Displaying items by tag: CCUS

The mood music for this year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Azerbaijan has been poor. Despite this though the decarbonisation prospects for the cement sector are looking rosier than other industries.

First, the negatives. People are starting to question whether the COPs are fit for purpose. Donald Trump’s election as President-Elect in the US before the event started pretty much set the tone given that he intends to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. Again. Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev described his country’s natural gas resources as a “gift from God” following reports that, once again, COP national delegates had been caught promoting fossil fuel deals. France and Argentina also withdrew their lead negotiators for differing political reasons. Meanwhile, there has been increasing lobbying against carbon capture from the environmental sector. In short the view is growing that carbon capture is a delaying tactic by fossil fuel companies rather than a viable solution. This poses a threat to the cement sector because its current net zero roadmaps require carbon capture.

The World Cement Association’s CEO Ian Riley asked in a statement whether there might be “...a shift toward negotiations driven by the major emitters - China, the US, India, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.” However he observed that none of these countries yet seem ready to lead on the climate agenda globally.

Now, the positives. Cement CO₂ sector emissions may have continued to fall in 2023. The Global Carbon Project published its Global Carbon Budget 2024 in mid-November 2024. It predicts that global fossil CO₂ emissions will rise by 0.8% year-on-year in 2024 with emissions from coal, oil and gas still mounting. However, emissions from cement producers are expected to fall by 0.8%. This trend started in 2022. It appears to be due to declines in China, the US and the EU but, notably, not in India. It’s worth commenting here that this decline may be principally down to the parlous state of the real estate market in China, but there is also a lot of decarbonisation work happening. We’ll take a win where we can.

Next, the Global Cement and Concrete Association’s two big announcements at COP29 have been the publication of its Cement Industry Net Zero Progress Report 2024/25 and the launch of international definitions for low carbon cement and concrete. The progress report proffers a nifty update on how well it’s going. Short version: 23% reduction in emissions intensity since 1990; lots going on; plenty more to do.

One of those issues that require attention is low-carbon procurement. Hence those international definitions. This may seem like an abjectly boring topic but never underestimate the power of standards upon building materials. This should help support governments, policy makers and the private sector to set low carbon procurement rules. Since governments are among the biggest buyers of building materials worldwide, both directly and indirectly, this is intended to start speeding up decarbonisation by driving demand for existing lower carbon cement and concrete products. Whether this is the tool that cracks the global adoption of low carbon building materials remains to be seen. Yet the long lead time it took the Portland Cement Association (PCA) in the US, for example, to promote the use of Portland Limestone Cement is both instructive and inspirational. It can be done and it can deliver results.

COP29 has been described as the ‘finance COP’ because the representatives are hoping to set a new global climate finance target. This target, or new collective quantified goal (NCQG), is seen as one of the summit's main outcomes. It is intended to replace the existing US$100bn goal that is due to expire in 2025. However, the question of how much each country pays has predictably caused disagreements between developed, developing and those countries in between. All of this is well above the ‘paygrade’ of the cement sector but is crucial to what happens next, because it’s going to get expensive. Establishing regional carbon capture infrastructure requires serious funding. Time will tell whether COP29 can actually further this aim. The arguing continues.

Spain: Heidelberg Materials Hispania and Enagás have signed a collaboration agreement for a CO₂ capture, transmission, liquefaction and storage project in Northern Spain. Heidelberg Materials Hispania says that the collaboration will support carbon capture installations at its plants in the region. The partners will now produce a feasibility study and technical designs for CO₂ transmission, liquefaction and storage infrastructure, including the use of Enagás’ existing regasification terminals.

Heidelberg Materials Hispania operates the 1.1Mt/yr Añorga and Arrigorriaga cement plants, both in the Basque Country.

Azerbaijan: The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) has called on governments at the COP29 climate conference to support the decarbonisation of the cement industry. The association published its Net Zero Progress Report 2024/25 to coincide with the conference. The report details the ‘extensive decarbonisation work’ currently underway in the industry, including accelerating carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS), switching to renewable energy sources, advancing the circular economy and reducing cement’s clinker factor. The sector expects to commission its first net zero cement plant, following a carbon capture upgrade to Heidelberg Materials’ Brevik plant in Norway, later in 2024.

GCCA president Fernando González said “Our industry is engaged in the most significant transformation in its history. To fully unlock our decarbonisation progress in this crucial Decade to Deliver, we urgently need effective policy support."

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has started the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) Study phase on the GeZero project at its Milke plant in Geseke. The technical planning phase is being conducted by Fluor Corporation. It will focus on the design and integration of the various systems into the overall technical concept, which also includes a CO₂ transport solution. The technical planning is expected to be completed in mid-2025 with construction scheduled to start in 2026.

