Displaying items by tag: electric vehicles
India: Sagar Cements recorded sales of US$80.5m in the third quarter of the 2024 financial year, up by 16% year-on-year from US$69.3m during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year. Cement sales volumes rose by 14% year-on-year. The Hindu BusinessLine News has reported that the growth allowed Sagar Cements to reduce its net losses by 57%, to US$1.22m.
Managing director Sreekanth Reddy said “Favourable prices prevailed in our key markets. As far as EBITDA and margins are concerned, we observed a significant enhancement on a per-tonne basis, consistent with our earlier projections.” Reddy added “We anticipate this positive trend to persist in the future, supported in part by higher utilisation levels of recently-acquired units and strategic initiatives aimed at promoting the use of green power, alternative fuels and the deployment of electric trucks and wheel loaders.”
India: UltraTech Cement has deployed five electric clinker trucks at its Dhar cement plant in Madhya Pradesh. Asian News International has reported that the trucks will convey clinker to the producer’s Dhule grinding plant in Maharashtra. The company expects the trucks to reduce its CO2 emissions by 680t/yr.
UltraTech Cement is committed to electrifying 500 vehicles across its operations by the end of June 2025.
Cemex launches 1000th reduced-CO2 truck
05 December 2023Mexico: Cemex has reached 1000 reduced-CO2 trucks in operation across its global cement business. This includes trucks fuelled by renewable diesel and natural gas. These efforts have reduced its global transport CO2 emissions by 5% since 2020, in line with the group’s commitment to a 30% reduction by 2030.
Chief executive officer Fernando González said “Our net-zero transition is supported by proven and readily-available lower-carbon technologies that guarantee that we meet our short and medium-term decarbonisation commitments. At the same time, we remain at the forefront of innovation and emerging transportation technologies so we can achieve our ultimate goal of becoming a net-zero CO2 company by 2050.”
Spain: Cemex’s venture capital unit Cemex Ventures announced the launch of its second LeapLab accelerator programme for high-potential start-ups on 30 November 2023. The programme introduces a cohort of five start-ups from around the globe, which will carry out pilot-scale tests of their technologies across 100 Cemex sites in 12 different countries. Throughout the process, experts from Cemex and partner organisations will support the work of the start-ups as mentors, pilot leaders, speakers and assistants, as well as providing business advice and support in network building. The selected start-ups are AI technology developers Introid, Mixteresting and Verusen, hybrid vehicle fuel optimisation company Movener and water monitoring specialist Waterplan.
Cemex’s executive vice president of digital and organisation development Luis Hernández said “Start-up acceleration is a key pillar of Cemex’s open innovation strategy, since the time to scale the technologies that enable us to build a better future is now. By combining the disruptive solutions and agility of start-ups with Cemex’s extensive industry networks and resources, start-up acceleration is a vehicle for tangible innovation generation.”
Thailand: China-based intelligent dumptruck supplier Waytous has partnered with Siam Cement Group (SCG), as well as Thailand Advanced Info Service, Huawei, and Zhengzhou Yutong Mining Equipment, to develop full-scope automated operating systems for limestone mines. SCG will host a study at its Saraburi limestone mine in Central Thailand. The study will use Waytous’ driverless vehicles, supported by 5G, AI, cloud computing and new battery technologies.
Waytous CEO Chen Long "We've carried out two phases of unmanned mining research for this project and found the most comprehensive, efficient, and effective unmanned solution for cement mines in Saraburi.”
Atlante secures Euro49.9m grant for European vehicle charging network
12 September 2023Europe: The EU has awarded a Euro49.9m grant under its Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Facility (AFIF) to Taiwan Cement subsidiary Atlante. The cement group said that Atlante will use the funds to building a fast and ultra-fast electric vehicle charging network in Europe.
Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe and Volvo Group investigate electric vehicle use in loading and haulage
20 June 2023Europe: Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe has signed a collaboration agreement with Volvo Group for an investigation into the use of electric vehicles in loading and hauling. Under the agreement, Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe will implement a mix of its electric trucks and construction equipment machines in its operations. Land-based transport accounts for 6% of the producer's CO2 emissions. Through electrification, Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe expects to eliminate 200,000t/yr of CO2 emissions.
Heidelberg Materials CEO Dominik von Achten said “The partnership with Volvo is a lighthouse project in our industry and has the potential to significantly push the decarbonisation of our entire value chain in northern Europe. We look forward to working together to identify and implement state-of-the-art solutions for a fast climate transition in the construction sector."
US: Mitsubishi Cement Corporation has reportedly abandoned its planned construction of a cement terminal at the Port of San Diego in California. The Union-Tribune newspaper has reported that the cement producer failed to produce a plan involving electric vehicle use for cement deliveries to the facility. Board of Port Commissioners rejected the company’s previous terminal proposal in 2020 because of its involvement of diesel-powered cement trucks.
Ecocem becomes founding partner of Cleantech Scale-Up Coalition
31 October 2022Europe: Ireland-based Ecocem and seven other European sustainable technology companies have launched the Cleantech Scale-Up Coalition, with the backing of green investment funding network Breakthrough Energy. The coalition will work to contribute to European climate neutrality, energy autonomy and industrially competitiveness. Other participants' fields include carbon capture, green hydrogen technologies, transport electrification, batteries and recycling.
Ecocem's managing director Donal O’Riain said “Scalable, low carbon cements, which can decarbonise the European cement industry by 50% by 2030, are ready to deploy today. To do so, they need to be rapidly industrialised. This coalition, which allows Ecocem to combine forces with other world-class companies, will enable our ambition by working to remove the barriers to an accelerated decarbonisation of European, and global, industry.”
Lafarge Canada installs electric vehicle charging stations at batching plant in Vancouver
11 August 2022Canada: Lafarge Canada has installed its first electric vehicle charging stations at its Kent Avenue ready-mix concrete batching plant in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company’s Vancouver team built the four stations with US$39,200 in funding from Lafarge Canada and US$15,700 in funding from BC Hydro’s CleanBC Go Electric Vehicle charger rebate programme. Dow Jones Institutional News has reported that the company plans to establish 96 further stations at 30 sites in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It says that the electric vehicle charging network will enable it to eliminate 188t of CO2 emissions by 2028.
Lafarge Western Canada chief executive officer Brad Kohl said "We are thrilled that Western Canada has opened the first electric vehicle charging stations to kick-start this exciting effort planned across our Canada operations to advance our goal of net-zero as part of our environmental commitments."