Displaying items by tag: Emissions

Switzerland: 2016 data published by the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) from its Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) report shows no change in CO₂ emissions in recent years. Gross specific CO₂ emissions from cementitious products rose slightly from 2014 and net specific emissions have remained the same. However, the data shows considerable improvement since a baseline in 1990 with both metrics falling by over 15%.

Other notable figures from the latest report include an 11% year-on-year drop in clinker volumes to 606Mt in 2016 from 680Mt in 2015 and a 12% fall in cementitious volumes to 818Mt from 916Mt. Kiln fuel use, specific electricity use and the percentage of clinker in cement all rose slightly. However, the percentage of alternative fuels used increased to 16.7% from 15.9%.

The GNR report presents information on energy efficiency and CO₂ emissions from the worldwide cement industry. Participants use the CSI CO₂ and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry to provide information and 80% of the data provided is independently assured. The report uses information from 849 cement manufacturing plants around the world, both integrated and cement grinding units, representing 19% of global cement production.

Estonia: Kunda Nordic Tsement plans to spend Euro2.2m on upgrades to its operations. The investment will be used for emission improvements, updating its plant’s power distribution system, starting to use clinker dust in cement grinding and dredging the port of Kunda, according to the Virumaa Teataja newspaper.

The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement increased its output of clinker and cement by 20% and 60% respectively in 2017. Its plant relaunched its second kiln in 2017 but this increased its CO₂ emissions. It produced 1081kg of CO₂ per ton of clinker compared to the European target of 766kg. The plant operates two wet process kilns but it plans to switch to a dry production process in the future as this would help it reduce its emissions.

HeidelbergCement holds a 75% stake in the company with the rest belonging to Ireland’s CRH.

US: A US$2.3m air pollution settlement in 2006 from the Holcim US Midlothian cement plant in Texas has ended. The Sue Pope Pollution Reduction Fund has made its last donation of about US$75,000 to the Midlothian school district’s special needs programs, according to the Dallas Morning News newspaper. The final payment came from interest remaining from the original settlement between Holcim US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Downwinders at Risk environmental group. As part of the deal Downwinders at Risk agreed to stop fighting Holcim’s plans to expand cement production at the site in return for US$2.25m funding towards local projects and an understanding that the cement plant would upgrade its emission filters.

Russia: Local residents have protested against a cement plant being built at Zueovo near Novgorod. Over 800 residents demonstrated against the project and sent a letter to the regional governor, according to the Kolmovo newspaper. The protestors object to potential health concerns related to the plant such as poor air quality due to dust emissions.

UK: A report by the CDP looking at some of the largest multinational cement producers says that they need to double their emissions reductions in order to meet the 2°C global warming target outlined in the Paris Agreement. The report, entitled ‘Building Pressure,’ analysed 13 large cement companies including LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Cemex from data in a questionnaire. However, two major Chinese cement producers, Anhui Conch and China National Building Materials, and other producers including Siam Cement and Dangote Cement did not respond.

The report argues that regulation is the key driver to helping the cement industry reduce its emissions, through tightening building regulation and a rise in low carbon cities. However, it concedes that the sector faces a technology barrier, as ‘significant innovation’ is still required. “With potential pressure coming from multiple sources, including down the value chain in the form of building and city regulation, cement companies need to invest and innovate in order to avoid impending risks to their operations and the wider world. This may see m challenging at first, but every year it is delayed, the cost becomes greater, so management teams, regulators and investors need to think long term. There is a solution - cement companies just need to invest properly in finding it,” said Paul Simpson, the chief executive officer of CDP. The CDP report assessed companies across four key areas aligned with the recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Indian companies toped its league table in part due to better access to alternative materials from other carbon-intensive sectors. They also benefited from

newer cement plants driven by high market growth in the region compared to older plants in Europe. Dalmia Bharat, Ambuja Cement and Cementos Argos were the best performing companies on climate-related metrics and Taiheiyo Cement, Cementir Holding and Asia Cement Corporation ranked lowest.

France/Switzerland: A technology roadmap by the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) sets out a combination of technology and policy solutions that could reduce CO₂ emission from the cement industry by 24% by 2050. The Low-Carbon Transition in the Cement Industry report updates the first global sectoral roadmap produced in 2009. It aims to identify and develop international collaborative efforts and provide evidence for public and private sector decision-makers to move towards a more sustainable cement sector that can contribute to long-term climate goals.

“The first exercise carried out in 2009 had demonstrated its added value to help the sector identify solutions and enablers to reduce its CO₂ emissions and it was essential to adjust this projection with the latest robust emissions data from the CSI’s Getting The Numbers right (GNR) database and the potential of latest technologies developed by the European Cement Research Academy (ECRA),” said Philippe Fonta, managing director, CSI of World Business Council for Sustainable

Development (WBCSD).The report aims to present a way to help the cement industry play its part it meeting the IEA’s 2°C Scenario (2DS) by 2050, which seeks to limit average global temperature increases to 2°C. The report forecasts that global cement production is set to increase between 12 - 23% by 2050 due to rising global population and urbanisation. Despite increasing efficiencies, direct carbon emissions from the cement industry are expected to rise by 4% globally by 2050 under the IEA Reference Technology Scenario (RTS), a base case scenario that takes into account existing energy and climate commitments under the Paris Agreement. The CSI and IEA argue that the low-carbon transition of the cement industry can only be reached with a supportive regulatory framework as well as effective and sustained investments. They say that meeting the RSI requires more investment, with a

potential doubling to meeting the 2DS. Governments, in collaboration with industry, can play a determinant role in developing policy and regulatory mechanisms that unlock the private finance necessary for such a boost in investment.The roadmap uses a bottom-up approach to explore a possible transition pathway based on least-cost technology analysis for the cement industry to reduce its direct CO₂ emissions in line with the IEA’s 2DS. Reaching this goal, the CSI and IEA say, would require a combination of technology solutions, supportive policy, public-private collaboration, financing mechanisms and social acceptance.

