Displaying items by tag: Government

Ireland/France: Ecocem will showcase its Advanced Cement Technology (ACT) at the Buildings and Climate Global Forum in Paris on 7-8 March 2024. The French Government and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will host the event, supported by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (Global ABC). It aims to advance the climate outcomes of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in 2023. Ecocem joins global policy-makers, industry stakeholders and international organisations as the event’s sole international cement technology company exhibitor.

Managing director Donal O'Riain said "The Buildings and Climate Global Forum is happening at a crucial moment for the planet. Urgent and deep decarbonisation of construction materials is essential to achieving the 2015 Paris Agreement targets.” He continued “Ecocem’s ACT low carbon technology can decarbonise the cement sector on a trajectory consistent with 1.5°C of global warming, the first major industry sector to achieve this feat. But we must now mobilise resolutely, rapidly and globally to deploy this technology. The first ambition should be a 50% reduction in CO₂ emissions from cement by 2030. Technology is no longer the barrier."

France: Eqiom plans to expand its Lumbres cement plant by 57% from 700,000t/yr to 1.1Mt/yr by 2026. The project involves the installation of a new kiln and aims to reduce the plant's CO₂ emissions by 20%, its fuel consumption by 35% and its NO_x and SO₂ emissions by 40% and 80% respectively. The producer plans to invest €300m, including €40m from France Relance funds.

US: Eagle Materials has outlined its climate change mitigation successes in its 2023 Sustainability Report. During 2023, the company increased its production of blended cement products, including Portland Limestone Cement (PLC). It commenced a major CO2 reduction study with the US Department of Energy, and established a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Team to explore new clean technologies. Eagle Materials says that it is currently working to increase the use of alternative fuels at three of its cement plants.

Nigeria: The Federal Government has warned cement producers that it is considering allowing cement imports into the country in response to high local prices. Arc Ahmed Dangiwa, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, made the comment at an emergency meeting held with cement and building materials manufacturers in Abuja following a doubling of the price of bags of cement, according to the Vanguard newspaper. Manufacturers have blamed the price rises on the increasing cost of gas, the cost of mining equipment, negative currency exchange rate effects and the poor state of the country’s roads. However, Dangiwa noted that many of the raw materials they use - including limestone, clay, silica sand and gypsum - are sourced locally.

The government is preparing to set up a committee - comprising representatives of each cement company, the Cement Manufactures of Nigeria Association and the relevant ministries, to find ways of tackling the high price of cement.

US: Buzzi Unicem USA is among industrial partners collaborating with Electrified Thermal Solutions in the development of its Joule Hive Thermal Battery for industrial heat decarbonisation. The partners plan to launch a commercial-scale pilot of the battery in San Antonio, Texas, in association with the Southwest Research Institute. The project is supported by US$171m in funding from the US Department of Energy. The battery delivers heat of up to 1800°C from energy from renewable sources.

Buzzi Unicem USA president and chief executive officer Massimo Toso said “Cement production is known as a hard to abate industrial sector in large part because of the high temperatures required. Electrified Thermal Solutions’ Joule Hive Thermal Battery is the first industrial heat decarbonisation solution we have identified that could potentially enable us to cost-effectively and completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels in our heating processes and achieve our corporate decarbonisation goals.”

Electrified Thermal Solutions chief executive officer Daniel Stack said “We believe the breadth and depth of involvement from our industrial partners like Buzzi Unicem USA was critical to demonstrate to the Department of Energy just how valuable the Joule Hive Thermal Battery will be for industrial decarbonisation, and we are grateful for their partnership.” Stack added “Southwest Research Institute’s engineering support and world-class industrial demonstration facilities signalled to the Department of Energy that our technology will be developed, built, operated, tested and evaluated to the highest standards.”

Norway: Aker Solutions has won a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract to develop Hafslund Oslo Celsio’s Port of Oslo CO₂ terminal. The unit will facilitate the transport of CO₂ to the Øygarden Northern Lights site under the Longship carbon capture and storage (CCS) initiative. The initiative involves Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe’s Brevik cement plant.

