Displaying items by tag: Research
HeidelbergCement and Aachen University of Applied Sciences start study into binding CO2 in olivine and basalt
29 June 2017Germany: HeidelbergCement and Aachen University of Applied Sciences (RWTH Aachen) have started a three-year research project ‘CO2MIN’ that started on 1 June 2017 examining the absorption of CO2 from flue gas by olivine and basalt. The intention is that the carbonised minerals could be used as a value-added additive in the production of building materials. HeidelbergCement and RWTH are supported by the Potsdam Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS) and the Dutch start-up Green Minerals. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project with Euro3m.
"We are already reducing the CO2 emissions of our plants very successfully by using alternative fuels and raw materials and by optimising the efficiency of our kilns," said Jan Theulen, Director of Alternative Resources at HeidelbergCement. He added that binding CO2 in minerals was one approach the company was exploring to reduce its emissions further.
In the first year the research project will focus on the investigation of different minerals in small-scale experiments. The carbonation of the most suitable minerals will then be tested under process conditions in the second year. The experiments will be conducted by the institute of Process Metallurgy and Metal Recycling (IME), which is the coordinator of the RWTH group. Life-cycle assessments (RWTH) as well as analyses of economic aspects and social acceptance (IASS) complete this project phase. In the third year, marketability and acceptance will be further optimised through intensive cooperation with customers.
France: LafargeHolcim has appointed Heike Faulhammer as Group Head of Research & Development with effect from 1 July 2017. She will be based at the group’s global research and development (R&D) centre near Lyon, France.
Faulhammer, aged 50 years, joins LafargeHolcim from Arkema, a French chemicals producer, where she has spent 20 years in research, production, product innovation-related functions and sustainable development. In particular, she acted as a Director at Arkema’s global R&D centre in Lacq. Faulhammer graduated from the University of Freiburg (Germany) and holds a PhD in Chemistry.
Germany: SKF has inaugurated its new Sven Wingquist Test Centre in Schweinfurt. The unit had an investment of Euro40m. SKF says that the centre is the first in the world that is able to test large-size bearings under actual operating conditions.
The Sven Wingquist Test Centre has two testing rigs. One rig will be used for testing bearings used in other industrial sectors, including mining, construction, steel manufacturing and marine transport. The other is designed for the testing of wind turbine main shaft arrangements. Combined with SKF’s diagnostics, condition monitoring and simulation methods, these rigs are intended to help reduce testing and product development lead-times and provide more information into bearing performance.
The test centre has received funding from the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Media, Energy and Technology and the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Construction and Reactor Safety.
Cement Sustainability Initiative publishes technology review on mitigating CO2 emissions
22 June 2017Switzerland: The Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) has published a technology review on current and anticipated developments that can be used to mitigate CO2 emissions in cement production. The report includes 52 individual papers on existing technologies and seven additional summary papers
The CSI initiated a review of its original technology papers, which were originally developed in 2009, when the sector issued the first ever low-carbon technology roadmap in partnership with the International Energy Agency (IEA), following the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Paris Agreement. The European Cement Research Academy (ECRA) and a stakeholder consultant processes have also supported the project.
Key technological fields covered in the current review include: thermal energy efficiency, electric energy efficiency, use of alternative fuels, materials and biomass, reduction of the clinker content in cement, new binding materials, CO2 capture and storage (CCS), and CO2 use (CCU). The report also includes an assessment of the level of possible implementation, the challenges and costs of these technologies in future scenarios for 2030 and 2050.
“The publication of these revised and new technical papers sets robust foundations for the overall exercise of updating our 2009 roadmap. It is also a major step in the implementation of commitments made by the cement sector in Paris through the Cement Low Carbon Technology Partnerships initiative (LCTPi) and it demonstrates that the business is more than ever focused on supporting the implementation of the Paris Agreement,” said Philippe Fonta, managing director of the CSI.
The CSI and IEA plan to share the initial results of the updated global technology roadmap for the cement sector at COP 23 in Bonn, Germany.
Morocco: LafargeHolcim has inaugurated a new Construction Development Lab (CDL) in Casablanca. The CDL will be dedicated to the Moroccan and African construction markets and it will help the group develop construction solutions for the markets it serves. The laboratory is LafargeHolcim’s eighth laboratory in the world after those in Algeria, Argentina, China, France, India, Malaysia and Mexico. The 4000m² facility will house 50 engineers, architects and technicians and marketers. LafargeHolcim’s central research and development site is based in Lyon, France.
The new CDL will also aim to develop partnerships with start-ups, universities and other higher education institutions to promote research and development, test new ideas and reinforce relationships with building and infrastructure construction experts. It will organise specialised training for clients, influencers, product applicators and builders to enable them to use innovative solutions in their projects.
France: LafargeHolcim has launched its ‘Start-Up Accelerator’ plan to collaborate with entrepreneurs to improve its access to innovative construction solutions. The scheme will offer young companies on-site accommodation and the use of the facilities at the group’s Research and Development Centre in Lyon, France, to develop, test and market their solutions in construction and urban planning. The project will build on LafargeHolcim’s existing experience of working with start-ups in areas that include sustainability, innovative construction systems and the digital sector, as well as its extensive partnerships with customers, end-users and research facilities worldwide.
