Displaying items by tag: Sustainability
Germany: HeidelbergCement has accelerated its specific CO2 emissions reduction target to 2030 to 400kg CO2/t CEM compared with 1990 levels. This represents a 30% cut compared to 2021 levels and a 47% cut compared to 1990 levels. The previous target was 33% compared to 1990 levels. The company said that in the next eight years to 2030 its CO2 emissions are set to decrease more strongly in percentage terms than in the last three decades.
The building materials producer made the announcement as part of a new set of medium-term sustainability and financial targets entitled ‘Concrete Promises’ that were presented at its Capital Markets Day event in late May 2022. The group plans to generate half of its revenue from sustainable products by 2030. Carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) projects that have already been launched are expected to achieve a cumulative reduction of 10Mt CO2 by 2030. By 2025, more than 70% of its debt will be covered by sustainable financial instruments. Among other things, the group plans to use a bond programme that it says is the first in the industry to be aligned with the climate goals of the European Union taxonomy.
Dominik von Achten, chair of the managing board of HeidelbergCement, said “We have the ambition, speed, knowledge, technologies and partners to lead the necessary change process in our sector. Our focus is on expanding our portfolio of sustainable products, reducing our CO2 emissions quickly and significantly, proving that CO2-free products are possible on a large scale, and creating a circular economy by consistently applying the principles of circularity. Our new sustainability targets for 2030 illustrate this ambition.”
Brazil: The Falcão Bauer Quality Institute (IFBQ) has certified LafargeHolcim Brasil’s CP III-32 blast furnace slag cement for all construction applications. The certificate confirms that the product offers 50% reduced CO2 compared to the average cement on the Brazilian market.
The Jornal Dia Dia newspaper has reported that sustainability manager Bruno Hallak said “The IFBQ is an institution recognised by the market and this certification confirms that we are on the right track. The production processes and methodologies evaluated can even be reproduced in other units, according to their local characteristics, increasing the gain for the environment.”
LafargeHolcim Brasil previously obtained IFBQ certification for its CP III-40 blast furnace slag cement, which offers a slightly less reduced clinker factor than CP III-32 cement, in 2021. It was the first cement of its type in Brazil to receive the certification. The company produces both cements at its Vitória grinding plant in Espírito Santo.
Mexico: GCC has announced its plan for a 100% Portland limestone cement (PLC) transition of its Samalayuca, Chihuahua, cement plant. The producer says that the plant will complete its transition in July 2022. It said that the move is part of its CO2 emissions reduction roadmap.
HeidelbergCement to acquire 50% stake in CBI
20 May 2022Ghana: Heidelberg said that it has signed an agreement with CBI for the acquisition of 50% of the latter’s shares. CBI is the parent company of CBI Ghana, which operates the 0.6Mt/yr Tema grinding plant in Accra. It is in the process of establishing a calcined clay plant at the facility. HeidelbergCement says that it and CBI will explore the possibility of further calcined clay projects in West Africa. Other investors in CBI Ghana include Denmark-based Investeringsfonden for Udviklingslande (IFU) and Norway-based Norfund.
HeidelbergCement’s existing Ghanaian susbidiary Ghacem operates 3Mt/yr-worth of grinding capacity at two plants in Accra and Takoradi.
HeidelbergCement managing board member Hakan Gurdal said “Characterised by high sustained market growth rates, Ghana is one of HeidelbergCement’s core markets in Africa. The new flash calciner in Ghana will be the largest worldwide, with a calcined clay production capacity of more than 400,000t/yr. Start of production is planned for 2024.” Gurdal concluded “We are committed to lowering our CO2 footprint also in emerging markets.”
Argentina: Holcim Argentina has published its 10th Sustainable Development Report, detailing its sustainability progress in 2021. That year, it reduced its CO2 emissions per tonne of cementitious material by 4.2% compared to 2017, to 505kg/t from 527kg/t. It sourced 43% of all electricity used in its operations renewably and achieved 8.4% alternative fuel (AF) substitution in its cement production. During the year, Holcim implemented ECO-labels to designate products with at least 30% CO2 emissions reduction.
Holcim Argentina’s CEO Christian Dedeu said “This decade of reports demonstrates our strong commitment to sustainability and governance that considers economic, social and environmental impacts. The conviction of the importance of reviewing performance and being accountable for our impacts made it possible.”
