Displaying items by tag: Environment
Villagers affected by cement plant stage protest
19 March 2014India: Hundreds of farmers who will be affected by a JP Associates cement plant that is under construction in Mangal village, Himachal Pradesh, have staged a protest outside of Arki Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM).
The villagers staged their protest over allegations that the cement plant has ruined Mangal village, with JP Associates allegedly having dumped waste in the area. They claim that this has caused massive devastation due to the subsequent run-off from the waste into neighbouring fields.
The Himachal Pradesh high court has passed an order to remove the offending waste and asked the district administration to comply with the order. The villagers have alleged that the district administration failed to force JP Associates to remove the waste that was dumped in the villages. Protesters hold little hope that JP Associates will comply, as successive governments have seldom forced it to in the past.
ESSROC and EPA waste unit dispute deferred until February 2014
12 November 2013US: Lawyers for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and ESSROC are in talks to settle a legal dispute pending before the Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). The EAB had scheduled the case for 7 November 2013 but on 6 November 2013 EAB Judge Leslye Fraser stayed the case until 20 February 2014 to allow time for settlement talks. The order requires ESSROC and EPA's Region V to report to the EAB on the status of negotiations by 9 January 2014.
The case began 8 July 2013 when the ESSROC Cement Corporation petitioned the EAB to review Region V's decision requiring an SSRA at ESSROC's hazardous waste combustor facility in Logansport, IN, during the 2012 renewal of the facility's Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit. In a 25 September 2013 order, the EAB granted oral argument in the case, and asked that during the proceedings the two sides revisit arguments from industry's past challenge to a 2005 EPA rule setting maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards under the Clean Air Act for the combustion facilities.
Roanoke Cement certified as Exemplary Environmental Enterprise
11 September 2013US: Roanoke Cement Company has been accepted as an Exemplary Environmental Enterprise within the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP). VEEP was established to encourage superior environmental performance by encouraging organisations within the state of Virginia, that have strong, established environmental records, to surpass their own performance levels.
India: The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB) has ordered closure of India Cements Limited (ICL) factory at Yerraguntla and initiated action against four more cement plants in the state's Kadapa district, for non-compliance of its directions and standards and causing severe air pollution in surrounding areas.
The APPCB said that it issued closure orders in the interest of protecting public health and the environment, in accordance with a decision taken at a hearing conducted by the APPCB on 5 August 2013. The electricity authorities were directed to disconnect the ICL factory from the grid.
The ICL factory closure was ordered due to: non-compliance with regard to upgrade requirements to its electrostatic precipitators (ESP); failing to meet emissions standards; storing limestone in an open area, leading to excessive dust in nearby public roads and villages; not disposing solid waste correctly; inadequate water sprinkling systems.
Along with the ICL plant, Kadapa district officials investigated the district's four other cement plants. These are an ICL plant at Chilamakul, Zuari Cements at Yerraguntla, Bharti Cements at Kamalapuram and Dalmia Cements at Mylavaram. Bharti Cements must provide an automatic water sprinkling system along its roads to minimise dust emissions by 23 September 2013. The APPCB issued warnings to Zuari and Dalmia to conform to regulatory standards.
France: On 20 June 2013 France-based cement producer Vicat announced that it had begun 10 days of trials at its Créchy cement plant in Allier with the aim of producing a new, low-CO2 type of cement known as ALPENAT®.
The trials, which aim to produce 10,000t of ALPENAT, are a first step towards full industrial production following years of research by Vicat into lower-CO2 cements. It is claimed that ALPENAT has embodied CO2 levels that are 30% lower than that of conventional cement.
While Vicat is currently keeping chemical and technical specifics out of the public domain, it reports that ALPENAT achieves its lower CO2 emissions via two methods. It reports that it has: 1. Reduced the temperature required in the kiln and; 2. Reduced the levels of limestone included in the cement raw mix, which reduces the CO2 released in the decarbonation step.
In addition to its good environmental credentials, ALPENAT is also presented by Vicat as a high-performance cement. It allows faster setting, an increase in resistance at seven and 28 days compared to OPC in the same strength class (42.5 or 52.5) and improved durability. It has already proven its strength over two years at the Vicat Montalieu cement plant, where a ramp for 100t dumper trucks has been constructed out of concrete made from ALPENAT.
