In 2009 the Philippines played host to the International Conference on Green Industry in Asia in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (Unido), the UN Environmental Programme (Unep) and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (Unescap).
The conference, anchored on the theme “Managing the Transition to Resource-efficient and Low-carbon Industries,” served as a platform for industry leaders, economics experts, ecologists, and governments to exchange information and experiences on how Asian countries can achieve a smooth transition to resource-efficient and low-carbon economy.
It also aims to strike a balance between industrialization, which has led to a steep increase in energy, water and natural resources consumption, to protecting the environment from further degradation and pollution.
The demand to shift to resource-efficient and low-carbon production processes, thus, becomes more resounding with the Philippines, though very much a low-carbon emitter itself, taking the lead in promoting various campaigns to go green such as Unep’s “green economy” initiative, the Unescap’s “green growth” strategy and Unido’s “Green Industry” campaign “to promote patterns of industrial development that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.”
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is aggressively promoting various ways to encourage businesses to use available environment-friendly tools and technologies. This is not necessarily compromising its development plans and agenda, but in the end, makes real good business sense.
Several companies have, in fact, responded positively by coming up with various innovate solutions—from simple waste management to energy and water conservation.
For Lafarge Group, a leading cement producer with subsidiaries in different countries including the Philippines, investing in green technologies has been a part of the company’s sustainable development strategy.
And the company is wasting no time—not even its own waste—to reduce its carbon footprint and contribute to the global effort to mitigate climate change and its adverse impact to people and communities.
In 2000 Lafarge partnered with environmental solution provider World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to come up with sets of goals to promote environment-friendly ways of doing business.
In 2001 Lafarge set a target of 20-percent reduction of its carbon-dioxide (CO2) emission over the period 1990-2010. In 2010 the company achieved a reduction of 21.7 percent of its net CO2 emissions.
As part of the partnership, Lafarge and WWF identified key areas of work where they made practical commitments for improvements in five areas, namely, climate change, persistent pollutants, water consumption, biodiversity and sustainable construction.
In the Philippines the global partnership translates into a drive to use Life Cycle Analysis Tools (LCA) to compare the environmental footprint of blended cement versus ordinary Portland cement.
The data the study generated serve as a backbone in a campaign to reduce the impact of the cement industry to the environment while promoting sustainable construction practices.
Among its various green initiatives, one particular project stands out—the Waste Heat Recovery (WHR) project currently being applied at the Teresa Plant of the Republic Cement Corp (RCC), a company affiliated with Lafarge Group.
The United Nations Climate Change Convention has approved the registration of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) application for the WHR Project of RCC. The CDM is one of the mechanisms introduced by the United Nations Climate Change Convention in the context of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997.
The process is designed to provide a financial incentive for projects to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in developing countries.
Through the WHR system, the company was able to cut its indirect CO2 emissions by 12,000 tons per year. Through the same WHR system, the company was able to generate enough heat to generate power to supply 30 percent of the cement plant’s electricity needs.
By using less energy from fossil fuels, the heat-recovery project makes a lasting contribution to the fight against climate change, and it makes good business sense, too.
Before its CDM initiative in the Philippines, Lafarge has already registered three other CDMs around the world: In Morocco, the Tetouan cement plant’s wind farm supplies 60 percent of the plant’s electricity needs; In Malaysia, in the Rawang and Kanthan cement plants, palm kernel shells are used as alternative fuel for a proportion of the coal required; and in India, in the State of Chhattisgarh, fly ash from coal-fired power plants replaces more than 30 percent of the clinker used to manufacture cement.
These four CDMs registered by Lafarge and its associated companies enable a total reduction of more than 170,000 tons of CO2 per year, representing a benefit to the planet equivalent to 10.6 million trees being planted each year.
Lafarge is fighting climate change. It continues to improve the energy performance of its factories, for one, and uses alternative fuels including biomass and industrial residues to partially replace non-renewable fossil fuels.
