Displaying items by tag: Alternative Fuels

Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has postponed a four-day hearing over Irish Cement’s alternative fuel (AF) licence application, scheduled for May 2020, to an as yet unspecified date due to the coronavirus. Under the terms of the proposed licence, Irish Cement will be able co-process a maximum of 90,000t/yr of refuse-derived fuel (RDF), including tyres, in the single dry line of its 1.0Mt/yr Mungret plant in County Limerick. The EPA said that emissions from operations under the terms of the licence ‘will meet all required environmental protection standards.’

Irish Cement received its preliminary licence to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in September 2019. The move attracted local resistance, with 4500 people participating in a protest on 5 October 2019.

The EPA has said that it will give all relevant parties notice ‘well in advance’ of the date of the rescheduled hearing, which will take place after the government lifts the country’s coronavirus lockdown. On 14 April 2020 County Limerick had 234 coronavirus cases out of an Irish total of 10,647.

Spain: Members of the Spanish cement association Oficemen have offered help to the government in the disposal of medical waste contaminated with the coronavirus, for which any kiln line with the right alternative fuel processing capabilities will be made available. Minister for Industry Reyes Maroto said that the plants will be used for waste’s elimination ‘only insofar as companies can continue operating.’

UK: Alternative fuels producer Andusia has said that the coronavirus has yet to impact upon the trade of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in and out of Europe. It says it is monitoring the situation and will keep customers updated. “No change to service is anticipated,” said Andusia. “There are no border restrictions to trade and it is business as usual.”

Russia: Italy-based Buzzi UniCem subsidiary SLK Cement has concluded an environmental agreement with the Sverdlovsk Oblast Ministry of Energy and Housing and Communal Services for the co-processing of solid municipal waste at its 1.0Mt/yr Sukholozhskcement plant. AMF Online News has reported that the transition, part of a nationwide government initiative called simply ‘Ecology,’ entails a modernisation of the kiln line, which the company says will be commissioned in 2023 or 2024. SLK Cement general director Andrei Immoreev said that alternative fuels use will not only increase production efficiency, but will also contribute to solving the environmental problems of the region.”

Ireland: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has scheduled a four-day oral hearing in which it will review Irish Cement’s application for a permanent licence to co-process a maximum of 90,000t/yr of tyres and other waste materials as fuel in the single dry kiln of its 1.0Mt/yr Limerick plant in County Limerick. Irish Cement received its preliminary licence to burn refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in September 2019. The Irish Times newspaper has reported that 5000 local residents have since petitioned the EPA against permitting the practice, including ex-Irish rugby international Paul O’Connell and a former Love Island contestant.

The EPA said that emissions from operations conducted in accordance with the proposed licence ‘will meet all required environmental protection standards.’

El Salvador: Switzerland-based LafargeHolcim subsidiary Holcim El Salvador has announced that it substituted 26,000t of refuse-derived fuel at its 1.7Mt/yr integrated El Ronco cement plant in Metapán, Santa Ana department, in 2019, up by 30% year-on-year from 20,000t in 2018.

In 2019 Holcim El Salvador produced 1.2Mt of cement. The company is currently investigating the possibility of installing a US$5m solar power plant at the El Ronco cement plant. It has signalled an intention ‘in the long term’ to resume operations at its 1.6Mt/yr Maya cement plant, mothballed in 2008, at an estimated cost of US$20m.

UK: Germany-based HeidelbergCement’s subsidiary Hanson Cement will be the subject of a study in the use of biomass and hydrogen fuels coordinated by the Mineral Products Association. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is funding the Euro3.81m study, the results of which it says will be shared across the cement industry. HeidelbergCement CEO Dominik von Achten said, "In addition to our activities in the field of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS), this project is an important step towards realising our vision of carbon-neutral concrete by 2050.”

Vietnam: The Vietnam National Cement Corporation (Vicem) and Denmark-based supplier FLSmidth have announced a cooperation agreement with the aim of radically reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from cement production and improving air quality. The cooperation will consist of Vicem implementing solutions pioneered by FLSmidth. FLSmidth said that a key focus of the cooperation will be Vicat’s use of ‘municipal and other waste streams as alternative fuel sources,’ with the aim of achieving 100% substitution using FLSmidth solutions, in accordance with FLSmidth’s ambition ‘to enable cement companies to operate with zero emissions by 2030.’

Poland: Figures from the Polish Cement Producers’ Association (SPC) have shown a 30% reduction in specific CO2 emissions over the 30-year period from 31 December 2019 to the projected figure for 31 December 2019 due to the co-processing of alternative fuels (AFs) by cement producers in the country. It estimated a total cost of investments of Euro2.34bn but said that further developments would be slowed in the absence of governmental action to raise electricity and emissions costs for more pollutant competitors.

Lafarge Poland leads the pack in terms of AF substitution, meeting 75% of its fuel needs (0.4Mt/yr) with prepared unrecyclable refuse-derived fuel (RDF). The company says it will increase this figure to 0.5Mt/yr in 2022. Speaking of the planned 25% increase, Lafarge Poland president Xavuer Guesnu said “Concrete and cement products need not be a problem, but rather a solution to contemporary challenges both urban and climatic.” The LafargeHolcim subsidiary operates a 0.2Mt/yr RDF processing plant at its 2.0Mt/yr integrated Kujawy w Blelawach cement plant.

Egypt: Geocycle Egypt has opened a plant to process alternative fuels in Ain Sokhna. The unit had an investment of around US$12m, according to the Egypt Independent newspaper. The waste management subsidiary of LafargeHolcim will process agricultural and industrial waste into alternative fuels. It plans to supply 0.4Mt/yr to Lafarge Cemet Egypt’s Ain Sokhna plant.