Lafarge Canada: Proving the value of homegrown Biomass

CemWeek: You recently won the PCA award, in large part for your biomass project. What were the goals that you set out to meet and what is the "Energy Farm” project?

Robert Cumming: Lafarge’s Bath plant has 14 key project initiatives covering the gamut from biodiversity to climate change, and our environmental improvement effort was recognized by the award. As an international company, one of our voluntary goals was to reduce its worldwide net CO2 intensity by 20 percent and to reduce absolute emissions by 15 percent (both as compared to 1990). The Lafarge Group achieved both goals ahead of schedule and we are proud of that achievement.

To further our sustainability ambitions at the local plant level in Lafarge North America and Lafarge Canada, we have undertaken several initiatives. For example, the Lafarge Bath plant in Canada, supported in part by Natural Resources Canada, partnered with Queen's University of Kingston on an innovative biomass project. The question to be answered was “Can we grow our own renewable fuel?” To study this idea, the plant worked with local farmers—on nearby farms and on Lafarge’s own property—to plant a variety of fuel crops. These annual crops included non-food sorghum, switch grass, hemp, maize, millet, and other grasses. This was the first time these farmers had worked with these crops. Yield and other practical measurements were taken for later use.

Read the full interview in the October / November issue of the CemWeek Magazine here.

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