On May 5, 2010 Texas Lehigh Cement (Buda, Tex.; http://www.texaslehigh.com) was awarded an Environmental Excellence Award by the state environmental agency Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ; Austin; http://www.tceq.state.tx.us). The company won for its alternative fuel project because of its outstanding community partnership process. Judges for the award said they could see potential for other plants and other industries to apply this type of process, and Texas Lehigh Cement president Robert Kidnew has said he would be happy to help other firms understand it and use it for themselves.
Alternative fuel voluntary testing protocol.In 2008 Texas Lehigh Cement needed a more economic and reliable source of fuel to supplement the coal used in its kiln. As they started to evaluate a locally manufactured fuel made of chipped waste wood and chipped waste tires, they hired Carbon Shrinks (Austin, Tex.; http://www.carbonshrinks.com) to develop a community engagement process. Together they designed a voluntary testing protocol that addresses concerns expressed in one-on-one discussions with local environmental critics and community members.
Carbon Shrinks listened to concerns about air emissions and potential odors that are beyond the scope of permits. They designed a process that weighs and scores science-based test results and transparently explains them to a community advisory committee. That process is now available for anyone else to use in their own alternative fuel project.
Economic benefits never more important.The recession has hit all U.S. cement plants hard, so the financial benefit of every project has to be solid. For Texas Lehigh, the return on investment of their voluntary testing protocol stacks up well, and the environmental benefit positions them well for the future. Not only do they now have capacity to use cheaper fuel and the direct experience of using it — showing that the quality of their manufacturing process is uncompromised — they have thoroughly mitigated the risk of expensive community push-back. Potential critics are now friends and allies.
Future market demand for lower-carbon cement. The U.S. Green Building Council and Wal-Mart are both developing supply chain standards that look at the carbon intensity of manufactured inputs. It may only be a matter of time until bid specifications for cement and concrete with lower carbon intensity are commonplace. Wood-fuel-ready plants such as Texas Lehigh are poised to jump in at the head of the pack to win those bids.