Vicat says that the research that led to ALPENAT was made possible by its focus on research and development, mainly at its Isle d'Abeau laboratories.
The Vicat announcement about ALPENAT comes hot on the heels of trials conducted by Lafarge, which recently presented details of its Aether® cement clinker to the cement industry. This belite-based cement was featured in the May 2013 issue of Global Cement Magazine.
Cemex to step up Egyptian environmental performance
05 June 2013Egpyt: The Mexican cement giant Cemex has said it plans to invest US$100m to expand its operations in Egypt. The planned investments were discussed in a meeting between Sergio Menendez, President of Cemex in Egypt, and Yehia Hamed, Egyptian Minister of Investment.
The investment will allow Cemex to 'significantly improve its operations in Egypt and continue supporting the country's housing, commercial and infrastructure development, according to the company.
New environmental equipment will be installed to reduce emissions of pollutants and increase the use of alternative fuels. "Cemex is constantly providing industry-leading building solutions that help improve the well-being of the people of Egypt," said Menendez. "This investment is expected to support the sustainable development of Egypt for many generations."
Cemex said that more than 250,000t of waste have been processed into alternative fuels in Egypt since 2000. "In 2010 Cemex inaugurated a new US$12m dust filter equipped with the latest technology to reduce emissions in its Assiut cement plant," said Cemex.
China to cut nitrogen oxide emissions to 450mg
24 May 2013China: A new standard for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from cement plants drafted by the Ministry of Environmental Protection is expected to be issued on 1 July 2013, according to the China Securities Journal.
The new standard will cut the amount of NOx emitted by an existing cement plant to below 450mg for every normal cubic meter of cement produced. Currently on average Chinese cement producers emit 880mg of NOx. For those new cement production lines, the emission standard will be capped below 320mg. The drafted requirement is stricter than market expectations for the cap to be set at 500mg.
The Chinese cement industry produces about 11.6% of all NOx emissions across China's industrial sectors. It has been targeted in move to address air pollution, particularly after hazardous smog levels were reported since the start of 2013. In 2011, the Sichuan provincial government said power would be cut for cement plants that fail to achieve the NOx emissions target set by the provincial government for the 2011 - 2015 period.
Slovenia: Lafarge Cement plans to try again to obtain an environmental permit for a highly disputed waste-burning furnace at its Trbovlje plant, local media has reported. The move follows the second time Lafarge's request was rejected by Slovenia's Environment Agency in March 2013.
Cuban plant to go green
05 April 2013Cuba: A Cuban cement plant has launched industrial trials to produce environmentally-friendly cement, according to the National News Agency.
Gustavo Suarez, director of the Siguaney cement plant in central Cuba reported that the kilns began to burn local kaolin minerals to partially replace the CO2-intensive clinker used to make cement on 4 April 2013. Suarez said the production phase was preceded by a year and a half of testing by researchers at Las Villas University and the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, a partner in the project.
The factory is preparing the first 300t of burnt metakaolin needed to make two experimental types of 'green cement,' in which clinker will be replaced by 15% and 45% kaolin respectively. It is estimated that Siguaney will consume only 68% of the energy used in making normal cement, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 32%. "(Our) current grey cement production requires a temperature of 1200°C, while the new local formula needs only 750°C," said Suarez.
Jaiprakash Associates ‘unable’ to pay US$18.8m power plant fine
06 February 2013India: Major Indian cement producer Jaiprakash Associates has informed the Supreme Court of India that it is unable to pay a US$18.8m fine imposed by the Himachal Pradesh High Court for setting up a captive thermal power plant without gaining the required environmental clearance.
The Jaypee group firm said that it is in 'great difficulty' and can't arrange funds to pay its second instalment of US$4.7m that is due on 31 March 2013. However, it said it had paid the first instalment of the same amount. A bench headed by chief justice Altamas Kabir agreed for an early hearing on 12 March 2013 even though the environment ministry and the state government opposed the plea, saying that there is no way for Jaiprakash Associates to avoid the US$18.8m fine.
On 4 May 2012 the High Court ordered the Jaiprakash Associates to dismantle its 60MW captive power plant within three months. It allowed the 1.75Mt/yr cement plant in Solan to stay. In November 2012 Jaiprakash Associates reported that its net profit for the six months to 30 September 2012 had dropped by nearly 40% to US$50.1m from US$81.3 in the same period in 2011.