Biogas trucks for carbon-neutral concrete

Thanks to biogas in the tank, a fleet of ten CNG trucks will in future deliver supplies to the construction materials company Heidelberg Cement on a virtually carbon-neutral basis.

German cement manufacturer Heidelberg Cement has set itself the goal of supplying climate-neutral concrete by 2050 at the latest. Source: Heidelberg Cement/Steffen Fuchs

Climate-neutral construction requires climate-neutral building materials. This is why German cement manufacturer Heidelberg Cement has set itself the goal of supplying climate-neutral concrete by 2050 at the latest. “We’re vigorously pushing ahead with the transformation of Heidelberg Cement into the world’s most sustainable company in our industry,” says CEO Dominik von Achten. “We have the ambition, the speed, the knowledge, the technologies and the partners to lead the transformation process that is required in our sector,” he adds.

The company is rapidly advancing the development of manufacturing processes in which CO₂ is avoided, separated, used and – where unavoidable – stored. “We’re significantly tightening up our climate targets. By reducing specific net carbon emissions to 400 kg per tonne of cement-like material by 2030, we’ve set ourselves the most ambitious target in the industry,” says Nicola Kimm, Member of the Executive Board and Chief Sustainability Officer. At the product level, the focus is on the widespread introduction of cement and concrete grades with less and less CO₂ content, rapid deployment of recycled materials and the use of new technologies such as 3D concrete printing.

At its Ennigerloh-Nord (D) site, Heidelberg Cement has added ten CNG-powered trucks to its silo train fleet and built a CNG filling station. Source: Heidelberg Cement/Steffen Fuchs

Heidelberg Cement is also aiming to become even more sustainable in terms of mobility, leading it to expand its fleet of silo trucks at its Ennigerloh-Nord site (D) by adding ten trucks powered by CNG. The new vehicles are fuelled with biogas, which means that the level of carbon emissions is 90 % lower than that of their diesel predecessors. And that’s not all: together with bioenergy producer Verbio, the company has also built a CNG filling station in front of its Ennigerloh-Nord plant. In addition to the construction materials company’s CNG trucks, business partners and residents can refuel their CNG-powered trucks here, too.

“With ten CNG-powered trucks, we’ve found a solution that perfectly fits certain of our delivery routes,” explains Silvio Günther, Head of Logistics at Heidelberg Cement. “Cement is a regional business. The average delivery distance is between 100 and 150 kilometres, so a range of around 450 kilometres offered by a CNG-powered silo truck is more than sufficient for this purpose. This is another step for us towards carbon-neutral concrete.” The decision to invest was preceded by intensive testing, which indicated that the CNG truck with biogas in the tank was the best option for part of the fleet as a whole. Other currently available types of drive such as LPG and electric power were not selected for reasons of weight or emissions. (pd/jas, 16 June 2022)

The German building materials manufacturer aims to become the most sustainable company in its sector and also uses biogas trucks to achieve this. Source: Heidelberg Cement/Steffen Fuchs