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As widely reported this week, the EPA has passed a long anticipated set of rules regulating the emission of mercury and other pollutants from cement plants. Reactions have been predictable: dire predictions that the regulations “can’t be met” with existing technologies for certain plants and claims of the billions of dollars the new regulations will cost the industry. Industry spokespersons [...] Last Thursday, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the six projects selected to receive grant money to pursue carbon capture and reuse from industrial sources. The DOE had $106 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act along with $156 million in private funding to split between its chosen projects. The projects, now in Phase 2 [...] Back in March, in celebration of Earth Hour, Roanoke Cement Company (RCC), a subsidiary of Titan America, decided to switch off the lights on its pre-heater tower indefinitely as part of its plan to reduce energy consumed by the plant. RCC is back in the news again as it takes another step towards reducing its carbon [...] The European Union’s climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard is pushing to increase the 2020 emissions reduction goal from the current twenty percent to thirty percent. The heavy industries, including cement and steel, have lobbied the EU against such drastic cuts successfully in the past (ever since the United Nations talks in Copenhagen failed this previous December) on [...] For the past twenty years, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has hosted the Entrepreneurship Competition for new companies founded by MIT graduates in six key areas: products and services, web and IT, energy, development, mobile, and life sciences. The winner of each category competes for the overall grand prize of one-hundred thousand dollars. This year’s energy [...] Talks are still underway concerning government regulation of fly ash by-product. Members of the Portland Cement Association (PCA) are part of a coalition of various industries that are reviewing the legislation in attempts to find a universally satisfying proposal. The legislation is expected to take one of following three paths: 1) Classify the fly ash as hazardous except [...] As part of its aggressive emissions reduction goals, Lafarge’s plant in Bath, Ontario, Canada, began research and testing of new biomass fuels for its kiln in the middle of 2008. Lafarge partnered with Performance Plants, Inc. to develop a string of seeds that are heat and drought resistant and that can grow on otherwise unproductive farmland. [...] Earth Hour was celebrated around the world on March 29. Millions of people joined the movement for a more environmentally-friendly society by switching off all lights and unplugging their appliances for one hour. However, one company has decided to take Earth Hour one step further. Roanoke Cement Company’s (a subsidiary of Titan America) Troutville, Virginia plant [...] As Lafarge has recently beaten its emission reduction goal, we have time to reflect back on one of the processes the French company used to reach their target. They developed, implemented, and successfully tested a process to re-use waste gypsum and plasterboard products gathered from South Korean construction sites. The by-products from these sites have become a [...] French cement company Lafarge set a goal for itself to reduce its carbon footprint by twenty percent by 2010. The company has recently announced that it has beaten its goal by a full year. Lafarge claims to have reduced its footprint by 20.7% as of the end of 2009. Lafarge plans on continuing its green trend [...] |
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