Displaying items by tag: Alternative Fuels

Philippines: Republic Cement's resource recovery group, Ecoloop, has diverted 21.4 billion plastic sachets in 2023, equating to 110,000t of discarded materials utilised as alternative fuel in cement co-processing. This marks a 30% reduction in CO₂ emissions per ton of cement, according to The Philippine Star newspaper.

Ecoloop director Angela Edralin-Valencia said "This achievement represents a significant amount of materials diverted from landfills and bodies of water, such as oceans and urban waterways and further underscores Republic Cement’s commitment to environmental stewardship and circular economy principles."

Mexico: Regenera, a subsidiary of Cemex, has launched a pilot project at its Broquers Ambiental plant in Querétaro to transform the city’s organic waste into alternative fuel using a drying process known as ‘biosecado’. This initiative makes Querétaro the first zero waste municipality in Mexico, according to the company. The plant now processes almost 90% of the municipality’s waste, transforming over 8000t monthly into biomass to reduce the amount of material sent to landfill.

Vice president of urban solutions at Cemex Mexico, Antonio Balmori, said "This project that we started today at our Broquers Ambiental plant excites me very much because it will take the city of Querétaro to the next level in waste management, where we will seek to take advantage of 100% of the urban solid waste generated in the municipality."

Oman: Oman's solid waste management entity, Be'ah, has reported progress in its strategy to transition solid waste from landfill disposal to refuse derived fuel (RDF), according to Oman Daily Observer.

In 2023, Be'ah launched initiatives focusing on transforming waste into RDF, electrical and electronic waste and green waste. The company has signed an agreement with Oman Cement Company to provide tyre derived fuel for its energy needs, eventually expanding to include RDF. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with Oman Cement during Oman Sustainability Week to explore the utilisation of RDF as an additional alternative fuel source, according to the company’s 2023 sustainability report.

Chair of Be’ah, Ahmed al Subhi, said "We take pride in our strategic resource management initiatives, having set ambitious targets for transitioning to a circular economy, including achieving 60% waste utilisation by 2025 and 80% by 2030.”

Egypt: Cemex has entered an agreement with the authorities in Egypt's Gharbia province to operate the first facility of its circularity solutions business, Regenera. The company will treat over 800t/day of municipal solid waste at the facility to produce alternative fuels and compost, aiming for minimal residual waste to landfill.

"Through Regenera, Cemex seeks to conserve natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and benefit communities by promoting sustainable development and reducing the environmental impact of industrial activities," the company said.

Australia: Veolia ANZ and ResourceCo have secured a contract to supply over 1Mt of refuse derived fuel (RDF) from their Adelaide facility to Adbri Cement's Birkenhead plant, aiming to replace natural gas and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. According to Veolia, around 1.5Mt of waste will be diverted from landfill during the course of the contract.

Brett Brown, chief operating officer at Adbri, said "Adbri has pioneered the use of RDF in Australia. Cement manufacturing is energy intensive, and the use of alternative fuels is one of the levers we are using to reduce our emissions as part of our goal of net zero by 2050."

Thailand: Saraburi, which houses Thailand’s key cement plants, is expected to start converting waste to energy in a project led by the Thai Cement Manufacturers Association (TCMA). TCMA has developed a pilot project to create ‘ignitable waste pallets’, which will replace imported coal in cement production, according to TCMA chair Dr Chana Poomee. The process involves using waste from mining, cement plants and local communities to produce fuel, focusing on waste that cannot be reused or recycled.

Seven cement plants are located in the Tan Diao subdistrict due to its proximity to limestone mountains essential for cement production. The province is facing a growing waste management problem, owing to urbanisation and the expansion of agribusiness in the area. ‘Saraburi Sandbox’ project, a public-private-people partnership (PPP), seeks to address these issues.

Kittipong Promwong, president of the National Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Office, believes the Saraburi Sandbox is crucial to the government's commitment to lowering CO₂ emissions.

Mexico: Cemex said in its Integrated Report 2023 that its alternative fuel (AF) substitution rate rose to 37% in 2023. The group attributed the rise to its deployment of hydrogen injection technology.

Cemex said “We continued our global roll-out of hydrogen injection technology, and it's now used in half of our cement plants. In Mexico alone, we made sizeable investments installing new hydrogen units and plan to continue scaling hydrogen use in our operations worldwide.”

India: ACC and Ambuja Cements' Geoclean has launched two new facilities for sustainable waste management. The Ambuja Marwar pre-processing and co-processing facility in Rajasthan can convert 220,000t/yr of refuse into alternative fuel, while the ACC Jamul co-processing facility will process an additional 120,000t/yr.

The Ambuja Marwar facility, in collaboration with the Ambuja Marwar Farmer Producer Organisation, aims to source 50,000t/yr of agricultural waste from local farmers. This initiative will also increase the plant's thermal substitution rate to 15%. Similarly, the ACC Jamul facility will enhance its thermal substitution rate to 10%, reducing CO₂ emissions through the co-processing of waste in the cement kiln.

Slovenia: Parliament has voted in favour of legislation requiring limit values for the co-processing of waste, including as alternative fuel (AF) in cement production. The government will now define the limit values based on best available technology standards for incineration. Following the enactment, facilities which co-process waste will have four years in which to comply. Slovenia Times News has reported that the bill came about following campaigning by environmentalist group Eco Anhovo and allied non-governmental organisations. The groups protested against the way AF is used at Salonit Anhovo’s 1Mt/yr Anhovo cement plant in Nova Gorica Municipality.

Salonit Anhovo chair Tomaž Vuk said “To protect more than 800 direct and indirect jobs and the interests of us and our business partners, we will use all means to provide for further development and business operations.”

France: Fives FCB has partnered with Holcim to decarbonise its cement production processes. Fives conducted successful hydrogen tests at the La Malle site in France, achieving over 50% hydrogen substitution in cement production. This result also enabled a significant increase in the use of alternative fuels while still maintaining cement quality. The group has also developed a digital model to tailor this process to each cement plant's unique requirements.