Displaying items by tag: Alternative Fuels

Nigeria: Dangote Cement's consolidated sales grew by 15% year-on-year to US$2.66bn during the first nine months of 2022 from US$2.31bn in the same period in 2021. In Nigeria the company recorded cement and clinker sales volumes of 13.5Mt, down by 4.7% from 14.1Mt. In the rest of Africa its cement and clinker sales were 7.37Mt, down by 9.7% from 8.16Mt. The group recorded consolidated earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of US$1.17bn, up by 0.2% from US$1.16bn.

Throughout the first nine months of 2022, Dangote Cement co-processed 102,000t of alternative fuel in its cement production, up by 77% year-on-year from the corresponding period of 2022.

South Africa: Saudi Arabia-based ACWA Power and Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa (IDC South Africa) have partnered to explore the development of green hydrogen infrastructure opportunities in South Africa. Together, they will aim to accelerate the country's transition into a green hydrogen economy across industries including cement production. ACWA Power projected the potential value of developments at US$10bn.

South Africa is committed to achieving net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

ACWA Power's vice chair and chief executive officer Paddy Padmanathan said "As a company that is driving the energy transition, ACWA Power is proud to work closely with the IDC, with whom we share a robust working history, and today we are delighted to take our collaboration further. I am confident that our expertise in developing mega-scale green hydrogen projects in other geographies will enable us to successfully create a new avenue of sustainable energy generation - one that will pave the path to further progress.”

Spain: Brazil-based Votorantim Cimentos' Córdoba, Niebla and La Araña cement plants in Andalusia are at the centre of a planned Euro1bn decarbonisation project by the company. Votorantim Cimentos will publish details of its plans, which include renewably powered green hydrogen and biofuels production, in early 2023.

Votorantim Cimentos Europe, Asia and Africa CEO Jorge Wagner said "We need agility with the administration, because the investments are stratospheric and long-term. We want to obtain subsidies, taking advantage of European funds." He concluded "We have the opportunity to carry out a very beautiful project in Andalusia and beat the Americans."

Spain: Cementos Portland Valderrivas plans to make Euro6m-worth of investments in its Alcalá de Guadaira cement plant in Seville. The funds will go towards the construction of a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) line to help reduce the plant's petcoke consumption, as well as the renewal of the plant's mining licence for its quarry.

France: Heidelberg Materials' subsidiary Ciments Calcia has laid the foundation stone for its construction of a Euro285m CO₂ emissions-reducing upgrade to its Airvault cement plant in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Ciments Calcia first published its plans for the installation of a new 4000t/day production line to replace both existing lines at the Airvault plant in 2021, with commissioning scheduled for mid-2024.

Germany-based ThyssenKrupp secured the order to supply a 1200t/hr double-shaft hammer crusher, a longitudinal blending bed, a 370t/hr Quadropol QMR² 45/23 vertical roller mill, a 10,000t raw materials tangential blending silo, a single-string, five-stage Dopol cyclone preheater with integral calciner for alternative fuels (with the possibility of conversion to oxyfuel), a Polytrack clinker cooler, a solid recovered fuel preparation line and dedusting systems for the project.

New Zealand: Fletcher Building subsidiary Golden Bay Cement has co-processed 80,000t of waste in production of its EcoSure reduced-CO₂ general-purpose cement at its Golden Bay, Whangarei, cement plant. The plant has achieved a coal substitution rate of 50%. It has processed various waste streams, including 3 million used tyres. EcoSure cement generates CO₂ emissions of 699kg/t of product, 20% less than its imported alternatives, according to Golden Bay Cement. Fletcher building CEO Nick Traber said that this figure is 'simply our starting point.' The company's next target is to achieve a 30% CO₂ reduction by 2030.

Traber said "We needed to think outside the box, or rather the cement bag to be more precise. The challenge was around what enhancements we could make to our manufacturing processes at our Golden Bay cement works in order to improve the plant's sustainability. We quickly realised that consuming used tyres and wood waste as alternative fuels was a win-win. When we started with the idea in 2015, we were aiming to replace 15% of coal with end-of-life tyres. Fast forward to 2022, and our rate of coal substitution is now at 50%, which has obviously delivered further reductions in carbon emissions, as well as helping to offset increased coal costs."

Philippines: Republic Cement is supporting efforts to remove plastic pollution from the sea by co-processing the waste in its cement production. The Business Mirror newspaper has reported that the cement producer has partnered with plastic waste collector Pure Oceans to take delivery of shipments cleaned up from off the coasts of Batangas and Davao.

Republic Cement chief executive officer Roman Menz said "Republic Cement is proud to partner with organisations such as Pure Oceans. Their deep commitment towards safeguarding the environment, while making significant contributions to the Philippine plastic waste crisis, is an inspiration for us to continue doing what we do in order to make a tangible impact on our communities, towards building a greener and stronger republic."

Through its partnerships with local fishing communities, Pure Oceans diverted 1.93m bags of plastic waste over the three years prior to the start of October 2022.

El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador plans to invest up to US$50m over the next three years to help it generate 70% of the energy it uses. It plans to build a 17MW solar plant and a wind farm to enable this, according to La Prensa Gráfica newspaper. The investment will also help the subsidiary of Switzerland-based Holcim to progress towards its net-zero sustainability goals. The solar project has a budget of US$19m and will be built in agreement with AES Corporation. It will be located at Holcim’s integrated El Ronco cement plant. It will supply 21% of the energy used at both the El Ronco and Maya cement plants.

The investment has also included the installation of a solid waste shredder earlier in 2022. Its official inauguration is planned for mid-November 2022. Holcim El Salvador reached a 30% alternative fuels substitution rate in October 2022.

Panama: Waste management company EMG has won a contract with Cemex Panama for the supply of solid recovered fuel (SRF) derived from commercial and industrial waste, beginning in early 2023. EMG is working to expand its SRF production capacity to 18,000t/yr from the start of the supply contract.

France: Fives has secured a contract to supply a 65MW Pillard NOVAFLAM Evolution burner to a cement producer. The customer’s aims are to continue to maximise alternative fuel (AF) use, to improve clinker quality and to reduce NO_x emissions at its cement plant. The order also includes precalciner burners and a natural gas-powered 35MW Pillard hot gas generator, as well as valve trains and pumping systems.