[12th September 23, Dublin, Ireland] Ecocem, Europe’s leading independent provider of low-carbon cement technologies, today announced its transition to renewable fuel, at its Dublin plant as part of its sustainable action plan. All plant and non-road mobile machinery will switch from diesel to Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO). This transition will then roll out across the group, with the company’s plant at Dunkirk coming on stream early in 2024.
HVO is a low-carbon biofuel which when compared to standard diesel, HVO can reduce these emissions by 90%. It works as a direct replacement for conventional diesel without the need for engine modifications. It is a renewable fuel that is typically produced from a variety of vegetable oils and fats that are treated thermo-chemically with hydrogen.
Ecocem’s sustainable action plan sets out ambitious targets to reduce its carbon footprint on its sites across Europe. In Ecocem’s Dublin plant, diesel generates 8% of their scope 1 emissions. Switching to HVO has already enabled a saving of 26.4 tonnes of CO2. In addition to carbon savings, the switch to HVO provides other benefits, it is also proven to work better in colder temperatures (down to -30 degrees Celsius), making it more reliable in the winter months. Unlike conventional biodiesel, hydrogen is used as a catalyst instead of methanol, which makes HVO a cleaner-burning fuel and gives it a shelf life of 10 years. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it can also significantly improve local air quality through the reduction of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) by 29% and particulate matter by 85%. Finally, it requires no additional infrastructural investment as all existing diesel tanks and engines can be used with HVO.
Group Sustainability Manager, Chisom Ekomaru said: “The switch to HVO marks a key milestone for Ecocem. While on our mission to decarbonise the cement industry, we are also focused on reducing our internal footprint. Achieving tangible emissions reductions requires sustained commitment and a range of initiatives, of which this switch to HVO is a significant step forward.”
Ecocem has obtained a Technical Evaluation of Products and Materials (Evaluation Technique de Produits et Matériaux, or ETPM) in the French market for ACT1 – the first version of our groundbreaking scalable cement technology.
Ecocem executive John Reddy becomes the first Irish President of the Institute of Concrete Technology (ICT) which has a term of two years, and follows his term of Vice President of the organisation since 2023.