Displaying items by tag: Sustainability

Canada: Lehigh Cement and the International CCS Knowledge Centre are conducting a feasibility study looking at carbon capture and storage (CCS) at the Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. The project aims to find out whether capturing 90 – 95% of the CO₂ from the plant’s flue gas is viable. Completion of the study is scheduled for the autumn of 2021.

The Lehigh CCS Feasibility Study will consider an engineering design using carbon capture technology owned by Japan-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering (MHIENG), part of MHI Group. The KM CDR process, which is being deployed at 13 commercial plants globally, will be examined for integration with Lehigh’s plant and output specifications, such as a flue gas pretreatment system and the carbon capture and compression process.

The aims of the study are to: deliver a Class 4 cost estimate; to work with a capture technology provider (MHI Group) to perform engineering design tailored to the Lehigh plant; to manage the process and engage third parties, as necessary; to complete a detailed business case; and to develop the budget for Front End Engineering Study (FEED). The project has received US$1.4m in funding from Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA) through its Partnership Intake Program.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has welcomed the new administration’s plan to re-enter the Paris Agreement to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. President and chief executive officer Michael Ireland said, “Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. The cement and concrete industry have an important role to play in decarbonising the manufacturing sector while providing the building materials necessary for a safe, resilient, and sustainable economy.”

The association’s government affairs senior vice president Sean O’Neill said “Federal policymakers will have a particularly important role to play. Some of the technologies needed to tackle industrial decarbonisation are still in the research and development phase. Governmental support is needed to accelerate both development and deployment. We also need to make sure that federal policies support industrial decarbonisation without undermining the competitiveness of US manufacturers.” He added, “Climate change is a global issue, and it will require global cooperation. The US cannot solve this problem alone.”

Mexico: Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua (GCC) has joined other members of the UK-based Global Cement and Concrete Association(GCCA) in committing to carbon-neutral concrete production by 2050. The association launched the ambition in September 2020.

GCC chief executive officer Enrique Escalante said, “Sustainability is an important element of our long-term strategy. GCC is committed to implementing global best practices throughout the organisation while further strengthening the Company’s long-term profitability.”

Japan: Sumitomo Osaka Cement become partner of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) GREEN, an online database and network that organisations in the sustainable technology innovation value chain network with each other. The cement producer says it developing a high-performance product business that will supply sustainable cementitious products to help society build infrastructure. It is doing this by increasing co-processing rates, using more industrial by-products and developing new technologies to support a carbon neutral society.

UK: The Safety & Health, Environment & Climate Change and Technology & Innovation committees of the World Cement Association (WCA) have announced their goals for 2021 following the association’s general assembly meeting in December 2020.

The Environment & Climate Change committee will focus on accelerating sustainability through addressing energy efficiency, alternative fuels, digitisation, carbon capture, utilisation and/or storage (CCUS) and promoting low carbon cement and concrete. The committee also intends to seek commitments from progressive companies towards zero/low carbon cement production. The Technology & Innovation committee plans on reducing emissions and energy consumption, green product innovation, ‘Industry 4.0’ and digitalisation. It will also work with the PEGASUS 2020 programme, offering expertise on WCA benchmarking and performance improvement initiatives. The Safety & Health committee has introduced a series of initiatives for 2021, ranging from Covid-19 support and preventative measures, to managing high risk activities such as energy isolation and traffic safety. This committee also hopes to create an anonymised incident database, collected from WCA members, with the intention of avoiding high-risk incidents and sharing best practice.

“This has been a very challenging and unpredictable year for our industry, and we have all had to adapt and find new ways of working. In this context, I’m especially pleased with how our professional committees have continued to work together effectively to tackle some of the sector’s key issues.” said Ian Riley, the chief executive office (CEO) of the WCA CEO.

The February 2021 issue of Global Cement Magazine will include an interview with Ian Riley, WCA and Alex Cameron, Decarb Connect

UK: Cemex UK has supplied 70m³ of Vertua Classic concrete to the site of Citu’s upcoming office building in its Climate Innovation District in Leeds, West Yorkshire. It will provide the building’s foundations. The company says that it has a 30 – 50% smaller carbon footprint than a standard mix. It produced the concrete at its Leeds ready-mix plant.

Ready-mix technical manager Tracey Carden said “We are very proud to have supplied our Vertua Classic concrete to the latest phase of work at Citu’s Climate Innovation District in Leeds, particularly as this will be its head office. This is a development that prioritises sustainable construction, making our low-carbon concrete the obvious choice for the office building foundations.”

LafargeHolcim took what appeared to be a surprising decision this week when it announced it was buying roofing and building envelope producer Firestone Building Products (FSBP). The deal raises eyebrows because it seems to be a departure from the building material producer’s previous dedication to its three major pillars: cement, aggregates and ready-mixed concrete. Yet, it follows the logic of sticking to safer markets both geographically and in terms of sustainability.

