A major fire has broken out at a chemical plant operated by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell near the Netherlands port city of Rotterdam.

Green cement provider Ecocem, which operates a €10m manufacturing facility in Dublin Port, announced today that the use of its environmentally friendly cement will lead to a reduction in CO2 emissions well in excess of 150,000 tonnes for the year 2005.

Ireland is to have its first environmentally friendly cement manufacturing facility, located in the port area of Dublin.