AIT in green partnership with Sika

Ash Improvement Technology (AIT) and Sika AG of Switzerland announced that they have entered a strategic alliance to develop products to help reduce the CO2 emissions related to the production of cement, Cemnet reports.

As part of the agreement, Sika has also made an investment to take an equity stake in AIT.

"Construction markets worldwide are demanding innovation for more environmentally sustainable cement and concrete. Sika is committed to deliver the best technology to the market to help our customers produce a more sustainable product," says Philippe Jost, senior VP at Sika.

AIT has considered employing the CleanCem process to convert coal ash into a high-value cement substitute, AZoBuild notes.

The globe's largest economic countries use coal as their main power resource, which is converted to coal ash and disposed in landfills.

Coal ash is treated inside the power plant, as soon as it is formed, using AIT's proprietary technology. The end product provides flexibility during production and can be modified for several end use applications.

With a world production of about 3.3 billion tons, cement is primarily used as an ingredient in concrete, the world's most widely used construction material, Market Watch says.

However, the manufacturing process of cement releases CO2 into the atmosphere, at a rate of 850kg of CO2 for each ton of cement produced, thereby accounting for a total of 5% of the world's CO2 emissions. The sizable impact cement has on our environment has prompted a number of companies to seek new ways for more sustainable alternatives.