Displaying items by tag: Sustainability
UK: Breedon Cement commenced a 24-hour trial of graphene-enhanced cement production at its Hope Cement plant in Derbyshire on 28 June 2023. The trial advances the work of a consortium led by Australia-based First Graphene. It is using existing grinding aid dosage lines, with minimal adjustment required. Breedon Cement and its partners aim to produce 2000t of graphene-enhanced cement, using 1.2t of PureGRAPH 50. Graphene-Info News has reported that Breedon Cement will supply concrete produced under the trial to Morgan Sindall Construction for use in its building projects. The University of Manchester is also participating in the consortium.
Breedon Cement managing director Jude Lagan said “The role graphene can play in helping to decarbonise the cement industry could be significant, and we are keen to contribute to this process by facilitating what is set to be one of the largest global trials of this kind.”
UK: Material Evolution raised US$19m in a Series A funding round to scale production of its 85% reduced-CO2 cement. Material Evolution produces cement at ambient temperature using its own ambient fusion process. Its inputs consist of industrial wastes and feedstocks. Tech Crunch News has reported that venture capital firm Kompas VC led the funding, with participation from fellow venture capital firms Norrsken VC and Circle Rock Capital, as well as quarried materials producer SigmaRoc.
Material Evolution's CEO Elizabeth Gilligan said “Fusion technology has been hailed as the way to meet humanity’s energy needs for millions of years, whilst emitting no CO2 or other greenhouse gases."
India: Ramco Cements has commissioned a 3000t/day integrated cement line at its Ramamasamy Raja Nagar cement plant in Tamil Nadu. Projects Today News has reported that the plant runs on renewable energy from a captive wind farm, and recycles 90% of water used in production.
Ramco Cements produces Ramco 53 Infra Super cement at the Ramamasamy Raja Nagar plant. The product allows for lower cement and admixture content to be used in the production of concrete structures.
India: Ambuja Cements and its subsidiary ACC have transitioned to reporting their results in line with the (April - March) Indian financial year. As such, they have published 15-month results for 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. During the period, Ambuja Cements reported sales of US$4.75bn, up by 34% year-on-year from US$3.53bn. Its cement volumes rose by 28% to 68Mt, while its earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell by 11% to US$714m. Meanwhile, ACC recorded sales of US$2.71bn, up by 38% from US$1.97bn in 2021. Its cement volumes rose by 31% to 37.9Mt, while its EBITDA fell by 30% to US$275m.
ACC announced its goal to become India's 'most profitable cement company.' To realise this, the company will implement a three-pronged strategy of capacity expansion, efficiency improvements and development of its distributor and dealer network. Under the capacity expansion heading, the producer will double its production capacity through the construction of new cement plants and the expansion of existing ones. In this, it will lay special emphasis on securing supplies of renewable energy and supplementary cementitious materials, including fly ash from its own power plant segment. The company noted that it recently secured access to 1Bnt-worth of new limestone reserves in Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka and Rajasthan. It will also seek to increase its coal production to avoid the rising cost of imports.
In the 2024 financial year, the government of India plans to invest US$11.4bn in the construction of new housing, roads and sanitation infrastructure nationally. Ambuja Cements has forecast an increase in domestic cement consumption of 6 - 8% to over 390Mt/yr. It expects Indian cement production to rise by 8 - 10% year-on-year to 390Mt in the 2024 financial year.
Lafarge Africa launches Eco Label cement brand
28 June 2023Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has launched the Eco Label brand, as part of its wider UniCem brand, to promote its sustainable products. Products within the new branding have a lower 30% carbon footprint compared to the local industry standard. The formal unveiling of the new branding took place at the Mfamosing cement plant in Calabar.
Khaled El Dokani, the chief executive officer of Lafarge Africa, said “Lafarge Africa is proud to be the first local cement manufacturer of eco-friendly cement to the Nigerian market. With the rollout of this Eco brand, we are accelerating the transition to more sustainable building materials for greener construction.”
Spain: Cemex España has secured Euro4.4m in EU funding for an upgrade to its Alicante cement plant in Valencia. The project will launch the use of Clyngas synthetic gas as alternative fuel (AF) at the plant. Thermochemical conversion specialist WtEnergy, a subsidiary of Cemex Ventures, will supply the syngas. The partners say that this upgrade will reduce CO2 emissions by 400,000t per decade.