"With the Start-up Accelerator we are making a commitment to support young companies specialising in construction materials and construction solutions. We can offer them a sophisticated laboratory environment and access to years of experience in creating and applying building materials in thousands of projects and challenging environments around the world. In return, we believe that the start-ups will bring new ideas and new solutions that will change the face of construction in the coming years. We are committed to looking for new solutions for our customers so having the opportunity to bring new ideas together with our own R&D will be invaluable," said Gérard Kuperfarb, Group Head of Growth & Innovation at LafargeHolcim.
The Start-Up Accelerator will be open to entrepreneurs from around the world and will offer them access to offices, laboratory equipment and testing facilities at the industry’s leading Research and Development Centre. They will also benefit from the group’s network of technical experts and its commercial and market experience around the world. As part of the project, LafargeHolcim is also planning to partner with other companies to extend innovation projects along the construction value chain. The first young companies are expected to join the facility in mid-2017.
Insee Cement signs partnership with local universities
23 January 2017Sri Lanka: Insee Cement has signed research and development partnership deal’s with the Universities of Peradeniya, Moratuwa and Ruhuna. The agreements are intended to enhance the local construction industry through education, innovation and knowledge sharing, according to the Sunday Observer newspaper. The agreement was signed by Janaka Weerakoon of Siam City Cement and Upul Dissanayake of the University of Peradeniya, Ananda Jayawardena of the University of Moratuwa and SGJN Senanayake of the University of Ruhuna. Insee Cement was previously known as Holcim Lanka before it was purchased by Thailand’s Siam Cement in 2016.
India to take 20% hit in cement demand due to demonetisation
22 November 2016India: Demonetisation policy is expected to reduce cement demand by 15 – 20% until the end of 2016. It will then reduce growth by 3% in the last quarter of the Indian financial year that runs until the end of March 2017, according to a report by Deutsche Bank Markets Research. It added that investors forecast the drop in short-term demand to be ‘severe.’
Research Analyst Chockalingam Narayanan said that he expected demand from infrastructure projects to partially offset weakness in the residential sector. However, investment towards these projects may be impaired where the revenue comes from state government. These bodies rely on up to 10% of their revenue from the property sector that may be adversely effected by demonetisation. Local bodies are responsible for projects such as rural roads, urban development projects, affordable housing, irrigation and more. Larger road and railway budgets are mostly controlled by central government agencies and are expected to be less effected.
LafargeHolcim, ArcelorMittal, Evonik and Solvay form partnership to reduce carbon emissions across industries
17 November 2016Morocco: LafargeHolcim, ArcelorMittal, Evonik and Solvay have formed a Low Carbon Technology Partnerships Initiative across the steel, cement and chemicals industries. This new partnership will look at the potential synergies that exist between the manufacturing processes of these three energy intensive sectors, and how these synergies could be harnessed to reduce CO2 emissions.
As a first step, and following preliminary research, the innovative partnership will produce a study with the technical support of Arthur D Little to identify potential ways to valorise industrial off-gases and other by-products from their manufacturing processes to produce goods with a lower carbon footprint than through the fossil path. The preliminary research has already allowed identification of significant potential in selected trans-sector pathways.
The study is aimed at bringing a fact-based overview of carbon and energy sources from industrial off-gases (first at a European level), and evaluating the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of different Carbon Capture and Usage (CCU) pathways and their potential.
Initial findings from the first step already underway suggest that deploying cross-sector carbon capture and reuse opportunities on an industrial scale could reduce up to 3 GT/yr or 7% of global anthropogenic CO2 emissions. Existing conversion technologies that could be deployed across the three sectors could utilise by-products in the off-gases to create building materials, organic chemicals and fuel. Increased availability and greater access to renewable energy sources would significantly boost net carbon reduction efforts by those three sectors, within a supportive legislative framework. Cross sector carbon capture and reuse should also result in job creation, to be further investigated.
The study, carried out at European level, is building the ground for similar investigation extended at global level and paves the way for identifying and assessing industrial scale projects on CCU at the interface between the sectors.
“Concrete offers the highest level of life-cycle sustainability performance and we are continuously developing new products and solutions for a low carbon society. This new ambitious partnership will support our mission to cut our net emissions per ton of cement by 40% towards 2030 (versus 1990) and to develop and further deploy low carbon solutions for the construction sector. But to make this a reality, we will need an enabling regulatory framework and support for innovation,” said Bernard Mathieu, Head Group Sustainable Development of LafargeHolcim.
Belgium: Data from the Cement Sustainability Initiative (CSI) suggests that the carbon intensity of European Union (EU) cement increased from 2008 to 2014, according to analysis by the environmental campaign group Sandbag. It adds that the sector made greater strides in reducing emissions in the years prior to the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS). Since 2011, the EU cement sector has increased exports of cement clinker outside the EU, demonstrating that the EU ETS has not made the sector globally uncompetitive.
“EU policymakers have overprotected the cement sector in the EU ETS to such an extent that companies have not taken any action to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The EU’s approach is killing with kindness; by maintaining the status quo on free allocation of allowances they are making their own climate targets undeliverable,” said Wilf Lytton, analyst at Sandbag.
Sandbag say that this highlights the inability of the EU’s climate policy, as currently designed, to address European cement sector emissions. Meanwhile, low-carbon new entrant cement companies operating outside of the EU ETS have commercialised technologies to dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of cement, yet are struggling to scale-up as they fight through a mass of regulation and product standards that support the high-carbon status quo.
Research by Sandbag revealed in March 2016 that incentives in the design of the EU ETS have driven higher greenhouse gas emissions emissions in the cement sector.