Boral cuts emissions by substituting coal with alternate fuels

Building products manufacturer Boral has upgraded carbon emissions reducing technology at its Berrima Cement Works which supplies more than 40 percent of the cement used in NSW and the ACT.

The company said the upgraded facility was a significant milestone in the company’s decarbonisation efforts and transition from its reliance on emissions-intensive fuels.

A key part of its upgraded facility, the Chlorine Bypass significantly reduces the build-up of materials including chlorides, alkalis and sulphates; a byproduct of alternative fuel use when producing clinker.

The bypass will enable alternative fuel usage to reach 60 per cent over the next three years at the site – Boral has achieved 30 per cent substitution of alternatives for coal in the cement making process.

The company’s alternative fuel is derived from waste material with high biomass content, such as refuse-derived fuel (RDF) which has a high content of woodchips, and tyre waste that would otherwise end up in landfill.

The CEO of Boral Vik Bansal thanked the federal and state governments for their investment in the facility.

Bansal said: “From our Federal Highways to the Sydney Opera House and Parliament House in Canberra, for almost a century, the Berrima Cement Works have helped to build and shape Australia.

“We all understand that though cement is vital to construction and building our nation, it is carbon-intensive.

“Boral takes its responsibility to decarbonise our operations and comply with the Safeguard Mechanism obligations seriously.

“The Chlorine Bypass Facility reaffirms this commitment and moves our vital cement manufacturing infrastructure and Southern Highlands operations into a new era – one with less impact on the planet.”

The Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen was on-site to officially open the upgraded facility.

Located in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales (NSW), the works has a workforce of around 115 people in operational and administrative roles, contributing to the approximately 350 people employed across integrated sites in the Southern Highlands.

Picture: Berrima Cement Works