CEMENT AMERICAS • Fall 2014 • www.cementamericas.com
18
FEATURE
DRIVING INNOVATION
terest. If Chinese cement producers are
adopting U.S.-style measurement and
control technologies, it's likely they're
also exploring ways to use data more
effectively.
Any company that produces cement in
multiple countries would be wise to
consider MACT as more than simply a
U.S. regulation. Given the influence of
EPA globally, it's likely that producers
will see MACT-like requirements out-
side the U.S. in the coming years.
Preparing now – and building monitor-
ing and data analysis capabilities into
all processes, regardless of country of
origin – is smart business.
TURNING REGULATION
INTO OPPORTUNITY
Regulation is never welcome. Yet his-
tory shows that many of the new tech-
nologies, processes and practices that
arise from compliance can have a
net positive affect. Benefits are not
given, however; they must be earned
through active participation in the reg-
ulatory process and making invest-
ments in innovation that go beyond
just what's required.
Regulators do, in fact, rely on volun-
tary, industry-led sustainability efforts
as a cornerstone of their regulatory
guidelines. CSI, for example, issued its
Agenda for Action in 2002, well before
EPA designed its new set of regula-
tions. The Agenda for Action included
guidelines for managing airborne emis-
sions and selecting a CEMS.
Complying with what's coming in Sep-
tember 2015 will be a challenge for
many, and we're already well down the
road in this particular regulatory
episode. But my colleagues and I have
seen this process unfold from the be-
ginning, and let me assure you that
there's room here to turn compliance
into opportunity.
The first step, however, is to embrace
the data and recognize its proven po-
tential to drive greater production effi-
ciency. And driving efficiency is, after
all, the purest form of innovation.
F
Michael Corvese is director of business
development, environmental and process
monitoring, Thermo Fisher Scientific.