Cement News tagged under: Environmental
Second competition of the Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction launches01 June 2007, Published under Cement NewsThe second competition of the Holcim Awards for Sustainable Construction was launched at the first annual symposium Greening and Densifying - How to envision sustainable cities. The symposium, organised by the Quebec Chapter of the Canada Green Building Council, gathered renowned specialists from the engineering, architectural and urban planning professions. The first Holcim Awards competition in 2005/2006 attracted more than 3000 submissions from 120 countries, and resulted in 46 priz... |
Magnetic Resonance; Research from University of Surrey23 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsScientists discuss in "A unilateral NMR magnet for sub-structure analysis in the built environment: the Surface GARField" new findings in magnetic resonance. According to recent research from Guildford, the United Kingdom, "A new, portable NMR magnet with a tailored magnetic field profile and a complementary radio frequency sensor have been designed and constructed for the purpose of probing in situ the sub-surface porosity of cement based materials in the built environment. The magnet is a... |
Cement maker to save the whale shark22 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsCemex is set to infuse an initial funding of P1.44m to bankroll conservation efforts for the whale sharks of Donsol, Sorsogon in the Philippines. Cemex has also proposed a bill that seeks to give local companies tax breaks for every peso they spent on conservation efforts for the country’s endangered species. Cemex Philippines Foundation, in partnership with worldwide environmental group Conservation International, is set to undertake a photo identification and genetic testing of the whale... |
US looks to Canadian carbon rules22 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsCement makers in the United States are pointing to carbon "intensity" standards recently announced by Canadian officials as a potentially preferable alternative to strict greenhouse gas (GHG) emission caps being proposed in Congress for high-combustion industrial facilities, including those that produce steel, iron, pulp and paper, glass and fertilizer, as well as cement. The cement industry says the Canadian plan offers a less economically damaging scenario for U.S. industries than cap-and... |
China Targets Big Polluters To Reduce Greenhouse Gas21 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsFunded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), a technological transformation programme is helping 100 rural enterprises save China 451,000 tons of coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 1.13 million tons annually, vice-minister for agriculture, Mr Wei Chaoan said. Only eight firms signed up for the project in March 2001 when it was launched with a fund of $8 million from GEF. The project aims to help Chinese rural enterprises in the brick-making, cement, foundry and coking sectors r... |
Oklahoma Inventors develop Cementing composition21 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsCraig W. Roddy, Ricky L. Covington and Jiten Chatterji, all from Duncan, Okla., have developed cementing compositions that comprise cement kiln dust. According to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Cementing compositions are provided that comprise water, cement kiln dust, vitrified shale, zeolite, and/or amorphous silica, that utilize a packing volume fraction such that the solid particulate materials of the fluid are in a hindered settling state." An abstract of the invention, released... |
Independent panel for new cement plant17 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsEmotions are running high in North Otago, New Zealand as debate about a proposal to build a NZ$200 million cement plant near Oamaru gathers momentum. Proponents and opponents have been arguing about whether Holcim NZ’s proposed new plant at Weston will meet legal environmental standards. Holcim NZ insists it will, while opponents, led by the 150-member Waiareka Valley Preservation Society argue the plant will be a blot on the landscape, creating an “industrial corridor.” The Otag... |
Carib Cement seeks tax credit to burn used tyres09 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsCaribbean Cement Company (CCL) has proposed that it be granted a tax credit as quid pro quo for using its kiln to rid the country of used tyres, a move that the firm says will shave six per cent off its annual fuel bill. But even as CCL Energy Manager Earl Barrett admitted that the proposal is driven by self-interest and a sense of corporate responsibility, he insisted that the payback on the kiln modification would be at least 20 years. "We want to do this for our own standing, but it is ... |
Climate change and India03 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsIndia’s planners find themselves in a fix in the wake of the fourth assessment report of the UN intergovernmental panel on climate change. On the one hand, the economy is growing at a robust 9 per cent and has bagged investment grade rating by international rating agencies. On the other, it faces a huge environmental threat. The fourth assessment report projects a crisis in the making for South Asia, in general, and India, in particular, if the status quo prevails. So what are India’s opti... |
Cement in high demand02 May 2007, Published under Cement NewsThe problem of the shortage of building materials in Poland may become acute in the light of the investment which will be made in connection to Euro 2012. It would be necessary to build at least 100 hotels, almost 1000km of motorway and twice as much dual carriage way. Therefore, representatives of cement companies have written a letter to both the PM and president, in which they have warned that the investment projects may be threatened. "The limits which had been imposed by the EU may caus... |