Displaying items by tag: GCW132

Kenya: The Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development has recommended that the East African Portland Cement (EAPCC) directors be investigated over a chaotic annual general meeting held on 17 December 2013.

Wilson Songa, principal secretary of the Ministry of Industrialisation and Enterprise Development, said that the conduct of EAPCC chairman and board members, including chief executive Kepha Tande and directors Titus Naikuni and Hamish Keith and company secretary J Maonga should be investigated in relation to the AGM.

Songa argued that the AGM should be declared a sham and the company was directed by the CMA not to affect any of the resolutions passed at the meeting. Songa wants the CMA to order EAPCC to reconvene the AGM and an independent person nominated by the capital markets regulator to oversee the meeting. Songa also wants the CMA to confirm that the nomination and election of Didier Tresarrieu as a director was null and void since it was not carried out in accordance with articles of the company.

The current stand-off re-ignites a long-running battle for the control of the cement maker between the government and France's Lafarge. The Treasury holds a 25% stake in EAPCC while NSSF holds 27% shareholding. This gives the government a 52% stake in the company, which has seen it ranked as a state corporation.

US: Solidia Technologies has reported the chemical properties, manufacture and performance qualities of a sustainable cement that can reduce the carbon footprint of cement and concrete products by up to 70%.

Solidia Cement™is made from the same raw materials and equipment as OPC, but is adaptable to a wide variety of cement formulations and production methods, offering a sustainable and performance-enhancing alternative.

Solidia Cement clinker is produced at 1200°C, approximately 250°C lower than OPC clinker. The cement is a non-hydraulic material that is composed primarily of low-lime-containing calcium silicate phases such as wollastonite / pseudowollastonite (CaO.SiO₂) and rankinite (3CaO.2SiO₂). The setting and hardening characteristics are derived from the reaction between CO₂ and the calcium silicates. During the carbonation process, calcite (CaCO₃) and silica (SiO₂) form and are responsible for the concrete strength development.

Concrete products produced with Solidia Cement are manufactured using the same mixing and forming processes as OPC-based concrete and sequester up to 300kg of CO₂/t of cement. The reduced CO₂ emissions, combined with the ability of the cement to sequester CO₂ during concrete curing, renders a CO₂ footprint (associated with both the manufacturing and use) that is reduced by up to 70%.

"For over 50 years, scientists have tried to cure concrete with CO₂ knowing the resulting product would be stronger and more stable. Solidia Technologies is the first to make this commercially viable. Our current focus is testing additional applications with an even wider variety of concrete formulations and manufacture methods to facilitate adoption across the globe," said Solidia Chief Technology Officer Nicholas DeCristofaro, who co-authored the paper with principal scientist Sada Sahu.

Solidia Concrete™will be explored in a companion paper that is due to be released in January 2014.