Universities to Study Waste Based Fuels in Cement Production
12 April 2013
By Ben Messenger
Managing Editor of Waste Management World magazine
Global building materials company CEMEX (NYSE:CX) has agreed to collaborate with the Earth Engineering Center (EEC) at Columbia University and City College of New York study of the life cycle effects of using alternative fuels in cement manufacturing.
According to the company the EEC will conduct a year-long study which will result in a better understanding of the role that alternative fuels play in society and the environment.
Led by Professors Nickolas Themelis (who will also sit on the HKG ENB’s bonfire promotion seminar in May) and Marco Castaldi, from Columbia University and the City College of New York, respectively, the study will focus on waste combustion technologies implemented in CEMEX kilns in the U.S. and Mexico.
CEMEX said that since 2005 it has invested more than $175 million, adjusting its production process and installing equipment to use alternative fuels in its cement kilns.
The company added that by 2012 it had achieved approximately a 27% alternative fuel substitution rate in its cement production and is on track to achieve its target of a 35% substitution by 2015.
“This collaboration with EEC underscores the urgency of searching for alternative fuels given the continuing rise of oil prices and the increase of waste in landfills,” explained Luis Farias, CEMEX’s senior vice president of energy and sustainability.
“The alternative fuel strategy has already enabled CEMEX to avoid the emission of approximately 2.5 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere per year,” he added.
Professor Themelis explained that the study is of great interest to the EEC because globally cement production is the largest materials-based high-temperature process -therefore cement kilns present great potential to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill.
“This study provides EEC with the opportunity to develop a knowledge position similar to that EEC has attained in the global waste to energy technology and industry,” commented the professor.