First some background. Originally, Global Cement was following the auction for FSBP via its sister publication Global Insulation. Reporting from Bloomberg in December 2020 focused on more obvious bidders such as Ireland-based insulation producer Kingspan and roofing products producer Standard Industries. However, Kingspan has been struggling publicly with fallout from the Grenfell Tower fire inquiry in the UK. Despite not formally supplying any of its products for the tower block in London, it has become embroiled in the allegations of a general culture of cheating safety tests for foam board-based insulation products. At the almost the same time that it dropped out of the FSBP bidding, its chief executive officer (CEO) Gene Murtagh apologised for ‘process shortcomings’ that had been highlighted by the ongoing inquiry. Make of this what you will. No word on why Standard Industries left proceedings but it also seems to part of a consortium trying to take over US-based chemical producer WR Grace. All of this is relevant because, from publicly-available sources, LafargeHolcim appeared to emerge out of nowhere to snaffle up FSBP. However, it seems ludicrous that a company with a revenue of around Euro25bn in 2019 could simply pull something like Euro2.8bn out of its pocket at the last minute. It’s likely it was quietly in the bidding process the whole time.

Back in the early 2010s Lafarge was busy selling off its major ‘non-core’ assets like its gypsum business in the wake of picking up debts from acquisitions like cement-producer Orascom in the Middle East. This then turned into a string of divestments following the merger with Holcim to try and shore up the business along with a general pivot towards concrete as the key end-product as sustainability concerns gathered pace. Producing cement remains a major part of LafargeHolcim’s business but a focus on the whole lifecycle of concrete is vital as a hedge against the high process emissions associated with making clinker. Cement factories run the risk of becoming so-called stranded assets depending on future government regulations.

In its acquisition statement LafargeHolcim played up the sustainability credentials of buying FSBP. It noted that up to 60% of buildings’ energy is lost through roofs and that FSBP’s products help to reduce this. Then it made the link that FSBP’s technologies and products complement LafargeHolcim’s sustainable building solutions like its ECOPact green concrete and its EcoLabel sustainable product range. Later, when LafargeHolcim CEO Jan Jenisch spoke to US broadcaster CNBC he described the move as a ‘perfect fit’ for his company’s goal, “to be the most sustainable and most innovative building materials supplier in the future.” The geographical point of the acquisition hasn’t been dwelt on as much as sustainability but no doubt buying a business based in the US with revenue of US$1.8bn is seen as being far safer than buying, say, a similar concern in East Asia.

Investing in a business that sells products that reduce energy loss in the building envelope follows the trend of the moving sustainability-related risk along the supply chain from cement to concrete and beyond. Ultimately consumers will have to pick up the true carbon price of their buildings, but if building materials producers buy more of the envelope they can spread this cost more thinly and hopefully build up the market in the process. One can also imagine it fitting with the mindset of CEO Jan Jenisch, the former boss of Sika, a company that sells speciality chemicals across a wide range of markets. The real test here is whether LafargeHolcim will buy more companies in the wider building materials sector or if other heavy building materials producers will copy them. If so then the days of heavy building material producers sticking to the three pillars of cement, aggregates and concrete may be numbered.

Spain: The Spanish cement association Oficemen has targeted a 43% emissions drop by 2030 across its entire value chain compared to 1990 levels. The objective has been published as part of the association’s sustainability roadmap to 2050. It is a tightening of the previous target of 27% by 2030. Oficemen intends to meet the tougher reduction by using the so-called 5C approach - clinker, cement, concrete, construction and built environment, and (re)carbonation – as detailed by Cembureau, the European Cement Association. Oficemen also revealed that it is working with the Spanish Technological Platform for CO₂ (PTECO₂) on identifying potential locations for storing captured CO₂. Hugo Morán, Secretary of State for the Environment, participated remotely with the launch event.

Oficemen also reports that Spanish cement consumption fell by 12% year-on-year to 12.2Mt in the first 11 months of 2020. Exports declined by 5%.

US: CalPortland has launched a new fleet of 24 compressed natural gas (CNG)-fuelled bulk hauler trucks. The company has also commissioned a CNG fuelling hub at its Oro Grande cement plant in California. Ozinga Energy installed the hub, which uses biogenic Redeem methane from organic and agricultural waste at its fast-fill station and 24 slow-fill stations. The producer says that Redeem will reduce CO₂ emissions per tonne of fuel burned by at least 70%. It predicted a total greenhouse gas emissions reduction of 10,000t/yr.

President and chief executive officer (CEO) Allen Hamblen said, “By adding 24 cement bulk hauler trucks and a fuelling centre at our Oro Grande cement plant, CalPortland continues to demonstrate our on-going commitment to achieving zero emissions through environmental stewardship and lowering our carbon footprint within the communities where we operate.”

Italy: Caltagirone Group subsidiary Cementir Holding has announced the upcoming launch of its FutureCem grey cement product on 1 January 2021. The company says that it has 30% lower CO₂ emissions than normal ordinary Portland cement (OPC). It developed the product in collaboration with its Denmark-based subsidiary Aalborg Portland using 35% limestone and calcined clay to replace clinker. This resulted in a much more sustainable, high grade cement according to the company. It added that the low carbon benefits of FutureCem have been achieved without compromising strength and quality.

Chief sales, marketing and commercial development officer Michele Di Marino said that FutureCem is a ‘giant step’ on the way towards more sustainable cement production. “This is immensely important if we are to achieve our sustainability goals at Cementir Group,” said Di Marino. “But it is also an important contribution to the green transition of the concrete and construction industries in general. Thanks to the efforts of our research and development department in Aalborg, we are ready to begin distributing the FutureCem technology in Denmark and soon other subsidiaries in Europe will follow.” He added, “We have reached an important milestone in our innovation and sustainability efforts, but we are not done. Currently, we are incorporating the technology into more cement types in our product range. This includes white cement, and we have already introduced two white ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) premix types with FutureCem technology.”