Today we started the day bright and early and headed to Vassiliko Cement Plant. It was so interesting to learn that cement is Cyprus’s largest heavy industry and that cement is the 2nd most consumed material in the world after water! I didn’t realize the process of cement works was based on 5 main steps. This consisted of drying, preheating, calcination, clinkerfication, and cooling. As for the cement port, I learned that the Vassiliko Port actually ends up importing most of their resources so it is crucial for the port to be open 24/7/365. Some of their primary imports include coal, alternative fuels, raw materials, white cement, etc. while their main exports are cement and clinker. Another part of the Vassiliko Cement Plant is their VTTV terminal. This part helps store materials and liquids and they own 28 tanks along with 3.4 million barrels of storage. Products that VTTV store tend to be minerals of materials such as diesel, kerosene, gas, and jet fuel. As for VTTV supply chain, they have inlet, raw materials, processing, and then finally an outlet. Looking at sustainability, Vassiliko is definitely aware and concerned about how the cement industry is effecting our carbon emissions. Vassiliko understands that with the cement making process it is difficult to control this as the chemical reaction and combustion of cement materials are the main cause of pollution. To help combat this, they are using waste from other countries, as energy, to help produce the cement.
After we toured the cement plant, we had a delicious and quite adventurous lunch at the fish tavern before heading to the Cyprus Marine and Maritime Institute (CMMI). At CMMI I learned that there were many sectors of this company that had different goals and aims towards driving sustainable Blue Growth. For example, there was the Maritime Digitalization center, the Marine Observation Center, the Marine Robotics Center, Human Elements Center, and various other. All these centers specialized in a topic and we got to hear from people in these various sectors. The mission at CMMI is to protect and restore the coastal and marine ecosystem and much of their efforts were completed through the use of technology. I learned that many of the CMMI project are collaborative with other companies that have similar goals and many of their project are supported and funded by the government and by the European Union. One cool project that they were excited about was the zero-emission sea transporter (ZEST). And it is the 1st Cypriot research vessel with zero emission. Another cool project involved containing sea pollution through the use of jet skis as ships were approaching the land.
