Displaying items by tag: Emissions

China: Asia Cement has launched its 2050 decarbonisation strategy, entitled 'Net-Zero Carbon Emissions By 2050 - Asia Cement Advanced Deployment.' The strategy consists of multiple pillars, namely 'alternative fuels,' 'reducing cement's clinker factor,' 'increasing renewable energy reliance' and 'carbon capture.'

During 2022, Asia Cement reduced its limestone, clay, iron and sand consumption by 266,000t, its coal consumption by 17,000t and its gypsum consumption by 56,000t year-on-year. This eliminated 95,100t of CO₂ emissions throughout the year, according to the producer.

Spain: Cementos Tudela Veguín plans to spend more than Euro62.5m on sustainability-enhancing upgrades to its three cement plants in Asturias and one in León. The plans consist of upgrades to fuelling systems that will enable the plants to use biofuels and hydrogen, as well as efficiency upgrades. The La Nueva España newspaper has reported that the producer is seeking to secure European Union (EU) funding for the project. The region of Asturias is eligible for Euro263m-worth of regional decarbonisation funding under the EU's Strategic Project for Economic Recovery and Transformation.

A planned second phase of upgrades will consist of the installation of carbon capture systems at the plants. They emitted 1.67Mt CO₂ in 2022. 1.12Mt (67%) arose from the decarbonisation of limestone and 0.55Mt (33%) came from the combustion of fuel.

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."

UK: 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.

US: Heidelberg Materials North America inaugurated its 2.4Mt/yr Mitchell cement plant in Indiana on 14 July 2023. The plant is equipped with a 3600 bag/hr rotary packer, and also boasts a 154,000t-capacity clinker storage dome. It will produce Heidelberg Materials North America's EcoCem Portland limestone cement (PLC), alongside other products. The producer said that the new plant will help to address US cement supply chain constraints amid a planned US$110bn infrastructure overhaul.

Heidelberg Materials North America president and chief executive officer Chris Ward said "The plant will reduce CO₂ emissions per tonne of clinker by almost 30%, mainly through operating on natural gas. Our investment in the Mitchell facility helps us lower our carbon footprint, while serving the growing demand for more sustainable products in this key market.”

Chile: Cemento Polpaico plans to invest US$67m in expanding its operations, with a focus on its Cerro Blanco cement plant in Santiago. Work will include the construction of a solar power plant and the expansion of the plant's limestone quarry. Meanwhile, Cemento Polpaico will upgrade the plant's kiln to increase its alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate to 75% from 13%. The upgrade will increase the production line's clinker capacity by 13% and reduce its CO₂ emissions by 20,000t/yr. Additionally, the producer will build a new 3000t cement silo.

Egypt: Heidelberg Materials subsidiary Suez Cement has invested US$16m in upgrading its operations towards increased alternative fuel (AF) use since 2010. The producer uses AF in the burners and kilns of all three of its cement plants, at Helwan, Kattameya and Suez. Meanwhile, Suez Cement has invested US$60m in dust control measures over the same period. Other on-going investments include US$25m in the construction of a waste heat recovery (WHR) plant at the Helwan cement plant. The company is committed to reaching a 24% reduction in its CO₂ emissions between 2019 and 2030.

Technical director Omar Khorshid said “We are committed to pursue initiatives to broaden our range of innovative and eco-friendly building solutions, advance operational efficiency through digitalisation and strengthen customer engagement for better business results and more positive impact."

Philippines: Cemex Philippines (CHP) says it has reduced the CO₂ emissions from its subsidiaries, Solid Cement Corporation and APO Cement Corporation, by 50% between 1990 and 2022. From 2020 to 2022 CHP reduced its net CO₂ emissions by 18%. The company claims this is the highest CO₂ emissions reduction in the sector based on publicly released information.

Luis Franco, the president and chief executive officer of CHP, said "This milestone CO₂ reduction was possible because of our team's high commitment to achieve net zero. We are on track to meet our ambition of less than 430kg of net CO₂ per tonne of cement by 2030 and deliver net-zero CO₂ concrete by 2050." He added that the company is confident it can reach a 67% reduction by 2030 through the continued used of alternative fuels and decarbonated raw materials.

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.

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."