Displaying items by tag: Licence

India: Protestors have halted mining operations at JSW Cement’s Khatkurbahal mine in Odisha, which serves the company’s Sundargarh cement plant. The New Indian Express newspaper has reported that the protestors accuse the company of mining and dumping overburden on neighbouring agricultural land, damaging properties with debris from blasts, drying up six wells and creating excessive dust pollution. The protestors also complained that the mine has failed to create new jobs for local people.

Ghana: The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) has reported discoveries of Empire Cement brand cement on sale on the open market despite neither it nor the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) having issued permits for Empire Cement to produce cement. Graphic Online News has reported that the suspect products are wrongly labelled with certification marks. GSA director general Alex Dodoo warned that this constitutes an offence.

India: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has quashed UltraTech Cement’s environmental clearances for its Babarkot and Jafrabad limestone mines in Gujarat’s Amreli District, the Indian Express newspaper reports. The tribunal said that, as a cluster spanning over 50ha, extensions to the mines were subject to Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (MEFCC) approval. This was not granted at the time of the latest expansions’ approval by the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority in 2018.

Puerto Rico: Cemex Puerto Rico has successfully renewed its licence for use of Pier 16 at the Port of San Juan until 2042. Puerto Rico Ports Authority executive director Joel Pizá Batiz estimated Cemex Puerto Rica’s contribution to the territorial economy to be US$20m in 2020 and its total investments in the island to be US$400m.

The Metro Puerto Rico newspaper has reported that Puerto Rican cement consumption was 590,000t in 2020.

China: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies has secured a Chinese patent for its high performance alkaline activation (H-P2A) geopolymer technology. The patent will enable it to begin to market its clinker-free cement in the country.

Co-founders Julien Blanchard and David Hoffmann said "We are very proud to extend the intellectual property of our H-P2A technology to a market with such great potential as China. The achievement of this first milestone marks our commitment to raising the barriers to entry in as many markets as possible around the world."

US: Performance materials and technologies conglomerate Honeywell has entered into a collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin for the development of carbon capture systems. Honeywell has obtained a licence to use the university’s proprietary advanced solvent technology. The University of Texas at Austin will provide consulting services for the company as it seeks to develop a carbon capture system for industrial implementation using the technology. Honeywell will target ‘hard-to-abate’ CO₂ emitting industries such as cement to which to supply its system.

University of Texas at Austin McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering professor and Texas Carbon Management Program (TxCMP) lead Gary Rochelle said “We are thrilled that our decades of research has led to carbon capture technology that can significantly reduce carbon emissions. The licensing agreement with Honeywell enables us to commercially scale this in ways that can make major contributions toward zero emissions efforts to address global warming and to reduce pollutants in surrounding communities.”

France: Hoffmann Green Cement Technologies plans to expand its low-CO2 cement’s presence in and beyond France through the establishment of 15 – 20 new licenced plants before 2030. The Les Echos newspaper has reported that the company plans to raise Euro25m, of which it will invest Euro15.7m in international licencing contracts for its technology. In 2026, it expects the contracts to derive 10Mt of its revenues, 7.7% of its target for the year.

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to apply for a licence to substitute alternative fuel (AF) for a part of its coal, gas and petcoke fuel mix. The plant previously held a two-week AF substitution trial in May 2011. CBC News has reported that the subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos will present its plan at an evening meeting for the general public on 18 November 2021. The company says that it plans to implement similar AF arrangements to those at its Bowmanville plant, where it uses 90,000t/yr of biomass, wood from construction and demolition and non-recyclable paper and plastics.

Environmental manager Ruben Plaza said "Lower CO₂ emissions is the first consideration and, equally as important, the material has to be approved and available in sufficient quantities with a reliable and sustainable long-term supply."

Chile: Cementos Polpaico has submitted an environmental impact study for a US$60m upgrade of its Cerro Blanco cement plant in Tiltil, near Santiago. Business News America has reported that the proposed work consists of the installation of a new precalciner, an expansion to its four limestone quarries and the establishment of a new filtered tailings deposit and 3000t cement silo.

The producer hopes to launch the project in January 2023 in order to commission the upgraded plant before 2026.

Sweden: Cementa says it is preparing to ration deliveries of cement in December 2021 due to uncertainty about whether it can renew the mining licence at its integrated Slite plant in Gotland beyond the end of October 2021. The subsidiary of Germany-based HeidelbergCement has warned customers that it is preparing to implement quotas of cement products from its two plants and five terminals on a week-by-week basis. The quotas will be based on what level of cement customers have ordered previously over the past 36 months. It will also take into account whether there have been significant volume changes during the period.

Cementa says it submitted its application for an emergency permit in late September 2021. It needs approval from the government by mid-November 2021 to avoid a potential cement shortage. However, any such approval may be subject to an appeal leading to further delays in mining.