There is a task force on the use of biomass energy, waste and other materials. As the Company has experience in co-processing (with units already licensed for use of alternative fuels / co-processing) and has units installed near large urban centers, investment in these projects can be reduced. Thus, several projects are planned in this direction, and some have already been started.

Besides the tires, use of aluminum electrolysis pots as alternative fuel, and in the manufacture of mortar, sand recycled use. We also use biomass (rice husk more sawdust) in the operation of the oven. We have projects and studies for use of shredded waste as fuel and use of rice husk ash in concrete. The use of alternative fuels is a technological challenge, however allows to reduce costs in addition to the substitution of coke (non-renewable fuel), which reduces the carbon footprint.​

It is important to note that the expansion projects in 2011 were built with the concept of best available technology, leading to a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), because of higher energy efficiency. There are studies in the preliminary stage, to capture and carbon sequestration.

These applications are an excellent alternative to reduce the environmental impact of the cement industry, as a substitute for fossil fuels, reduce CO2 emission rates, decrease the amount of waste in landfills and deposits and thus alleviate the chances of contamination soil or groundwater.

The types of materials to be reused vary according to the norms of each country and each industry. Therefore, the CSI has developed some guidelines in this regard.

Commitments individually assumed by CSI companies:

• Apply the set of actions presented in the “Guidelines for the Selection and Use of Fuels and Raw Materials in the Cement Production Process.”

Guidelines

The objective of the co-processing guidelines is to ensure that the benefits of the use of alternative fuels and raw materials can be obtained in a responsible manner.

The key points are to:

• Guarantee health and safety through the wastes protocol, equipment, training, controls, health monitoring, and emergency plans;
• Reject all banned wastes (nuclear, biologically hazardous, chemical or biological weapons of mass destruction, batteries, unknown or unspecified wastes);
• Ensure product quality, which should always fit the specifications and be submitted to environmental controls (Leaching tests);
• Comply with legal requirements and promote best practices: obtain all relevant licenses and meet the necessary conditions, assess health and safety risks prior to using wastes, even when not required to do so by local authorities;
• Monitor and control all inputs, processes, products and emissions: assess the physical and chemical properties, control volatile metals (Hg, Cd, Tl) and Leached heavy metals (Leaching tests), ensure the traceability of wastes from reception to final treatment and the adequacy of AFR (Alternative Fuels and Raw Materials) feeding points;
• Monitor and control all inputs, processes, products and emissions: monitor emissions in accordance with the guidelines set down in the document “Monitoring Emissions”;
• Communicate transparently;
• Keep the environment safe when using AFRs: ensure that the effluents will not harm the environment;
• The Storage and Handling of AFRs should be done in such a manner as avoids leaks and spills, Leaching and uncontrolled emissions, and keeps odors and noise within acceptable levels.

Alternative Fuels

St Marys Cement works towards optimum energy efficiency and always looks to identify efficient and environmentally friendly alternative fuel and raw material sources. St Marys Cement is preparing for a carbon-constrained future that won’t treat cement makers and other energy-intensive industries kindly. That’s because producing 100 tonnes of cement releases an average of 83 tonnes of CO2, according to the International Energy Agency.

In 2009 St. Marys Cement Plant began testing a world’s-first process that converts polluting carbon dioxide from its emissions stack into algae, the green, goopy plant that naturally coats river rocks and neglected swimming pools. Instead of using fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum coke, many industries could look to using and making algae a green, renewable source of fuel, without the dangerous greenhouse emissions. The algae project, in partnership with Pond Biofuels, went live in 2011 and is believed to be the first in the world to demonstrate the capture of CO2 from a cement plant. It’s a small model of what a big full-scale facility could be.

With some financial backing from the Ontario Centres of Excellence, the two companies ventured on a pilot project where the idea is to turn CO2 into a commodity, rather than treat it as a liability. The CO2-consuming algae are continually harvested, dried using waste heat from the plant, and then burned as a fuel inside the plant’s cement kilns. In essence, St. Marys wants to grow its own fuel in a way that’s constantly recycling the CO2 emissions from its plant, allowing it to produce what could become “green” cement.

Algae technology has emerged in the past few years as a potentially better approach to producing biofuels. We don’t eat algae, so there’s no fuel-versus-food debate like that associated with corn ethanol. In fact, more than half of the biomass on the planet is algae. They grow fast – up to 30 times faster than some food crops – so over a year a half-hectare algae farm can absorb the same volume of CO2 as 200 hectares of mature trees. Once this green approach is demonstrated at a commercial scale, the hope is that industrial clusters across the continent will begin to take notice.