Lafarge Africa intensifies moves to harvest electricity from biomass for production
Leading cement solutions providers, Lafarge Africa Plc has expressed its readiness to adopt biomass as an alternative source of energy generation in order to boost operational success.
This was revealed by the Legal Director of the company, Mrs. Edith Onwuchekwa, in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, during the tour of its cement plant in Mfamosing by shareholders and investors.
Biomass, as an energy source, can either be used directly via combustion to produce heat, or indirectly after converting it to various forms of biofuel.
According to her, the company had commenced the process of sourcing for biomass such as agricultural waste products, among others, adding that the company was looking at the next three to five years to concretise the move.
Giving hope to the cheerful shareholders during the tour, Onwuchekwa assured investors that the Mfamosing plant was at five million metric tons of cement production capacity since the completion of the new second line in 2016.
She however noted that “We have issues with energy as most times we experience gas shortage due to problems in the Niger Delta. That is why we are looking at other ways to tackle energy problem. We are looking at the biomass alternative fuel that will boost our energy and help us become efficient in that area and also reduce cost”.
“We are looking for alternatives that are not fossil fuel. We have started the process of sourcing for biomass by bringing in agric waste. This is where we are going in the next three to five years.
On other needed infrastructure including road challenges, Onwuchekwa said, “We have a lot of challenges. Look at the roads, not in good shapes; we do a lot of works on our evacuation roads. We cannot just produce these products and abandon the cement; they must get to the market.”
In his remarks, the Plant Manager, Mr. Peter Robson, said the Mfamosing cement was generating 100 per cent of its electricity through gas.
Earlier in a presentation to the shareholders, the Head, Communications and State Relations, East, Lafarge, Mr. Inyang Bassey, said the corporate sustainability plan, tagged ‘2030 Plan-Building for Tomorrow’, focused on enhancing the quality of life for communities in its areas of operation
The company, in his further submission has been enjoying goodwill from the 10 host communities due to the sustainability plan.
