Global CemFuels News

US: Keystone Cement has sought permissions to transport hazardous materials by rail to its Bath cement plant in Pennsylvania. The Express-Times newspaper has reported that the producer plans to build a six-tank farm and a railcar unloading facility at the plant, scheduled for commissioning in early 2026, to receive the materials. The Bath plant currently receives 10 – 15 tanker trucks of hazardous material daily.

Keystone Cement said "Transporting the hazardous wastes to site by the existing regional and local rail system would reduce the number of tanker trucks on the roads."

Canada: Lafarge Canada, a subsidiary of Holcim, has inaugurated a new low-carbon fuel facility at its Exshaw cement plant, in a joint effort with Geocycle Canada. The US$28m facility is supported by a US$7.4m contribution from Emissions Reduction Alberta through the government’s Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction fund. It will reduce natural gas consumption by up to 50% for one of the plant’s kilns by substituting it with alternative fuels (AF) sourced from construction and demolition materials, primarily wood. Geocycle will process the materials into AF. This initiative is expected to divert up to 120,000t/yr of discarded materials from landfill, reducing CO₂ emissions by approximately 30,000t/yr.

President and CEO of Lafarge Canada (West), Brad Kohl, said "Our commitment to building a sustainable future is at the core of everything we do. The low-carbon fuel project is a prime example of how innovation and collaboration can drive positive change, lowering our environmental footprint through the use of discarded biomass materials while closing the material loop to conserve natural resources.”

US: Colorado-based energy company NovoHydrogen plans to establish a hydrogen production facility at the Ash Grove Cement plant near Durkee, Oregon. Funded by the 2021 federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the plant aims to start producing hydrogen fuel by 2028, according to CEO and founder Matt McMonagle. The hydrogen produced would be stored at the plant to be used to fuel trucks and other vehicles on-site, as well as potentially being used to power the plant. The construction of the plant will reportedly create 50 jobs.

Phillip Teintze, manager at the Durkee plant, said "The Ash Grove Cement Durkee plant is active in many opportunities to decarbonise our industry. Solutions for low carbon cement manufacturing are significantly challenging in terms of processes and expense. The Durkee plant is excited to see the development of NovoHydrogen’s efforts with the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub. As hydrogen becomes environmentally and economically viable, we believe our facility could act as a distribution site, and potentially utilise hydrogen as a fuel to displace traditional fossil fuels.”

Canada: Geocycle and Lafarge Canada, together with the Department of Natural Resources Canada, have opened a new low-carbon fuel plant at the Lafarge Canada Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia. The facility, which cost over US$7.5m and received US$2.6m in federal funding, will convert 14,000t/yr of discarded materials headed for landfill into low-carbon fuels, reducing the plant's reliance on fossil fuels and its carbon emissions by over 12,000t/yr. The materials to be repurposed include plastic and construction and demolition materials. The cement created at the facility will be used to make concrete for construction projects in the local area and is expected to create jobs for the local community.

President and CEO of Lafarge Canada (East) David Redfern said "Cement is a vital component of infrastructure projects that contribute to economic growth. By implementing sustainable and innovative solutions to reduce our environmental impact, we're serving the needs of our customers and the communities in which we operate both now and in the future. Our continued collaboration with Geocycle Canada reinforces our commitment to invest and advance circular construction in Canada."

Head of Geocycle North America Sophie Wu said "At Geocycle, our solutions are circular by design. We are happy to take another significant step in our ongoing partnership with Lafarge Canada. This is a great example of our work toward the decarbonisation of the construction industry in Canada."

Spain: Votorantim Cimentos will construct a solid recovered fuel (SRF) production plant at its subsidiary Cementos Cosmos’ plant in Oural, aiming to produce up to 0.15Mt/yr of alternative fuel. The facility, spanning 5800m², will utilise non-recyclable industrial byproducts and various discarded materials from the local community such as plastic, paper and wood, to partially fuel the combustion in its cement kilns. The plant, currently in the public exhibition phase, will start production at 60% capacity, producing 85,000t/yr of alternative fuel. Plans include ramping up to full capacity to produce roughly 0.15Mt/yr. The new plant will create 15 jobs.

Votorantim Cimentos has not detailed the investment in the new facility, although the budget presented to the local council amounts to €12m.