Displaying items by tag: Sustainability
Cemex Ventures invests in Vizcab
22 November 2023France: Cemex’s venture capital unit Cemex Ventures has invested in construction value chain CO2 emissions monitoring software developer Vizcab. Vizcab aims to help enable built environments to conform to stricter environmental regulations.
Head of Cemex Ventures Gonzalo Galindo said “Vizcab's exhaustive solution enables cooperation between different stakeholders to manage carbon strategies throughout a project's lifecycle, a critical challenge in our complex and interconnected industry. This solution also implements the use of building materials with sustainable attributes, such as Cemex's Vertua portfolio of products.”
Arabian Cement Company to establish decarbonisation roadmap for Sokhna cement plant
21 November 2023Egypt: Arabian Cement Company has hired consultancy A³&Co. to help develop a decarbonisation roadmap for its 5Mt/yr Sokhna cement plant. The roadmap will include the implementation of an integrated environmental, social and governance (ESG) business model, Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)-verified targets, carbon market trading and EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) registration. Arabian Cement Company will execute projects to achieve its goals via a strategic partnership with A³&Co and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
Arabian Cement Company CEO Sergio Alcantarilla said “We are excited about this partnership with EBRD and A³&Co., which showcases our commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainable development. By embracing cutting-edge solutions and adopting greener processes, we are not only reducing our carbon footprint but also setting new benchmarks for the industry.”
A³&Co. CEO Amr Nader said “Through our collective expertise, we are confident that we can drive meaningful progress towards decarbonisation and the production of green cement, setting a precedent for responsible business practices in the region. The renewed cooperation between Arabian cement and A³&Co. is an additional milestone in our successful collaboration over the past two years. A³&Co. will also develop a Climate Corporate Governance (CCG) framework for Arabian Cement Company, which is the cornerstone for a fully-functioning ESG system in line with international norms.”
Filinvest-ENGIE Renewable Energy Enterprise to build solar power plant at Cemex Philippines’ Cebu cement plant
20 November 2023Philippines: Filinvest-ENGIE Renewable Energy Enterprise (FREE) has won a contract with Cemex Philippines for the construction of a 10.1MW solar power plant. The Business Mirror newspaper has reported that the plant is comprised of a ground-mounted array of solar panels at Cemex Philippines’ Apo cement plant in Cebu. The solar power plant will eliminate 10,000t/yr of CO2 from the Cebu cement plant’s emissions. Additionally, the producer has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with FREE for future collaborations on renewable energy and efficiency-increasing projects around the nearby city of Naga.
Cemex Philippines president and CEO Luis Franco said “This solar energy partnership is another milestone under Cemex’s Future in Action programme, as we progress closer to our goal of reducing Scope 2 CO2 emissions to less than 24kg/t of cementitious product by 2030.” He added “We are proud to partner with FREE, a company that shares our vision to address climate change through sustainable projects. This is a win not only for Cemex, but also for the planet as we take concrete steps in making renewable energy the future of the industry.”
Malaysia: Hume Cement Industries recorded US$65.5m in sales during the first quarter of the 2024 financial year (beginning 1 July 2023). This represents 48% year-on-year growth from US$44.2m one year previously. The producer’s profit was US$10.3m, against a US$2.57m loss in the first quarter of the 2023 financial year.
Bernama Daily Malaysian News has reported that Hume Cement Industries expects domestic cement demand to rise throughout the 2024 financial year. Nonetheless, the company said “The board remains cautious, as the uncertainties arising from geopolitical pressures continue to challenge the cement industry's input costs. The group is increasing its focus on developing sustainable construction materials in this growing economy, while continuing its efforts to enhance operational excellence.”
Cementos Molins extends bank financing
17 November 2023Spain: Cementos Molins has renewed a Euro75m loan and Euro225m credit line with lenders. The renewal extends the company’s financing buffer until the end of 2028. Expansión News has reported that Cementos Molins plans to use the total Euro300m renewed financing towards advancing its investments in sustainability, and possibly for other corporate purposes.
Building codes and low-embodied carbon building materials
15 November 2023Last week the US General Services Administration (GSA) announced that it was investing US$2bn on over 150 construction projects that use low-embodied carbon (LEC) materials. The funding is intended to support the use of US-manufactured low carbon asphalt, concrete, glass and steel as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. For readers who don’t know, the GSA manages federal government property and provides contracting options for government agencies. As part of this new message, it will spend US$767m on LEC concrete on federal government buildings projects following a pilot that started in May 2023. The full list of the projects can be found here.
This is relevant because the US-based ready-mixed concrete (RMX) market has been valued roughly at around US$60bn/yr. One estimate of how much the US federal government spent on concrete was around US$5bn in 2018. So the government buys a significant minority of RMX in the country, and if it starts specifying LEC products, this will affect the industry. And, at present at least, a key ingredient of all that concrete is cement.
This isn’t the first time that legislators in the US have specified LEC concrete. In 2019 Marin County in California introduced what it said was the world’s first building code that attempted to minimise carbon emissions from concrete production. It did this by setting maximum ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and embodied carbon levels and offering several ways suppliers can achieve this, including increasing the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM), using admixtures, optimising concrete mixtures and so on. Unlike the GSA’s approach in November 2023 though, this applies to all plain and reinforced concrete installed in the area, not just a portion of procured concrete via a government agency. Other similar regional schemes in the US include limits on embodied carbon levels in RMX in Denver, Colorado, and a reduction in the cement used in RMX in Berkeley, California. Environmental services company Tangible compiled a wider list of embodied carbon building codes in North America that can be viewed here. This grouping also includes the use of building intensity policies, whole building life cycle assessments (LCA), environmental product declarations (EPD), demolition and deconstruction directives, tax incentives and building reuse plans.
