This month, I’d like to have some fun with a serious topic. In the great sustainability measure of concrete, steel or wood specifications, rules of the childhood “Rock, Paper, Scissors” game transform to accommodate these heavyweight construction material contenders. Each wields strengths but also has its Achilles’ heel. Here’s how the matchup plays out: Concrete smashes steel: Concrete is the…
Read MoreA year out from acquiring Kast Concrete Basins, Kohler Co. shows all the signs of letting the United Kingdom studio’s artisans continue pushing the envelope in exemplary precast mix design, fabrication and finishing. Kohler arrived at the 2024 Kitchen & Bath Industry Show with Holm, a new Kast collection with terrazzo inserts. Holm is billed as “a testament to the…
Read MoreSources: Silicate, Dublin; CP staff Silicate, developer of treatment technology accelerating the carbon dioxide sequestration potential of finely graded limestone or hardened concrete, is one of 20 finalists in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, funded by the Musk Foundation with a $50 million grand prize. Finalists hail from around the world; earned their slots based on performance in the key…
Read MoreAn investment upward of $100 million will raise clinker and limestone grinding capacity while improving logistics for the Holcim US Ste. Genevieve (Mo.) Cement Plant, located south of St. Louis along the Mississippi. In addition to the largest single-kiln line in the world, the facility is equipped with sophisticated emissions controls, fully automated quality control laboratories, plus barge and rail…
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Pasadena, Calif.-based Heliogen $4.1 million to demonstrate a concentrated solar power (CSP) process for heating limestone to 950°C, applicable to the calcining phase in portland cement production. CSP technologies deploy mirrors to beam sunlight onto a receiver, and can be used to deliver heat for energy-intensive industrial processes or generate electricity using…
Read MoreSources: U.S. Department of Energy; CP staff The Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded Pasadena, Calif.-based Heliogen $4.1 million to demonstrate a concentrated solar power (CSP) process for heating limestone to 950°C, applicable to the calcining phase in portland cement production. CSP technologies deploy mirrors to beam sunlight onto a receiver, and can be used to deliver heat for energy-intensive…
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Executives of National Cement Company of Alabama Inc., parent National Cement Company Inc., and ultimate parent Vicat Group, Paris, staged a late-July dedication of a new production line at their Ragland, Ala. plant. A Kiln 2 ribbon cutting capped a two-year, $300 million project that brings annual Ragland capacity above 2 million short tons and assures a sharp reduction in…
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Investors targeting reduction of the carbon dioxide emissions factor in portland cement and concrete have focused on methods capturing, using or storing the greenhouse gas, plus new means of generating the high temperatures fossil fuel-fired cement kilns need to convert limestone and other raw feeds to clinker. A Longmont, Colo. startup has garnered backing for technology paving a different path…
Read MoreSources: Prometheus Materials, Boulder, Colo.; CP staff Prometheus Materials has closed an $8 million initial venture capital funding round to support commercialization of precast elements and a ready mixed material designed with a bio-cement similar to the binder coral and oysters use to form reefs and shells. When mixed with sand and gravel or stone, the bio-cement offers what the…
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Traditionally carbon intensive, the cement industry is seeing a significant change in how specifiers, architects and customers are looking at building materials through the lens of environmental impact. In response to demand for products with a lower carbon footprint, Lafarge and LafargeHolcim concrete operations in Canada and the United States have partnered to raise awareness that environmentally-friendly, cement-based products are…
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