Improving energy efficiency and switching to alternative fuels, in combination with reducing the clinker content in cement and deploying emerging and innovative technologies like carbon capture and the use of alternative binding materials are the main carbon-mitigation methods available in cement manufacturing. Further emissions savings can be achieved by taking into account the overall life cycle of cement, concrete and the built environment. The roadmap outlines policy priorities and regulatory recommendations, discusses investment stimulating mechanisms and describes technical challenges with regard to research, development and demonstration.

India: Kakatiya Cement, Sugar & Industries plans to reopen its 2.97Mt/yr cement plant at Dondapadu in Telangana following its closure on pollution grounds in October 2017. Following the installation of online SPM stack monitoring equipment and connections to the Central and State Pollution Control Board servers, the company is ‘hopeful’ that the plant will be able to restart operations by the end of April 2018. The cement producer is currently obtaining clearance from the Telangana State Pollution Control Board.

India: The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has issued a show cause notice to Parasakti Cement for processing hazardous waste like battery scrap and operating without permission. The CPCB also noted that the particulate matter emissions from clinker rollers and cement mill exceeded the revised standards, according to the Times of India newspaper. The cement plant, based at Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, has been given 15 days to remedy the situation. Previously in 2016 the company said it was complying with the emissions regulations.

Pakistan: Local residents have protested about air pollution from the Kohat Cement plant. They demanded that the plant install air filters as soon as possible, according to the Dawn newspaper. The protestors also alleged that the company’s employment of local workers had dropped to 5% from 75% following its sale. The cement company says that it has hired a Chinese engineering firm to run a survey of its emissions. In 2016 the Environmental Protection Agency ordered Kohat Cement to stop production as its dust control unit was ‘out of order.’

The Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) has announced its aim to reduce CO₂ emissions by clinker producers by 20 - 25% by 2030. It made the announcement as part of a new action plan launched on 8 December 2015 at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21).

Most of the plan follows the CSI's existing aims announced to chime with the on-going COP21 negotiations. The plan depends on a long-term agreement being brokered successfully in Paris at COP21 as a whole. It then recommends policy in each of its key areas to achieve its goals. All of this sits beneath a general policy statement to, '...encourage policies for predictable, objective, level-playing and stable CO₂ constraints and incentives as well as energy frameworks on an international level.'

The Cement Action Plan is part of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development Low Carbon Technology Partnerships initiative (LCTPi). It puts together a series of measures to aspire to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1Gt by 2030 compared to business as usual. However this reduction is dependent on the entire cement industry getting involved, not just the existing 26 CSI members. Together these 26 members represent just a quarter of world cement production.

The drop in emissions is based on the so-called 'best-in-class' CSI company 2020 targets. To reach this the CSI is suggesting actions including focusing on recording Chinese cement industry emissions and energy usage, improving energy efficiency, promoting co-processing of alternative fuels, further lowering the clinker factor of cements, developing new low-energy and low-carbon cements, looking at the entire build chain to reduce emissions and considering other options such as carbon capture and storage. The plan had the support of the CEOs of 16 cement companies at its launch, with CNBM CEO Song Zhiping adding his assent at the event also.

The most prominent step is the clear focus on China for data capture using existing CSI tools such as the CO₂ and Energy Accounting and Reporting Standard for the Cement Industry, the Getting the Numbers Right (GNR) and the Cement Technology Roadmaps. As the CSI puts it, "What gets measured gets managed."

Given that China produces around 60% of the world's cement, according to United States Geological Survey data, the focus on China is essential. Currently the CSI has six Chinese members: CNBM, Sinoma, China Resources, Tianrui Group, West China Cement and Yati Group. Notable exceptions to CSI membership from the world's biggest cement producers include the Chinese producers Anhui Conch and Taiwan Cement, as well as Russia's Eurocement and India's Aditya Birla Group.

So, the CSI has set out its stall ahead of a hoped-for global agreement on climate change at the Paris conference. If some sort of legal agreement is reached then the CSI has its recommendations ready in the wings to hand to policymakers everywhere to promote its aims. If no agreement is reached then the plan loses momentum although pushing forwards makes sense where possible, starting with better CO₂ data reported especially in China.

Problems lie ahead for the CSI whatever happens in Paris given that the LCTPi Cement Action Plan is a series of policy suggestions from only 16 cement producers aiming for a non-binding target. For example, without some sort of world legal agreement there are clear commercial advantages for non-CSI members to burn cheap fossil fuels in their kilns and undercut their more environmentally pious rivals. The sustaining low cost of oil, dipping below US$40/barrel this week, can only aggravate this situation and distract the strategies of fuel buyers away from co-processing upgrades.