Government-backed procurement codes promoting or requiring the use of LEC building materials for infrastructure projects have been around for a while in various places. The general trend has been to start with measurement via tools such as LCAs and EPDs, move on to government procurement and then start setting embodied carbon limits for buildings. In the US the GSA’s latest pronouncement follows on from the Federal Buy Clean Initiative and from when California introduced its Buy Clean California Act in 2017. Outside of the US similar programmes have been introduced in countries including Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. On the corporate side members of the World Economic Forum’s First Movers’ Coalition have committed to purchasing or specifying volumes of LEC cement and/or concrete by 2030. Examples of whole countries actually setting embodied carbon emissions limits for non-government buildings are rarer, but some are emerging. Both France and Sweden, for example, introduced laws in 2022 that start by analysing life-cycle emissions of buildings and will move on to setting embodied carbon limits in the late 2020s. Denmark, Finland and New Zealand are also in the process of introducing similar schemes. The next big move could be in the EU, where legislators are considering embodied carbon limits for building materials as part of its ongoing revisions to its Energy Performance of Buildings Directive or the Construction Products Regulation legislations. Lobbying, debate and arguing remains ongoing at present.
To finish, Ireland-based Ecocem spent a period in the 2010s attempting to build a slag cement grinding plant at Vallejo, Solano County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The project met with considerable local opposition on environmental grounds and was eventually refused planning permission. The irony is that slag cement is one of those SCM-style cements that Marin County, also in the San Francisco Bay Area, started encouraging the use of just a few years later. Ecocem held its inaugural science symposium in Paris this week. A number of scientists who attended the event called for existing low carbon technologies to be adopted by the cement and concrete sectors as fast as possible. One such approach is to lower the clinker factor in cement through the use of products that Ecocem and other companies sell. A point to consider is, if Marin County’s code or the GSA’s recent procurement directive came earlier, then that slag plant in Vallejo might have been built. Encouraging the use of LEC building materials by governments looks set to proliferate but it may not be a straightforward process. Clear and consistent policies will be key.
Ecocem holds alternative materials symposium in Paris
14 November 2023France: Ireland-based Ecocem hosted a symposium on the application of new materials technologies in cement production on 14 November 2023. Participating materials scientists published a statement calling on the global cement industry to make use of alternative materials to achieve CO2 emissions reductions. In the statement, they said “It is no longer possible to say that we lack the technology or that the costs are prohibitive.”
ClimeCo celebrates launch of US Low-Carbon Cement Protocol
03 November 2023US: Sustainable technology developer ClimeCo has welcomed the Climate Action Reserve (CAR)’s launch of the US Low-Carbon Cement Protocol. The protocol will provide guidance on quantifying, monitoring, reporting and verifying emissions reductions associated with the use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) in alternative cement production. ClimeCo says that this will help to establish the eligibility of various waste streams and naturally occurring materials for use in cement.
ClimeCo president and CEO Bill Flederbach said "While demand for cement has never been higher, it remains an exceptionally difficult-to-abate industry. This new protocol demonstrates the power of credible, validated and science-based voluntary carbon credits in accelerating the pace and adoption of environmental reforms. It also confirms ClimeCo's belief that, by engaging the right partners and taking a holistic approach, every industry and every company, even those facing the biggest challenges, can make a huge difference. Time is of the essence, and ClimeCo is proud to lead the way toward a brighter future."
India: Nuvoco Vistas sold 4.5Mt of cement during the second quarter of its 2024 financial year (FY2024), up by 1.2% year-on-year. Its revenues grew by 7% to US$309m, while its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew by 73% to US$40.4m. The producer achieved specific CO2 emissions of 462kg/t and an alternate fuel (AF) substitution rate of 14%. During the quarter, it completed debottlenecking projects at the Risda, Chhattisgarh, and Nimbol, Rajasthan, cement plants. The company said that these raised its clinker capacity by 2000t/day. It also secured a new patent, for its fibre reinforced cement composition, and introduced its Concreto UNO and Duraguard F2F premium cements on the Jharkhand market.
Managing director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy said “Our value over volume strategy has positively contributed to the company’s performance. Our trade share has increased from 72% in the second quarter of the 2023 financial year (FY2023) to 74% in the second quarter of FY2024. In addition, the results also demonstrate our commitment to managing the dynamic cost environment through an optimised power and fuel mix, between conventional and clean energy sources.” He added “The expansion at the Haryana cement plant is expected to be completed in FY2024, which will enable us cater to strong demand in the Northern India region.”
France: Lafarge France has ignited the new kiln at its Martres-Tolosane cement plant following a Euro120m upgrade. Local press has reported that the upgrade replaced the plant’s existing kilns and preheater tower with entirely new equipment. The new kiln has tripled the plant’s capacity, to 2.1Mt/yr from 0.7Mt/yr. Meanwhile, the new preheater tower will help to reduce the plant’s electricity consumption by over 20%. As a result of the upgrade, the Martres-Tolosane plant can now support an alternative fuels (AF) substitution rate of 60%, compared to 20% beforehand. Lafarge France aims to carry out further work to reach 85% AF substitution at the plant by 2027. Other planned projects include the installation of a carbon capture system.
Lafarge France chief executive officer François Petry said “We are going to create a research and innovation centre here dedicated to the capture of CO2, with the ambition of ultimately making the Martres-Tolosane plant net zero carbon.”