Aker Solutions’ executive vice president, new energies, Henrik Inadomi said “At Aker Solutions, we have a growing track record in supporting our customers across the entire CCS value chain. From capture and transportation to permanent storage, we provide innovative solutions and work with leading partners to support CCS developments across the globe. We are committed to building on this expertise and further strengthening our relationship with Celsio. We are proud to have engineered a cost efficient and effective layout which enabled Celsio to proceed with the next phase of this landmark development.”

The upcoming Global CemCCUS conference on carbon capture, utilisation and storage in Oslo, Norway, will include a visit to the Brevik cement plant on 16 May 2024.

Mali: Morocco-based Ciments de l'Afrique (CIMAF) has held a ceremony marking the laying of the first stone of a new 1Mt/yr cement plant it is building at Natien in Sikasso region. The project has a budget of around US$50m and is intended to be expandable to 2Mt/yr should the market need arise, according to La Nouvelle Tribune newspaper. Cement produced at the plant will be sold domestically and exported. Commissioning is scheduled for early 2026. Moussa Alassane Diallo, Minister of Industry and Commerce, attended the event in addition to members of the National Transition Council, the governor of Sikasso region and, Malick Sefrioui, the Vice President of CIMAF.

US: The Department of Transportation has announced a US$5m initiative to investigate the use of steel slag in cement and concrete. This will take the form of a collaboration between the Department of Transportation and a selected US-based steel producer and university partner. The initiative seeks to reduce CO₂ emissions in the production of building materials. Prospective participants may view the grant opportunity here.

Transport secretary Pete Buttigieg said "We're proud to make this funding available to help develop the next generation of construction materials so that the future of our transport infrastructure is more resilient, more sustainable and made in America.”

Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for research and technology and chief science officer, said “This funding initiative will develop and advance innovative materials and technologies that support the nation’s goals to decarbonise the transportation sector by 2050, strengthen resilience of the nation’s transportation infrastructure, and address adverse environmental impacts created by the transportation system.”

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has voiced its concerns over the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s newly finalised standard for particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5). The new standard reduces the level of particulate matter below 2.5μm diameter permitted in flue gas emissions to 9μg/m³ from 12μg/m³. The PCA says that it is concerned that the new rule may restrict US cement producers’ operations and ‘further complicate’ their efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

President and CEO Mike Ireland said “This new rule strikes at the heart of the US cement industry's ability to deliver on the Biden Administration's infrastructure goals, as it would lead to fewer hours of operation at plants, which would mean layoffs, as well as less American cement and concrete at a time when the country needs more.” He added “The previous EPA standard on particulate matter emissions — arrived at by government officials working with industry — significantly drove down those emissions by 37% over the last 20 years. This downward trend would have continued without the new standard imposed."

However, EPA administrator Michael Stanley Regan said that the updated standard will prevent 4500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays annually by 2032. Regan said “We do not have to sacrifice people to have a prosperous and booming economy.”

EU: Cemex has welcomed the European Commission's Carbon Management Strategy, its new policy approach to industrial CO₂ emissions reduction. The approach highlights the storage of biogenic CO₂ and the development of CO₂ transport infrastructure as major strategic paths. Cemex said that it will assist in the design and implementation of actions under the Carbon Management Strategy. In its European cement operations, Cemex reduced its CO₂ intensity by 45% in 2023 compared to 1990 levels, and aims to achieve a 55% reduction by 2030. The producer called for ‘the completion of the policy landscape’ in complement to the industry’s on-going efforts towards full decarbonisation.

Cemex Europe, Middle East and Africa director communications, public affairs and social impact Martin Casey said “The strategy is comprehensive and outlines relevant fields of action, but what is essential now is a timely implementation. For companies to move forward, the regulatory framework regarding carbon capture and utilisation or storage, along with carbon accounting and removals, must be completed as a matter of the utmost urgency. The cement plant of 2030 is planned and designed today.”