Parent company Cemex said "This project is part of Cemex’s Future in Action programme, which seeks to achieve sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity and natural resource management, with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO2 company."
France: Lafarge France has signed a memorandum of understanding with green hydrocarbons specialist Axens, utilities provider EDF and research firm IFP Energies Nouvelles for a synthetic fuel production trial. The partners will build a plant to produce kerosene using captured CO2 from a carbon capture installation at Lafarge France's Saint-Pierre-La-Cour cement plant. The project, called Take Kair, aims to produce fuel for use by aviation companies, including Air France-KLM Group.
Holcim France president François Petry said "The decarbonisation of our processes and products is at the heart of our strategic commitment to reach Net Zero by 2050. Beyond the modernisation of our production tools, we work on all industrial and technological levers to reduce our emissions, and thus decarbonise our industry. With the Take Kair project, we are taking a decisive step in the capture and management of our residual CO2 emissions and participate with our partners in the emergence of an innovative and sustainable sector serving the country's mobility needs."
Lafarge France, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim, announced a Euro40m investment in the 1.6Mt/yr Saint-Pierre-La-Cour cement plant to achieve carbon neutral cement production there in March 2022.
Nuvoco Vistas commissions alternative fuel feeding systems at Nimbol and Risda cement plants
23 June 2023India: Nuvoco Vistas has commissioned feeding systems for alternative fuel (AF) in the pyro-process sections of its Nimbol and Risda cement plants. The systems will handle municipal solid waste, including unrecyclable plastic.
Managing director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy said "As part of our Protect Our Planet agenda, we view the AF projects as an important step towards fulfilling our commitment to sustainable cement manufacturing and reducing the environmental impacts. The successful completion of this project demonstrates our commitment to reducing carbon emissions, maximising waste consumption and demonstrating responsible resource management practices.” He added "This along with, other themes under Protect Our Planet agenda, is enabling Nuvoco to build robust partnerships with several stakeholders, and contribute to society at large.”
France: Ireland-based Ecocem has partnered with CB Green to launch a joint venture to scale up production of 70% reduced-CO2 cement based on Ecocem's ACT technology. The technology combines widely available alternative raw materials into a product with enhanced strength and durability compared with ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The new joint venture will build a grinding plant in Dunkirk, Nord Department. The plant will produce 600,000t/yr of limestone filler for use in alternative cement production with ACT technology. The partners expect to invest Euro60m in the plant's construction, with commissioning scheduled for mid-2025.
Ecocem managing director Donal O’Riain said “This long-term cooperation agreement with CB Green marks a major milestone in our work to scale ACT, our low carbon cement technology, and deliver on our commitment to help the cement industry cost-effectively decarbonise by 50% by 2030. It secures production of fillers and access to high quality limestone, and is an important next step to ensuring that our ACT technology can be distributed at scale and start delivering on its potential to reduce CO2 emissions by up to 70%. Technology is no longer the issue, scale and speed are what matters now."
UK lime sector commits to net zero by 2040
22 June 2023UK: Mineral Products Association Lime (MPA Lime), the body representing the UK lime sector, has launched the Net Negative 2040 Roadmap. The association said that the roadmap sets out the strategy for its to 'go beyond net zero' by 2040. The industry will rely on the deployment of fuel switching, carbon capture, renewable energy sources and green transport technologies, among other approaches. It called on the government to support its aims through the implementation of carbon accounting, subsidisation of renewables and decarbonisation technologies, the development of green hydrogen infrastructure, ensuring that UK lime can remain competitive in the UK and overseas markets.
MPA Lime director Mike Haynes said “Each lever will contribute to decarbonisation – many initiatives are happening already or will come on stream this decade." He added "The combination of using biomass fuels with carbon capture and lime product carbonation will result in removal of 250,000t/yr of atmospheric CO2, making the sector net negative overall. Other levers, especially indirect emissions and transportation, require broader collaboration and enabling action by government and other industries.”
Through their actions to date, MPA Lime members reduced their absolute CO2 emissions by 25% between 2005 and 2022.