Displaying items by tag: Canada

Canada: Lafarge Canada will receive a supply of 300t/yr of sewage sludge solids from Capital Regional District (CRD) to mix in topsoil used in rehabilitation at its former Cassidy aggregates quarry in British Columbia. The Victoria Times Colonist newspaper has reported that CRD had held a supply contract to provide sewage sludge solids to Lafarge Canada for use as alternative fuel (AF) at its Richmond cement plant. The cement plant suspended its operations for ‘most of 2022’ and throughout the first five months of 2023. British Columbian law requires sewage sludge solids to be used in beneficial applications.

The district council of CRD says that it expects the Richmond cement plant to resume receiving deliveries of its sewage sludge solids in mid-June 2023.

Canada: Lehigh Cement has initiated the administrative process to begin the use of alternative fuels (AF) in cement production at its Picton cement plant in Ontario. Under the company’s plans, the plant will substitute 200t/day of AF for coal and petcoke at the plant. Possible AF sources include excess seed from farm feed production in Ontario. The Picton cement plant previously reduced its CO₂ emissions per tonne of cement by 20% through assorted sustainability initiatives.

Picton plant manager Carsten Schraeder said that the move will support Canada’s 2030 emission reduction plan, and also take pressure off landfill sites.

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to apply for a licence to substitute alternative fuel (AF) for a part of its coal, gas and petcoke fuel mix. The plant previously held a two-week AF substitution trial in May 2011. CBC News has reported that the subsidiary of Votorantim Cimentos will present its plan at an evening meeting for the general public on 18 November 2021. The company says that it plans to implement similar AF arrangements to those at its Bowmanville plant, where it uses 90,000t/yr of biomass, wood from construction and demolition and non-recyclable paper and plastics.

Environmental manager Ruben Plaza said "Lower CO₂ emissions is the first consideration and, equally as important, the material has to be approved and available in sufficient quantities with a reliable and sustainable long-term supply."

Canada: Holcim subsidiaries Geocycle Canada and Lafarge Canada have signed a long-term partnership agreement with British Columbia’s Capital Regional District. Under the agreement, the district administration will supply Geocycle Canada with biosolids from treated wastewater. The waste management company will then process the waste into cement fuel at Lafarge Canada’s integrated cement plant at Richmond in British Columbia. The plant will process 6000t/yr of biosolids.

Canada: St Mary’s Cement plans to increase its use of alternative fuels to 400t/day from 96t/day at its Bowmanville plant. The Toronto Star newspaper has reported that the plans will entail a 90,000t/yr reduction in the plant’s coal and petcoke consumption.

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC) has praised the state government of Ontario’s Made-in-Ontario environment plan. The plan prioritises the phasing out of coal in industry.

President and chief executive officer (CEO) Michael Sweeney said, “Our industry has consistently advocated regulatory measures facilitating the transition from fossil fuels to low or zero-carbon fuels from materials otherwise going to landfill as a cornerstone of reducing greenhouse gases from cement manufacturing.” He continued, “Regulatory changes that remove barriers to this transition will, over time, allow the Ontario cement sector to eliminate significant greenhouse gas emissions – 1Mt in the next five years alone – as our cement plants implement new technologies. Equally important, diverting waste products from landfills will dramatically reduce landfill emissions, significantly magnifying the benefit of these measures in the fight against climate change.”

Canada: The Capital Regional District (CRD) in British Colombia has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ḱenes Transportation, a Wsáneć First Nations partnership company, to contract the transportation of biomass produced at a sewage treatment unit at Hartland Landfill to Lafarge Canada’s Richmond cement plant. The dehydrated biofuel made from treated wastewater is then coprocessed as an alternative fuel at the integrated cement plant. The agreement will last up to five years while the CRD develops long term plans for the biosolids, according to the Times Colonist newspaper.

Canada: Reports from Lafarge Canada’s Brookfield cement plant in Nova Scotia have indicated the effectiveness of burning tyres as fuel there. CBC has reported that, as part of a 12-month investigation, scrap tyres were burned ‘off and on’ for a month at the 0.6Mt/yr integrated cement plant. Following further staff training, tyres will replace coal in the kilns on a full-time basis. Environment and Public Affairs Director Robert Cummings has said that there has been no notable change in emissions. Lafarge Canada will release the results of an emissions check including testing for low-concentration materials not covered by emissions monitoring in early January 2020.

Canada: Lafarge Canada has commissioned a new lower carbon fuel (LCF) system at its Richmond cement plant in British Colombia. The fuel handling and delivery system is expected to replace up to 50% of the plant’s fossil fuel use with lower carbon fuels. The project cost US$20m. Lafarge received US$10m in funding support from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment. LCF used by the plant is comprised of primarily non-recyclable waste by-products.

“Lafarge is aligned with Metro Vancouver’s sustainability goals for recovering energy from landfill-bound solid waste, a classic example of the Circular Economy in action. This new system allows us to more easily reach our target of substituting 50% of our fossil fuel use with lower carbon options. Data from our pilot suggests we can go higher—even up to 70% is realistic,” said Pascal Bouchard, the plant manager at Richmond.

The Richmond cement plant is Lafarge’s first Canadian unit that has been permitted to use lower carbon fuels for 10 years. Previous upgrades allowed the plant to achieve 25% substitution rate.

Canada: The Alberta Climate Leadership Plan has allocated US$7.5m for the Lower Carbon Fuels Project at Lafarge Canada’s Exshaw cement plant. The funding is part of a total of over US$50m that will be distributed to 11 projects in the Province. Projects were selected and funded through Emissions Reduction Alberta (ERA), an organisation that accelerates the development and demonstration of emissions-reducing technologies.

“This multi-partner, multi-site research project will help Lafarge Canada better understand the environmental benefits of introducing lower-carbon fuels at the Exshaw Cement Plant. The Exshaw low-carbon fuels project will go a long way in helping us reach our ambitious corporate goal to produce 40% less net CO₂/t of cement by 2030. This support from ERA helps us move this project forward. We hope that any positive results or lessons learned will encourage others in our industry to do the same, giving this investment a greater, far-reaching impact,” said Kate Strachan, plant manager at the Lafarge Exshaw Cement Plant.

The project at Exshaw involves studying the use co-processing alternative fuels to replace the use of natural gas. Technologies for fuel handling, processing, and injection will be installed at the site to replace 50% of its natural gas use. The implementation at Exshaw will be supported by development of a waste and fuel processing facility in Calgary. Eight fuel types will be examined including construction renovation and demolition waste, non-recyclable plastic, carpet and textiles, shingles, treated wood products, wood products, rubber and tire fluff.