Displaying items by tag: Sustainability
Canada: The city administration of Langford in British Columbia plans to enact regulations requiring all public and private projects to use reduced-CO2 concrete. It plans to support the rules with parallel measures affecting the design of buildings.
Victoria News has reported that the city authorities previously mandated reduced-CO2 cement for all projects in June 2022, but subsequently relaxed the regulations after only one company – Butler Concrete and Aggregates – completed the transition. Butler Concrete and Aggregates produces its reduced-CO2 concrete using slag cement supplied by Lafarge Canada.
Estelle Bletry appointed Geocycle’s new sales manager
15 March 2023France: Estelle Bletry has taken on the role of sales manager for Holcim’s waste management subsidiary Geocycle. Bletry held different positions in Lafarge France between 2007 and 2019. She worked as product development manager and business developer materials and solutions at waste management company Hesus from 2019 to March 2023. Bletry studied marketing at IUT Cergy-Pontoise in Paris.
Cemex issues US$1bn in notes
15 March 2023Mexico: Cemex has made an issue of US$1bn-worth of notes without a maturity date. The producer says that the proceeds will fund its green initiatives.
Cemex said "Eligible green projects include capital, operating and research and development expenditures related to pollution prevention and control, renewable energy, energy efficiency, clean transportation, sustainable water and wastewater management and eco-efficient and/or circular economy-adapted products, production technologies and processes.”
GCCA launches second Innovandi Open Challenge
15 March 2023UK: The Global Cement & Concrete Association (GCCA) held an online launch for its second Innovandi Open Challenge on 14 March 2023. The global challenge matches start-up companies with some of the world’s leading cement and concrete manufacturers, which operate in almost every country across the world, to work on initiatives to cut emissions and pioneer environmental change across the industry. The launch follows the success of the first ever Innovandi Open Challenge in 2022, which saw cement companies partnering with six start-ups, with a strong focus on carbon capture and utilisation projects.
This time around, applicants are being asked to work on the development of new materials and ingredients for low carbon concrete – a major step towards the goal of net zero concrete. Alternative materials, including construction and demolition waste, can result in far lower CO2 emissions than traditional concrete, as well as reduce the need to use virgin raw materials. The applications phase will last until mid-May 2023.
Thomas Guillot, CEO of the GCCA, said “We’re calling on the best and the brightest from around the world to join us in the urgent fight to limit global warming and help towards delivering the great prize of net zero concrete. If you are a start-up from Austria to Australia, from Brazil to Bangladesh, with an innovative idea or technology, then we want to hear from you.”
Those companies that are accepted for this year’s Innovandi Open Challenge will gain unique access to industry plants, laboratories, key networks and the expertise and infrastructure of the GCCA’s 40 members from around the world. They will also receive guidance from the GCCA and its members to help them with the development of new technology and business cases.
Claude Loréa, GCCA cement director and innovation lead, said “We’ve already seen some remarkable progress from those start-ups who’ve been working with our members on the first Innovandi Open Challenge, with several projects already in the pilot stage. This year’s theme, low carbon concrete, is equally challenging. To succeed, we need products which are affordable, scalable and easily adopted. Good luck to all this year’s applicants. We look forward to working with those selected.”
Alamo Cement Company commissions 17,800MWh solar power plant at San Antonio cement plant
13 March 2023US: Buzzi Unicem subsidiary Alamo Cement Company has successfully commissioned its new 17,800MWh solar power plant at its San Antonio cement plant in Texas. The producer says that the facility will eliminate 8000t/yr-worth of CO2 emissions from the plant's operations. It spans an area of 18.2 hectares at the site of the 1.1Mt/yr cement plant. Texas-based energy provider CPS Energy built the installation.
Alamo Cement's director of engineering and construction management William Kovacs said "I am incredibly proud of the multi-discipline work that went into this first-of-its-kind project for Alamo Cement in San Antonio. It is an example of the type of collaboration necessary to continue to unlock and apply new energy sources for cement producers. It was a collective effort that brought together our corporate team, CPS Energy and regional engineering firms and contractors."
El Salvador: Holcim El Salvador says that the upcoming solar power plant at its El Ronco cement plant will have a capacity of 21.4MW, across three separate installations. Energy provider AES El Salvador holds a 20-year power supply agreement for construction and operation of the plant. The La Prensa Grafica newspaper has reported that Banco Cuscatlán supplied a loan for the project. When operational, the new solar power plant will lower Holcim El Salvador's oil consumption by 43,000 barrels/yr.
Holcim El Salvador CEO Rodrigo Gallardo said "We are not only making solutions and products with a lower CO2 content, but also cutting CO2 in our production processes."
Taiheiyo Cement secures a Transition-Linked Loan
09 March 2023Japan: Taiheiyo Cement has obtained a Transition-Linked Loan, the first of its kind in the Japanese cement industry. The loan employs sustainability performance targets (SPTs) based on the company's 2030 interim sustainability targets and 2050 Carbon Neutral Strategy. The former consists in a 40% reduction in its total CO2 emissions, including Scope 3, and a 20% reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 CO2 emissions, between 2000 and 2030.
Canada: Progressive Planet is preparing to build a 3200t/yr pilot plant for its PozGlass product at its headquarters in Kamloops, British Columbia. The company aims to commercialise its process, which produces pozzolan from recycled glass for use in cement or concrete production. The pilot unit will also sequester CO2 released by a gas dryer at the site, from which it will produce sodium carbonate. The pilot plant is expected to go under construction in 2023 and be operational in 2024.
Steve Harpur, the chief executive officer of Progressive Planet, said “With PozGlass, a CleanTech breakthrough from our C-Quester Centre of Sustainable Innovation in Kamloops, we are producing one of many upcoming private-sector solutions that are needed to meet the 2050 Net Zero targets to fight climate change.”
Progressive Planet aims for PozGlass production to be situated at cement kilns, where PozGlass could be mixed with Portland cement at a 50:50 ratio.
France: CRH subsidiary Eqiom expects to complete its carbon capture system installation and kiln upgrade at its Lumbres cement plant under the EU's K6 Programme in early 2028. The project uses Air Liquide's capture technology, whereby purified CO2 is liquefied for storage or use in building materials production.
Etex joins the First Movers Coalition
03 March 2023Belgium: Etex has joined the First Movers Coalition to help reduce carbon emissions related to cement production. The coalition seeks to explore options to reduce the carbon footprint of cement used in the building and construction industry by as much as 80% compared to the 2021 US emissions baseline. Etex wants to contribute to worldwide advanced research and development developments in the field of cement. Once developed, Etex and other players will help the new technologies gain ground by buying at least 10% near-zero cement per year of their total cement volume by 2030. The plan follows Etex’s 2030 decarbonisation target reduce greenhouse gas emissions (intensity of scopes 1 and 2) by 35% compared to 2018.
Etex is a light buildings materials manufacturer with products such as gypsum wallboard, insulation, building systems, cladding and fibre cement boards.