Displaying items by tag: HeidelbergCement

Spain: Members of the Andalusian Cement Producers’ Association (AFCA) have renewed their commitment to sustainable development with the signing of the VI Agreement for Energy Recovery. All six cement producers, including LafargeHolcim, HeidelbergCement and Cemex, which operate in Andalusia submitted to the agreement, which entails a commitment to using refuse-derived fuels (RDF) at a higher rate than the minimum established by Spanish law.

Sweden: HC Miljö has extended its contract to source Icopower pellets from Renewi. The contract will run for the next three years, with an extension possibility for a similar period. Renewi will supply the subsidiary of HeidelbergCement with up to 54,000t/yr of pellets.

“We are very proud that the contract with HeidelbergCement has been extended. We have been working together for many years, proving that an innovative product made from waste can have a significant contribution to a more sustainable world using it as fuel in an industrial process with a large energy demand. It perfectly fits our ‘waste no more’ vision,” said Michael van Hulst, Regional Director of Renewi’s Commercial Netherlands Division.

Renewi manufactures its Icopower pellet product in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and then ships them to Gotland in Sweden. The pellets are made by processing dry commercial waste.

Egypt: Suez Cement’s Kattameya plant has started using a 10% waste-derived alternative fuels substitution rate in its main kiln burner. It brings the plant’s total thermal substitution rate up to 25%, in combination with the 15% rate of alternative fuels it already uses in the calciner. The plant’s volume of waste and biomass will double to 75,000t/yr. The subsidiary of HeidelbergCement’s plans to increase its substitution rate to 30% in the future.

UK: Hanson’s Ribblesdale cement plant plans to upgrade its automatic feed system to increase its usage of solid recovered fuel (SRF). It is part of a three-phase fuel strategy to reduce the amount of coal the unit uses. The subsidiary of Germany’s HeidelbergCement has been using SRF since 2011.

“Successful trials have also been carried out to burn waste paper residues from motor oil filters in the kilns and use of this as an additional alternative fuel will start in 2020,” said Simon Moorhouse, Hanson Cement’s operations manager.

US: Lehigh Cement’s is preparing to co-process ‘raggertail’ at its Glens Falls plant in New York state. The state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has prepared a draft air pollution permit for the unit. It is accepting public comments until late December 2018.

Raggertail is derived from non-recyclable ‘raggertail’ residuals processed by Frontier Fiber from Norampac and Greenpac recycled paper mills in Niagara Falls. It consists of approximately 60% plastic and 40% fibre (biomass). Emissions testing performed at the plant while burning the alternative fuel on a trial basis demonstrated that its use will not cause ambient impacts above State guideline concentrations. At present the cement plant’s kiln is powered by natural gas and coal.

US: Essroc Cement’s appeal against the Clark County planning commission decision to stop it burning alternative fuels at its Speed Cement plant in Indian has been blocked. The Clark County Circuit Court ruled the plant did not follow the proper administrative procedures before filing its lawsuit seeking to overturn a local zoning decision, according to the Courier Journal newspaper. Burning waste fuels at the site has been in dispute since the company first proposed the action in 2014.

US: Lawyers representing the Speed cement plant in Indiana have started taking legal action against the Clark County planning commission for reversing permission for the site to use alternative fuels. The plant’s lawyers say it invested US$1.5m on a fuel conversion project, according to the Courier Journal newspaper. The plant also says that it will lose money as coal is more expensive to burn. The local planning commission reversed a previous decision to let the plant burn alternative fuels in mid-2016 following complaints by the public.

Germany: Joule, a producer of liquid fuels from recycled CO₂, and HeidelbergCement have announced a partnership to explore the application of Joule's technology to mitigate carbon emissions in cement manufacturing. A successful partnership between Joule and HeidelbergCement could result in the co-location of Joule's Helioculture Technology at one or more HeidelbergCement sites around the world.

Since 1990, HeidelbergCement has worked to decrease its carbon emissions, initiating various programmes across the organisation that have reduced emissions by 23%. HeidelbergCement said that its partnership with Joule represents another example of its sustained dedication to leveraging innovative technologies and programmes for climate protection. As part of the agreement, emissions from various HeidelbergCement plants could provide Joule with the waste CO₂ required to feed its advanced Helioculture platform that effectively recycles CO₂ back into fuel.

"We've been focused on lowering carbon emissions for more than two decades and we are excited to take further steps to lower our CO₂ emissions by working with a dedicated organisation with state-of-the-art technology that is committed to protecting the climate," said Jan Theulen, Director of Alternative Resources at HeidelbergCement. "Joule's process, which effectively recycles waste CO₂ into liquid fuels, is a perfect match for HeidelbergCement and our core values and we look forward to starting the journey towards a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship."

Joule's Helioculture process directly and continuously converts sunlight and waste CO₂ into infrastructure-ready fuels, including ethanol and alkanes that serve as highly blendable feedstock for diesel and jet fuel products. Only requiring abundantly available inputs, including sunlight, brackish or sea water and waste CO₂, the process is well suited for global deployment. For organisations like HeidelbergCement, Joule turns a carbon challenge into a carbon solution by capturing and recycling waste CO₂.

"Carbon emissions are a challenge faced by many industries that are of critical importance to everyday life, such as cement," said Brian Baynes, CEO of Joule. "We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with HeidelbergCement in an attempt to develop a modern, ultra-low carbon cement manufacturing process."

Germany/Netherlands: HeidelbergCement has signed a six-year contract extension with waste management company Shanks Group for the supply of its ICOPOWER^® energy pellets.

Under the contract, Icopower, part of Shanks' Solid Waste Division, will supply HeidelbergCement with an increased volume of 54,000t/yr of the pellets, which are derived from commercial waste.

Shanks' production process includes a combination of sorting, drying and pelletising technology. In a statement Shanks said, "Unlike solid recovered fuel (SRF) or refuse derived fuel (RDF), ICOPOWER^® energy pellets are not classified as a waste product in the Netherlands."