The use of cement additives which are CO2 neutral, such as slag, fly ash and pozzolan, making it possible to develop cement products with lower carbon intensity, is another initiative of Lafarge.
In fighting climate change, Lafarge committed to reduce its worldwide emissions of CO2 by 20 percent below 1990 levels per ton of cement produced worldwide by 2010. This ambitious commitment and target, which was achieved one year earlier than expected in 2009, goes well beyond the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol, which calls for industrialized countries to reduce emissions by 5 percent compared to 1990 levels.
By the end of 2010, Lafarge’s CO2 emissions had been reduced by 21.7 percent per ton of cement produced, compared to its 1990 emissions.
Lawyer Anda Bolinas, legal manager of Lafarge Cement Services (Philippines) Inc, said its WHR plant or facility in Teresa, Rizal, recovers excess heat from the cement-making process and turns it into electricity that the plant can use.
For that, Lafarge became the first cement manufacturer in the Philippines to introduce a sustainable and green technology that optimizes excess heat to generate electricity.
Bolinas said that without the heat-recovery system, the heat generated from the cement production process would have been lost and would just dissipate into the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse gas emitted into the atmosphere.
“With the system, however, this ‘lost’ heat or excess heat in the form of steam is captured and redirected to run a 4.5-megawatt turbine, which then generates electricity. The system is able to produce enough electricity to meet approximately 30 percent of the plant’s energy requirements,” explains Bolinas.
According to Bolinas, cement production is an energy-intensive process.
She said Lafarge Philippines, along with the Lafarge Group worldwide, is well aware of the challenge.
Lafarge, specifically its Teresa plant, investigated global best practices and was able to identify a new technology that can harness excess heat through a heat-recovery system.
Although the technology is quite expensive and was practically unknown then in the Philippines, Lafarge faced many barriers, including the absence of locally existing technical skill and training.
Bolinas explained that the decision to invest in such a large project was not difficult as it was consistent with the company’s direction of addressing the call on the industrial sector to switch to sustainable sources of power.
In late 2010 Lafarge Republic Inc. (LRI) completed and commissioned a full heat-recovery system at the Teresa plant.
“The investment for the project is part of the continuous capital expenditure of LRI for safety, environment and productivity improvements. In 2011 LRI’s capex amounted to P990 million; in 2010, P503 million; in 2009, P900 million.
Such huge investment, Bolinas said, was worth it. The project since then has supplied 30 percent of the cement plant’s electricity needs, which means that the Teresa Plant in Rizal is now 30 percent less dependent on the Luzon power grid.
According to Bolinas, such initiative was able to achieve for Lafarge a lasting contribution to the fight against climate change and has been officially registered as a “Clean Development Mechanism” by the CDM executive board in Bonn, Germany.
“It is one of the four CDMs registered by Lafarge and its associated companies around the world which, together, will result in a reduction of more than 170,000 tons of CO2 per year, representing a benefit to the planet equivalent to 10.6 million trees being planted each year,” Bolinas stressed.
According to Bolinas, the project is expected to provide a significant return in terms of savings in fuel costs.
“In 2011 fuel costs and power availability were the main challenges for the company and in 2012 we expect these two factors to still be challenges. The heat-recovery system will help address these challenges this year and in the coming years,” Bolinas said.
Bolinas said the project will also contribute to the company’s social development initiatives, particularly the plant’s scholarship program.
The CDM registration of the project allowed the plant to earn from the sale of its Certified Emission Reduction credits in the carbon exchange market. A portion of the earnings will be used to supplement Teresa plant’s scholarship program.
Lafarge is currently conducting feasibility studies to determine if the same process is suitable for the other plants. Yet, the company is not closing its doors to other innovative solutions.
“Lafarge is always on the lookout for more environment-friendly solutions to allow us to reduce fuel costs, as well as deliver our commitment to reduce CO2 emissions,” Bolinas said.
