apply cement decarbonisation technologies, such as calcined clay, oxyfuel clinker lines and electro-calcining, on an industrial scale at selected Conch production lines.

Ireland: Mannok, Sweden-based minerals company Boliden and the South Eastern Applied Materials (SEAM) research centre at South East Technological University in Carlow, Wexford and Wicklow in Ireland have launched a 30-month project to reduce the embodied CO₂ emissions of cement. The project will investigate possible uses of shale as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in cement production and the CO₂ curing of cement paste-based mine backfill. Enterprise Ireland has supplied funding worth €700,000 for the collaboration.

Mannok operations director Kevin Lunney said "We are delighted to be working with SEAM and Boliden on this critical research for the cement sector, which could have many far-reaching benefits for the construction sector more generally. Finding local, viable, low-carbon solutions for the industry can make a major contribution to lowering emissions in Ireland."

Boliden specialist development engineer Adam McElroy and section-mill process head Colum Burns said "This project will greatly enhance our knowledge and understanding of the potential for developing low carbon cement for mine backfill purposes and for utilising backfill systems as a carbon sink. The project will also investigate synergies between the cement manufacturing and mining industries that could enhance the sustainability of both industries."

Switzerland: ABB has entered into a memorandum of understanding with UK-based climate tech company Carbon Re, to explore integrated solutions aimed at accelerating the decarbonisation of cement production while improving productivity. The collaboration will reportedly combine ABB's expertise in automation and process control with Carbon Re's AI and machine learning technologies. The partnership follows a successful pilot at a cement plant in the Czech Republic, where ABB plans to augment its ‘Ability Expert Optimizer’ solution with Carbon Re's AI platform. This integration is expected to automate and optimise plant conditions, potentially reducing specific energy consumption by up to 5% and increasing alternative fuel use by 50% by maintaining optimal kiln conditions.

CEO at Carbon Re, Josh Vernon, said “At Carbon Re we are accelerating industrial decarbonisation through the use of cutting-edge AI – our models have demonstrated that AI can find efficiencies within the complex chemical processes of material production, especially cement.”

Global portfolio manager for Business Line Digital, ABB Process Industries, Tyron Vardy said “Driving down the emissions of cement production is a pressing priority for the industry. Our collaboration with Carbon Re will bring us closer to achieving this. Enhanced by cloud-based AI technology, our decision support software will be able to help customers enhance and improve the efficiency of their systems faster than ever before.”

Spain: Votorantim Cimentos and gas company Enagás have signed an agreement to jointly develop projects for the sustainable management of CO₂. Votorantim Cimentos will focus on CO₂ capture technology at its cement plants, while Enagás will explore solutions for the transport, liquefaction, storage and loading of CO₂ at its regasification terminals. The partnership also includes potential joint applications for European funding to further these initiatives.

Enagás CEO Arturo Gonzalo said "Enagás and Votorantim Cimentos have clear synergies to jointly advance their commitments to reduce their carbon footprint and, based on the knowledge of their areas of activity, they have the opportunity to take the initiative to develop more effective sustainable CO₂ management technologies, which will be key to achieving the decarbonisation objectives of Spain and Europe.”

Lithuania: Ignitis has signed a 4-year power purchase agreement with Lithuanian cement producer Akmenės Cementas to supply electricity from the Mažeikiai wind farm, starting in 2026. The wind farm features 14 wind turbines with a capacity of 63MW and began operations in 2023.

CEO of Akmenės Cementas Artūras Zaremba said "We are excited about this partnership as it allows us to use green energy in the cement industry. This cooperation is an important step towards our commitment to achieve long-term sustainability and reduce our carbon footprint. By integrating renewable energy sources into our activities and planned projects that will contribute to the EU’s Green Deal objectives, we are strengthening our environmental efforts and creating sustainable and innovative solutions.

US: Holcim has invested in Sublime Systems to expand its range of solutions to decarbonise the construction industry. The partnership will advance Sublime’s first commercial manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, US, giving Holcim a large share of Sublime Cement produced there through a binding offtake reservation. Sublime’s first commercial-scale plant is set to start production in 2026 with a capacity of 30,000t/yr.

Chief sustainability officer at Holcim, Nollaig Forrest, said “The Sublime Systems team has developed a unique technology to decarbonise cement, cutting across the entire production process from the use of clean electricity to carbon-free raw materials. We are excited about this technology’s potential and are delighted to be partnering to bring it to market at scale. This investment advances our strategy to decarbonise construction by scaling up the most innovative technologies across our operations.”

CEO and cofounder of Sublime Systems, Leah Ellis, said “In the cement industry, scale is everything. We are proud to collaborate with Holcim, which supports our mission of swift and massive impact. By pairing Sublime’s technology with Holcim’s advanced global operations from manufacturing and logistics to commercial distribution, we can scale up our impact together.”