Displaying items by tag: Holcim
Carbon capture for the US cement sector, January 2024
24 January 2024It has been a busy week for carbon capture in the cement sector with Global Cement covering five stories. However, increasingly, the topic has become a regular feature in the press as the industry bends to the demands of the carbon agenda. This week’s selection is notable because three of the stories cover North America.
Holcim US announced that it is working with Ohio State University and GTI Energy to design, build and test engineering-scale membrane carbon capture technology at the Holly Hill cement plant in South Carolina. The information builds on an earlier release from the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) in late December 2023 about the project. It has a total budget of US$9m, with US$7m supplied by the DOE. It plans to build a 3t/day CO2 capture unit that uses a method intended to retain 95 - 99% of CO2 from cement kiln gas with a purity exceeding 95%. The new information at this stage is that GTI Energy is involved. Specifically, it will support the development of the pilot skid for site deployment.
The other two stories from North America are worth noting because they both concern commercial equipment or technology suppliers joining up to work together. First, 10 companies - Biomason, Blue Planet Systems, Brimstone, CarbonBuilt, Chement, Fortera, Minus Materials, Queens Carbon, Sublime Systems, and Terra CO2 - announced they were launching the Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance (DC2). The group’s principal aim is to lobby the US government toward using new low-carbon cement and concrete products in public infrastructure. It also intends to look at advocacy and public sector engagement including expanded tax credits, development of standards for novel cements, consistent ecolabeling and accounting, and customer demand support. DC2 was formally launched in January 2024 but it follows previous work by the companies in the area. The other related story was a memorandum of understanding that Aker Carbon Capture and MAN Energy Solutions have also signed this week to jointly pursue opportunities related to carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) and CO2 compression in the North American market. These two companies have worked on the full-scale CCUS unit at Norcem’s Brevik cement plant, which is due to be commissioned later in 2024. They are likely intending to capitalise on the publicity that is likely to be generated once it officially starts up.
Back in North America the DC2 Alliance noted in its press release the DOE’s release of its Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement report in September 2023. Although it is similar to many other varied sector roadmaps, including the Portland Cement Association’s Road to Net Zero that was released in 2021, this document is well worth reading due to its details and local market context. The headline figure, for example, is that following a set of pathways to fully decarbonise the US cement industry would cost US$60 - 120bn by 2050. Doing so would involve reducing the clinker factor, improving energy efficiency, increased use of alternative fuels, using CCUS, using alternative feedstocks and adopting alternatives to traditional cement production methods.
Graph 1: US active cement kilns by capacity and age. Source: PCA survey data used in Department of Energy Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement report.
One other interesting tidbit to consider from the report is an analysis of the age of the US cement sector’s kilns versus their production capacity as shown in Graph 1 above. The largest 10 kilns in the country account for 22% of the country’s total capacity and these were all built after 2000. Then, the next 44% of the national capacity comes from 38 kilns out of a total of 120 kilns at 98 cement plants. The report itself does not make this assertion but the implication is that retrofitting CCUS units at one third of the country’s clinker lines would capture the CO2 being emitted from two-thirds of the sector’s production capacity. This is not to say that this could actually work technically, logistically or economically. Yet seeing the scale of the challenge presented in this way is fascinating and one starts to have thoughts about how a retrofit roll-out of CCUS units might actually be approached.
Whether the cement sector adopts CCUS at scale remains to be seen but demonstration projects are definitely coming in both Europe and North America. The DOE report from September 2023 suggests that decarbonisation will cost a lot of money. No surprises there and, as ever, there is rather less detail on who will actually pay for this. One thing that might help here, that the DOE report mentions frequently, is the 45Q carbon capture tax credit scheme, which was introduced by the Trump administration in 2020. Regardless of the potential bill for consumers of cement though, the suppliers are clearly taking note of the investment potential as evidenced by all the non-cement plant CCUS news stories this week.
Afrimat acquisition of Lafarge South Africa draws closer
24 January 2024South Africa: Mining and materials company Afrimat says that further regulatory conditions as part of its ongoing acquisition of Lafarge South Africa have been met. The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of South Africa has consented in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank has approved the acquisition in terms of the Exchange Control Regulations and the respective Competition Authorities in Botswana and eSwatini have approved the implementation of the acquisition. Approval by the Competition Commission is still outstanding but it recommended the transaction to the Competition Tribunal in November 2023. However, the Competition Commission highlighted ‘horizontal overlaps’ in the aggregates and ready-mix concrete sectors and recommended that the parties be required to divest assets across the affected sectors.
Afrimat first announced in June 2023 that it had agreed a share purchase agreement with a Holcim Group subsidiary, Caricement, to acquire 100% of the issued share capital of Lafarge South Africa. The proposed acquisition will become unconditional and be implemented once approval by the Competition Tribunal has been obtained.
US: Holcim US, in partnership with The Ohio State University and GTI Energy, will install membrane carbon capture technology at its Holly Hill, South Carolina, cement plant. The project is partly funded by a US$7m the US Department of Energy. The partners aim to capture 99% of the plant’s CO₂ emissions.
GTI Energy vice president of carbon management and conversion Don Stevenson said "This project will showcase the power of collaboration and innovation in tackling the complex challenge of transitioning to cleaner energy systems. The development and implementation of cost-effective carbon capture technologies are key to meeting our decarbonisation goals."
