Displaying items by tag: Trucks

Russia: Cemros is starting the commercial operation of its ‘Pilot’ vehicle monitoring system. The scheme is being rolled out as the main monitoring method at its plants following tests. It uses satellite navigation and wireless data transmission methods to track individual vehicles in the fleet in both real time and retrospectively. At present over 3500 vehicles are being monitored including the company’s own fleet and vehicles operated by contractors. Once the system is scaled up it will be able to track up to 6000 vehicles. Active testing of the system started in late 2022.

India: UltraTech Cement and other industrial partners are participating in the development of the World Economic Forum’s first net zero transport cluster in India. The cluster, called Moving India, will deploy 550 zero-emissions trucks in western Gujarat and Maharashtra. Participants aim to create scale, support the deployment of shared assets and infrastructure, encourage the creation of a vehicle supply and servicing ecosystem and inform policy through consensus.

GPEO News has reported that UltraTech Cement managing director Kailash Jhanwar said "India is the second largest cement producing country in the world, with cement plants spread across the country. The cement sector can provide an ideal use case for early adoption of zero emission trucks. At UltraTech Cement, we are committed to evaluating all means to reduce our emissions and environmental footprint. We see large scale deployment of zero emission trucks and liquefied natural gas/compressed natural gas vehicles as the next key initiative to make our operations more sustainable."

Nigeria: BUA Cement plans to use loans worth US$500m towards the construction of two new 3Mt/yr cement plants in Sokoto State. When operational, the new plants will increase the producer's installed capacity by 55% to 17Mt/yr. Local press has reported that BUA Cement plans to run both cement plants using solar power, and to produce cement using alternative fuel (AF). Additionally, the producer will use a portion of the funding to replace part of its diesel-fuelled cement truck fleet with new natural gas-fuelled models.

Of a total US$500m in financing secured by BUA Cement on 5 June 2023, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) lent US$161m (32%) and African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation and the German Investment Corporation jointly lent US$245m (49%), with the remainder advanced by institutional investors.

Europe: Holcim plans to deploy 1000 new electric trucks in its operations across Europe before 2030. The cement producer ordered the vehicles from Sweden-based Volvo. Both companies are founding members of the First Movers Coalition low-CO₂ technology alliance. Holcim expects the initiative to reduce its annual CO₂ emissions from road transport by 50%. It will take delivery of the first new trucks by the end of 2023.

Chair and CEO Jan Jenisch said “The net zero transition requires deep collaboration across value chains. We are excited to be partnering with Volvo to decarbonise our European operations’ logistics with electric fleets, advancing our goal to reach 30% of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks by 2030.”

Canada: Lafarge Canada has renewed its partnership with fuel logistics company 4Refuel to launch renewable diesel use in its operations in Manitoba. The producer says that trucks will run on renewable diesel produced from waste oils and fats. This will eliminate 39% of the producer's Scope 3 CO₂ emissions in the province.

Lafarge Canada's vice president Manitoba and Saskatchewan Tina Larson said "Switching to renewable diesel is a significant step forward in our sustainability journey. We recognise that climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing our planet, and we are committed to doing our part to reduce our impact on the environment. We believe that renewable diesel is an excellent solution to help us achieve our sustainability goals while maintaining the high level of performance that our customers expect.”

Lafarge Canada previously implemented renewable diesel in its operations in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2022.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: A trailer truck filled with bags of cement crashed into a ravine in the Kitokimosi district of Kinshasa on 21 April 2023, causing significant material damage. The vehicle had begun its journey in Kongo Central province and crashed at about 05:00. It is thought that brake failure may have been to blame. One person in the vehicle was taken to hospital with serious injuries, while the driver appears to have absconded. There have also been reports that the truck was looted in the aftermath of the incident.

Ireland/UK: A six-month feasibility study conducted by Mannok at its Derrylin plant, in conjunction with Catagen, has found a number of ways that the cement producer can reduce its CO₂ emissions. Using Catagen’s HGEN renewable hydrogen generator with waste heat recovery could potentially decrease the cement plant’s annual CO₂ emissions by 7%. In addition the study found that using biohydrogen generation from waste biomass could generate larger volumes of hydrogen with less renewable energy required, compared to electrolytic hydrogen generation. Using Catagen’s BIOHGEN process in this way could minimise carbon intensity by a further 18%. A combined group of engineers from Mannok and Catagen worked on the project.

Kevin Lunney, operations director at Mannok, said “We are very excited to be working with the Catagen team, who have demonstrated a deep level of technical ability and competency during the feasibility work. I have no doubt that Mannok will derive significant value from the work already completed, with many new opportunities for collaboration now presenting that we would not have considered before. Achieving Net Zero is now the primary goal for our business and I expect Catagen will play a significant role in our achieving that goal, which we expect will have major benefits for the sector overall.”

In early April 2023 Mannok revealed that it had secured funding from the UK Government Green Energy Scheme to support its energy transformation programme. The first phase of the initiative, which the funding will support, is the generation of onsite green hydrogen to replace the use of diesel in over 70% of the company’s 150 heavy-goods truck fleet.

Belfast-based Catagen started as a testing company providing emissions data to the automotive sector. It has started working in other industrial sectors - such as cement, glass and steel in Europe and the US – as part of its ClimaHtech product range.

Paraguay: Industria Nacional del Cemento (INC) is investigating the large-scale theft of cement from its plants involving company employees. Company president Ernesto Benítez told local radio that at least 10 workers had been stealing around 600 bags of cement on average five times a week to a value of around US$21,000/week, according to the Ultima Hora newspaper. They had been using the company computer system to hide their activities. However, the theft was discovered when company officials noticed that the number of trucks recorded leaving the plant concerned did not match CCTV footage.

Staff members so far found to be part of the fraudulent activity include those working in cargo dispatch, bagging, security and refuse collection. They have all been removed from duty. However the investigation continues and more perpetrators may be found.

India: UltraTech Cement says that it has made a second deployment of GreenLine liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered cement trucks in its cement operations. Indo-Asian News Service has reported that the new trucks will operate from UltraTech Cement’s Pune cement terminal in Maharashtra. GreenLine says that its LNG trucks have 28% lower CO₂ emissions than ordinary cement trucks, equating to reductions of 24t/yr per truck for UltraTech Cement.

The cement producer’s associate vice president Tanmay Pradhan said “We are dedicated to creating a sustainable future, and we are fully committed to collaborating with our partners and stakeholders to achieve our goal of a cleaner environment. Our association with GreenLine is a step forward in our ongoing efforts to decrease emissions, enhance energy efficiency, and promote sustainability."

Mexico: Cemex has reviewed its global sustainability and financial performance during 2022 in its Integrated Report 2022. During the year, the group reduced its specific CO₂ emissions by 9% from 2020 levels and by 30% from 1990 levels. It achieved a target of US$1bn-worth of investment in strategic projects over a period begun in 2020. Projects included the execution of water optimisation plans at 20% of Cemex sites in high-water stress areas. Cemex co-processed 27Mt of waste as alternative fuel (AF) in its global cement production - 67 times greater than its own non-recyclable waste footprint - and achieved an AF substitution rate of 35%. Meanwhile, the group also reduced its cement's clinker factor to 74%. Its Vertua reduced-CO₂ concrete range accounted for 33% of its concrete sales. During the year, Cemex launched the world's first net zero, fully electric heavy concrete mixer truck.

In 2022, Cemex recorded sales of US$15.6bn, down by 12% year-on-year, and reduced its debt to US$408m.