Canada: Lafarge Canada has commissioned a new lower carbon fuel (LCF) system at its Richmond cement plant in British Colombia. The fuel handling and delivery system is expected to replace up to 50% of the plant’s fossil fuel use with lower carbon fuels. The project cost US$20m. Lafarge received US$10m in funding support from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. LCF used by the plant is comprised of primarily non-recyclable waste by-products.
“Lafarge is aligned with Metro Vancouver’s sustainability goals for recovering energy from landfill-bound solid waste, a classic example of the Circular Economy in action. This new system allows us to more easily reach our target of substituting 50% of our fossil fuel use with lower carbon options. Data from our pilot suggests we can go higher—even up to 70% is realistic,” said Pascal Bouchard, the plant manager at Richmond.
The Richmond cement plant is Lafarge’s first Canadian unit that has been permitted to use lower carbon fuels for 10 years. Previous upgrades allowed the plant to achieve 25% substitution rate.