US: Holcim US has entered a partnership with climate tech start-up incubator Greentown Labs to accelerate decarbonisation in the built environment, using the latter’s Somerville, Massachusetts, and Houston, Texas, incubators. Holcim said that the collaboration will increase its access to start-ups in the field of sustainable building solutions. The producer has additionally joined Greentown Labs’ Industry Leadership Council for strategic guidance. Greentown Labs supports over 200 start-ups and has assisted more than 525 since its inception. It offers lab space, office space, machine shops, electronics labs, tool shops, software, business resources and a network of stakeholders to climate tech start-ups.
Holcim chief sustainability officer Nollaig Forrest said “With our open innovation ecosystem, we partner with hundreds of start-ups worldwide to accelerate the shift to sustainable building. By partnering with Greentown Labs, we aim to empower the best and brightest start-ups active in the built environment to scale up their impact. The combination of Holcim MAQER Ventures, our venture capital programme, with Greentown’s stellar roster of successful climate tech start-ups will serve as a catalyst to reinvent how the world builds for a regenerative future.”
Greentown Labs CEO Kevin Knobloch said "Greentown Labs is thrilled to be partnering with Holcim, a global leader in sustainable building solutions to decarbonise the built environment to bolster cutting-edge climate tech innovations in this critical sector. We look forward to seeing Holcim engage with our building tech start-ups, sharing its unmatched expertise in low-carbon building innovations and helping advance our entrepreneurs' solutions."
Holcim announces over 15 upcoming acquisitions in 2024
18 January 2024Switzerland: Holcim says that it aims to conclude 15 - 20 new acquisitions in 2024, and potentially ‘many more.’ The value of individual deals ranges from US$5.78 – 115m, but might possibly exceed US$230m. Holcim says that it is focussing on growing its construction waste recycling business in Belgium, France, Germany and the UK, as well as its aggregates business in Eastern Europe.
Holcim’s ECOCycle construction-demolition material recycling technology named Circularity Lighthouse
17 January 2024Switzerland: McKinsey & Company and the World Economic Forum have recognised Holcim’s ECOCycle recycling technology for construction-demolition material (CDM) as a "Circularity Lighthouse in the Built Environment." ECOCycle technology can process 100% of CDM input into new building materials with 75% lower CO2 emissions than traditional alternatives.
Chief sustainability officer Nollaig Forrest said “Circularity is a game changer to decarbonise buildings at scale. At Holcim we are operating over 100 ECOCycle recycling centres globally to drive circular construction. With our advanced recycling of CDM, we can already reduce the CO2 footprint of cement by up to 40%. This is just the beginning; as we innovate and partner across the value chain to evolve building norms, we aim to accelerate the shift to circular construction in all metropolitan areas where we operate.”
Holcim Deutschland upgrades Beckum cement plant
09 January 2024Germany: Holcim Deutschland has announced for the ‘most extensive’ modernisation of its Beckum cement plant to date. Local press has reported that the modernisation will commence with the installation of a Euro20m pendulum cooler to replace the plant’s existing tube cooler. The new cooler will reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions and make separated CO2 better suited for capture, according to the producer. The Beckum cement plant is the site of an on-going carbon capture trial.
General manager Jan Kristof Peters said “We want to implement all construction work as quickly as possible and with as little noise pollution as possible for the neighbourhood. As in previous years, we ask for our neighbourhood’s understanding.”
Neustark sees potential in German market
04 January 2024Germany: Switzerland-based CO2 mineralisation technology developer Neustark says that it sees major potential for recycling concrete from construction and demolition waste (CDW) to produce carbon-negative products using its process in Germany. Neustark inaugurated its first German plant, and 12th overall, at Marzahn in Berlin in late 2023. Capital Online News has reported that the start-up estimates that Germany generates 60Mt/yr of CDW concrete, but only recycles 600,000t/yr (1%). This contrasts with international CDW concrete recycling rates as high as 15% in Switzerland and the US.
The start-up, founded at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 2019, currently absorbs 10kg/t of CO2 in its recycled materials, but aims to reach 60kg/t. Its investors include Holcim.
Ranjan Sachdeva appointed as acting head of Siam City Cement
03 January 2024Thailand: Siam City Cement has appointed Ranjan Sachdeva as its Acting Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) from the start of January 2024. He succeeds the former Group CEO Aidan Lynam in the position. Lynam had been in post since 2019.
Sachdeva has worked for Siam City Cement since 2017, first as the Group Head Internal Audit and Compliance and then as the Group Chief Financial Officer, from April 2023. Prior to this he worked in procurement and audit roles for Holcim in India. He has also worked for Vedanta and Nestle during his career. He holds a bachelor of engineering from the Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology and a master of business administration (MBA) degree from the University of Leicester, among other qualifications.
Holcim Argentina achieves 75% renewable energy use
25 December 2023Argentina: Throughout the second half of 2023, Holcim Argentina estimates that it will use 75% renewable energy. The milestone is the outcome of an agreement signed with 360 Energy in April 2023, under which the renewable power provider contributes to the energy mix at all of Holcim Argentina’s cement production facilities. Holcim Argentina says that the deal will help to eliminate 68,600t/yr of CO2 from its operations. The producer said that it also invested in upgrades to help reduce its water consumption by 6% throughout 2023.
Holcim Argentina has invested US$1m in on-going and planned upgrades to its facilities, and plans to invest a further US$4.9m.