HeidelbergCement joins First Movers Coalition
19 May 2022Germany: The World Economic Forum and US State Department have welcomed HeidelbergCement as the newest member of the First Movers Coalition. Founded in 2021, the coalition brings together companies across multiple industrial sectors to coordinate the creation of demand for emerging reduced-CO2 production technologies. As part of its membership, HeidelbergCement commits to purchasing zero-emission vehicles for 30% of new heavy-duty truck purchases and 100% of medium-duty truck purchases by 2030.
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said “I welcome HeidelbergCement to the First Movers Coalition, and its commitment to purchasing zero-emissions trucking solutions that the world must focus on scaling up over this critical decade. The First Movers Coalition is a critical pillar of the world's efforts to advance breakthrough zero emissions technologies to decarbonise many of the largest sectors of the global economy and to put us on a track to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”
Mexico: Cemex and Coolbrook have signed a memorandum of understanding to test technology to electrify the cement kiln heating process. Coolbrook says that its Roto Dynamic Heater (RDH) technology can heat a cement kiln to 1700°C using electrical power. If generated from renewable sources this could potentially remove around 45% of the carbon emissions in cement production that normally arise from the use of fossil fuels. The companies expect the technology to be ready for commercial use at an industrial scale in 2024. They will jointly evaluate the best production site to test and develop this technology.
Ilpo Kuokkanen, the executive chair of Coolbrook, said "Coolbrook has set a target to build a comprehensive ecosystem around its revolutionary technology and to test its use in as many industrial processes as fast as possible. Together with Cemex, we can bring the technology to cement production and achieve significant emission reductions in one of the most energy and CO2-intensive industrial processes.”
Finland-based Coolbrook is a technology and engineering company that is developing processes to replace the burning of fossil fuels in major industrial sectors. Its RDH has potential applications in cement, steel and chemical production process. Its Roto Dynamic Reactor (RDR) is intended to eliminate CO2 emissions from the steam cracking process used in the production of plastic.
Austria: The Austrian Cement Industry Association (VÖZ) has launched a roadmap for carbon neutrality by 2050. The initiative follows the 5C approach of Clinker, Cement, Concrete, Construction and Carbonation as prompted by the European Cement Association, Cembureau. Selected targets from the document include reducing the sector’s average clinker factor to 52% by 2040 from 70% in 2020, using carbon-neutral electricity from 2030 and meeting a recycling rate for concrete and demolition waste of 25% in 2050 from 10% in 2022. Sebastian Spaun, the managing director of VÖZ, highlighted the ‘Carbon2ProductAustria’ (C2PAT) initiative as a key project where capture CO2 from Lafarge Zementwerke’s Mannersdorf cement plant will be used with hydrogen to produce synthetic fuels, plastics or other chemicals.
Germany: The Ministry for Economy and Climate Protection has presented HeidelbergCement with its German Climate and Environment Innovation Prize (IKU) for its ReConcrete-360° concrete recycling process. The process retrieves hardened cement paste from waste demolition concrete for use in place of limestone in clinker and cement production. The recycled material can also bind CO2 to act as a carbon sink.
Global research and development Wolfgang Dienemann said “With ReConcrete-360°, we have succeeded in developing a limestone substitute from demolished concrete that also allows us to use the carbon-containing exhaust gases from cement production. A small revolution with a big impact: In Germany alone, the CO2 savings potential of this process is 10Mt/yr. The IKU award underlines that we can be proud of our pioneering innovation.”
Adani Group to acquire Holcim India
16 May 2022India: Holcim has agreed to sell its Indian business to industry, energy and ports conglomerate Adani Group for US$6.37bn. The assets consist of a 63% stake in Ambuja Cement, which in turn owns 50% of ACC, and a 4.5% direct stake in ACC.
ACC and Ambuja Cement employ 10,700 people and operate 31 cement plants in India. The deal will make Adani Group India’s second-largest cement producer.
Chair Gautam Adani said "With Holcim's global leadership in sustainability, we are acquiring some of the most efficient building materials operations in India, powered with clean technologies like heat recovery systems. We recognise that Ambuja and ACC operations are energy intensive and therefore, when combined with our renewable power generation capabilities, we gain a big head start in the decarbonisation journey that is a must for Indian industry."
Holcim says that its focus is now on expanding its solutions and products business. Reuters News has reported that the group plans to put the proceeds of the assets’ sale towards lower-carbon acquisitions. Its Indian operations contributed 26% of group CO2 emissions.
Chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said "We will always make cement, but we will decarbonise cement.” He added “We are happy to build up other segments like building solutions and products."