Displaying items by tag: Sustainability
Swiss cement shipments drop in 2023
18 January 2024Switzerland: Swiss cement shipments dropped by 10% year-on-year to 3.7Mt in 2023, from 4.1Mt in 2022. Shipments declined across all quarters, including by 10% quarter-on-quarter in the third quarter. Cement with a reduced clinker factor grew to account for 96% of shipments from 95%, and rail shipments rose to 38%. Ready-mixed concrete plants received 73% of shipments, and building sites 21%.
The Swiss cement association, Cemsuisse, said that it anticipates continued uncertainties and high import pressures in 2024.
Ambuja Cements to build US$168m cement facility in Telangana
17 January 2024India: Ambuja Cements has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Telangana for the construction of a new cement facility in the state. The News Minute has reported that the producer plans to invest US$168m in the project. The MoU is part of an agreement between parent company Adani Group and the state of Telangana covering investments worth US$1.49bn. Other projects include an MoU with Adani Group’s renewables subsidiary Adani Green Energy for the construction of a total of 1350MW of energy storage capacity.
Saudi Arabia: Najran Cement has informed investors via a posting on the Saudi Exchange that it expects its cost of sales to rise by 13%. This is due to an increase in the price of fuels by its supplier Saudi Aramco. The cement producer noted that the waste heat recovery (WHR) system installed at its Najran cement plant has partly reduced the anticipated impacts on costs.
Najran Cement said “The company will work during the coming period to explore ways to reduce the financial impact of this adjustment on the company’s profits and will continue to implement its plans to reduce costs and improve production and operating efficiency. It will also work with government agencies to explore ways to diversify energy sources.”
Holcim’s ECOCycle construction-demolition material recycling technology named Circularity Lighthouse
17 January 2024Switzerland: McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum have recognised Holcim’s ECOCycle recycling technology for construction-demolition material (CDM) as a "Circularity Lighthouse in the Built Environment." ECOCycle technology can process 100% of CDM input into new building materials with 75% lower CO2 emissions than traditional alternatives.
Chief sustainability officer Nollaig Forrest said “Circularity is a game changer to decarbonise buildings at scale. At Holcim we are operating over 100 ECOCycle recycling centres globally to drive circular construction. With our advanced recycling of CDM, we can already reduce the CO2 footprint of cement by up to 40%. This is just the beginning; as we innovate and partner across the value chain to evolve building norms, we aim to accelerate the shift to circular construction in all metropolitan areas where we operate.”
Votorantim Cimentos and Atlas Renewable Energy partner to build 470MW solar power plant
16 January 2024Brazil: Votorantim Cimentos and Atlas Renewable Energy have launched a joint venture to build a 470MW solar power plant in Paracatu, Minas Gerais. Additionally, the parties signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the supply of 100GWh/yr of solar energy for Votorantim Cimentos' cement plants between 2026 and 2041. The moves align with the producer’s aim to achieve 75% renewable energy reliance in its operations.
Iraq: Al-Riyadh Investment Companies Group subsidiary Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries plans to expand its Al Douh cement plant’s capacity by 58% to 3Mt/yr. The expansion is part of an upgrade involving the installation of a new kiln, a gas-fired captive power plant and a new waste heat recovery (WHR) plant. The WHR plant will provide 30% of the plant’s energy. The US-based International Finance Corporation (IFC) has loaned Al-Douh Iraqi Company for Cement Industries US$130m on a long-term basis for the project.
The IFC says that it expects the Al Douh cement plant expansion to help boost economic diversification, spur sustainable growth in Iraq and generate 2700 new jobs in Muthanna Governorate.
Schwenk Latvija trials carbon capture at Brocēni cement plant
12 January 2024Latvia: Schwenk Latvija plans to build a 750,000t/yr carbon capture system at its 2Mt/yr Brocēni cement plant. The producer has hired Norway-based Capsol Technologies to conduct a CapsolEoP carbon capture feasibility study at the plant. Schwenk Latvija is a member of the CCS Baltic Consortium, which achieved provisional inclusion on the European Commission’s list of Projects of Common Interest in November 2023.
Schwenk Northern Europe CEO Reinhold Schneider said “Checking the best carbon capture methods and how they can be integrated with our production process is a crucial task for us on the way to carbon neutrality, and likely the major investment direction for the coming decade. To that end, we are excited to investigate the energy consumption and the scale of equipment required for carbon capture at the Brocēni plant, if potentially partnering with Capsol for this challenge.”
Capsol Technologies CEO Jan Kielland said “We are excited to work with Schwenk, one of the most innovative building materials producers in Europe, which has constantly improved its processes to reduce emissions since operations started at the Brocēni plant’s new kiln line in 2010” He added “With this feasibility study, we are taking another step towards building a position as the preferred carbon capture technology provider for cement.”
Capsol’s project pipeline includes 10 large-scale cement projects in the sales engineering and engineering studies phase. The total CO2 capture capacity of these projects is 11Mt/yr.
Germany: Rohrdorfer Zement has fired up a pilot clay tempering unit at its Rohrdorf cement plant in Bavaria. The project has received Euro8.65m in funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the EU. It is one of a number of industrial projects under the EU’s Euro800bn NextGenerationEU post-Covid-19 economic recovery instrument. Sources of heat for the pilot unit at the Rohrdorf cement plant include waste heat from the plant’s clinker line. If the pilot succeeds, the introduction of tempered clay into cement production at the site will follow. This will entail the construction of an on-site full-scale clay tempering plant. Rohrdorfer Zement says that this would reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions by 16 – 18%, or by 30% if it achieves carbon neutral clay tempering through the use of green hydrogen.
Rohrdorfer’s dedicated Net Zero Emissions Labs team is working to turn the Rohrdorf cement plant carbon neutral by 2038. Other initiatives include the installation of carbon capture systems at the Rohrdorf plant and another in Austria, and participation in the H2-Reallabor Burghausen hydrogen partnership.
Regarding the latest pilot, Rohrdorf Net Zero Emissions Labs project leader Helmut Leibinger said “As a cement component, tempered clays make a significant contribution to CO2 mitigation. With the pilot project of process-integrated tempered clay, we are taking not just a step in our decarbonisation roadmap, but a leap.”
Middle East Calcined Clay and Kaolin Group International to build limestone calcined clay cement plant
11 January 2024Oman: Middle East Calcined Clay and Netherlands-based Kaolin Group International plan to build a limestone calcined clay cement plant in Oman. The partners have hired Spain-based turnkey plant engineer IPIAC to supply equipment including its Plug and Clay clay calcination unit. The new plant will produce limestone calcined clay cement with 40% lower CO2 emissions than ordinary Portland cement (OPC), according to the supplier.
IPIAC previously introduced the technology in Cuba and Ivory Coast, and is currently retrofitting it to a clinker line in Angola.
JSW Cement and Coolbrook to install RotoDynamic Heater at Vijayagar steel and slag cement plant
11 January 2024India: JSW Cement has appointed Finland-based Coolbrook to install its RotoDynamic Heater electric kiln technology at the Vijayagar steel works and slag and cement grinding plant in Karnataka. Press Trust of India News has reported that the partners expect the technology to reduce the CO2 emissions of the plant’s slag cement.