A pilot project announced today by Premier Darrell Dexter will see the Lafarge cement plant become the first in North America to produce a lower-carbon cement.

The plant is to receive $670,000 in funding for the project through the ecoNova Scotia Fund for Clean Air and Climate Change.

"The funding allows Lafarge Canada Inc., to move forward installing new equipment to continue to make top-quality cement using fewer raw materials and reducing fossil fuel demands," said plant manager Scarth MacDonnell. "This initiative extends the life of the Brookfield quarry, reduces fossil fuel consumption and plant emissions and expects to reduce overall CO2 emissions by more than 70,000tpa."

To put that in relative terms, the project ultimately should reduce carbon output equivalent to making half of the Town of Truro carbon neutral, MacDonnell said. "So, it’s a big, big scale thing ... and a first of its kind."

The announcement was part of an overall plan to commit US$2m in funding to climate change and clean air projects in five municipalities, including Colchester County and Truro, and five businesses.

Dexter described the program as an initiative that "... has put us on the path to reduce over 300,000t of greenhouse gas emissions and another 204,000t of air pollutants..." while also helping to create more than 100 permanent jobs in the province.