UK: N+P has appointed Neville Roberts as Managing Director UK for N+P Alternative Fuels. He will be based in N+P’s new UK office in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. His appointment follows the expansion of N+P to supply refuse derived fuel (RDF), solid recovered fuel (SRF) and its Subcoal product into UK domestic and European markets.

Roberts, a chemical engineer, has worked in the cement industry for over 35 years. He has worked for Rugby Cement, the Saudi Cement Company, RTZ Cement, Castle Cement, RMC and Cemex. Most recently he has been advising businesses, including N+P, on the use of alternative fuels. Roberts has specialised in production management and in particular the use of alternative fuels on cement kilns. Prior to leaving Cemex at the end of 2013 he was focussing heavily on alternative fuels in his role as Energy Business Development Director.

Nigeria: Lafarge Africa has reported a record alternative fuels substitution rate of up to 46% at its Ewekoro cement plant. The cement producer reported that its energy optimisation strategy achieved strong performance compensating for gas shortages at a relatively low cost. It added that made progress during the first quarter of 2017 towards initial alternative fuels conversion work at its Mfamosing line II at Ashaka Cement.

Spain: Cementos Cosmos has stopped exports from its Niebla cement plant due to an increase in the price of petcoke. The subsidiary of Brazil’s Votorantim has also implemented a Temporary Regulation of Employment from June 2017 to May 2018 that will enable it to suspend workers or reduce working hours, according to the Huelva Información newspaper. The cement producer says it is waiting for planning permission to install a dosing system for waste fuels that will cut it fuel bill. However, the local community has opposed attempts to use alternative waste fuels previously.

Germany: Thomas Strobl, the Deputy Minister-President of Baden-Württemberg, has opened Alba Nordbaden’s refuse-derived fuel (RDF) plant in Karlsruhe. The plant has an RDF production capacity of 33,000t/yr for use at power and cement plants. The unit uses a Lindner Polaris 2800 shredder that can shred materials to 80mm or less in a single step, according to Construction Cayola. Alba Nordbaden specified a crusher that could handle an input rate of 20t/hr.