Christian Knell, CEO of Heidelberg Materials Germany, said “With GeZero, Heidelberg Materials will rely on CO₂ capture using state-of-the-art oxyfuel technology in combination with a CO₂ cleaning and liquefaction plant. To pave the way for domestic CCS plants, a CO₂ transport solution by rail is part of the planning until the necessary pipeline infrastructure is available. In addition, a local CO2 storage hub is to be created as interim storage. The electrical energy requirement for the operation of the plant is to be covered exclusively by renewable energies. A new photovoltaic system in the vicinity of the factory premises will help to meet the needs.”

The GeZero project is preparing to build a carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) value chain for the Geseke cement plant, North Rhine-Westphalia, in inland Germany. It aims to capture 0.7Mt/yr of CO₂ starting from 2029. The project is supported by the European Union Innovation Fund.

France: Holcim has been awarded a new grant from the EU Innovation Fund for its ‘CarboClearTech’ carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) project in Martres-Tolosane, France. This support marks Holcim's seventh large-scale EU-backed CCUS project. The value of the funding was not disclosed by the company.

Germany: A consortium comprising Cemex and engineering company Linde has won €157m from the EU Innovation Fund for a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) initiative at the Rüdersdorf cement plant. The project will capture 1.3Mt/yr of CO₂ from the plant’s production processes, aiming for complete decarbonisation of the site by 2030, aligning with Cemex's Future in Action climate strategy. The Rüdersdorf facility will use Linde's HISORP(R) technology for CO₂ capture, featuring a cryogenic-adsorptive process that captures CO₂ from exhaust gas at the source, ready for compression, liquification and eventual permanent sequestration at an offshore storage site in the North Sea.

Sergio Menéndez, president of Cemex Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia, said "Our Future in Action climate action strategy is working hard to drive several revolutionary CCUS projects across our global operations. While we are working hard to decarbonise using existing technology, an important component of our Future in Action strategy is to develop breakthrough decarbonisation solutions for our industry to reach Net Zero. The Rüdersdorf project is Cemex's largest CCUS project to date, with all the hallmarks and credentials to make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of the cement industry."

UK: Cool Planet Technologies has raised €23.7m in a funding round led by Taranis Carbon Ventures, with participation from CRH Ventures and BlueScopeX. This investment will support the development of Cool Planet's ‘low-energy, low-cost’ membrane-based carbon capture technology. It will also go towards the construction of a new membrane manufacturing facility at Holcim’s Höver cement plant near Hannover, Germany, capturing 10,000t/yr of CO₂.

CEO of Cool Planet Technologies Andrew Corner said “We are delighted to have the support of these three new major industrial investors and we want to thank our existing investors for their continued support. We believe that our technology will significantly reduce the cost of carbon capture and help to accelerate its adoption at scale. This investment will enable us to demonstrate both the potential of our technology at scale and how Cool Planet will become a leading player in providing affordable solutions to help decarbonise multiple industries.”

Japan: Mitsubishi UBE Cement (MUCC), in collaboration with seven other companies, has been commissioned by the Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) to conduct a survey of the carbon capture and storage (CCS) project for the Southern Offshore Malay Peninsula in the 2024 financial year. This work is part of the ‘Engineering Design Work for Advanced CCS Projects’ and will study the CCS value chain from CO₂ captured from the cement industry in the Kyushu, Chugoku and Kinki regions, to the transport and storage of the liquefied CO₂ for geological in the southern offshore Malay peninsula, currently under development. MUCC will be responsible for the CCS processes at its Ube cement plant.

Greece: ThyyssenKrupp Polysius has signed a front-end engineering design contract with Titan Group for the Ifestos carbon capture project at Titan’s Kamari cement plant. The project will equip the plant’s two kilns with oxyfuel systems to reduce CO₂ emissions by 1.9Mt/yr, ‘almost completely’, said ThyssenKrupp. The captured CO₂ is then liquefied and transported to a permanent storage site in the Mediterranean region. Full operation is expected by the end of 2029.

Cetin Nazikkol, chief strategy officer at ThyssenKrupp Decarbon Technologies, said “With the oxyfuel technology we have developed, around 1.9Mt/yr of CO₂ can be captured at the Kamari plant alone. This corresponds to around 12% of greenhouse gas emissions from all Greek industries. We are thus making a significant contribution to one of the largest CO₂ capture projects in Europe.”

Christian Myland, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Polysius, said “For our customer Titan Group, we will be using the latest CO₂ separation technology. We will design and equip the first kiln line with the proven oxyfuel technology. When modernising the second kiln line, the latest generation of this technology will be used with the pure oxyfuel system. Overall, this will enable us to capture almost 100% of CO₂ emissions.”

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has endorsed the UK government's commitment to finance the country’s first carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) sites, which could help make the creation of the nation's first net zero cement plant a reality. One of the projects hoping to receive funding is Heidelberg Materials’ Padeswood Cement Works in Flintshire, part of the HyNet North West cluster of industrial sites poised to implement CCUS. The government's support for CCUS not only progresses the decarbonisation efforts of the UK concrete, cement, and lime sectors, but also reduces the pressure to import cement from overseas, protecting the UK economy by sustaining local industry and jobs.

MPA executive director for energy and climate change Diana Casey, said “It is very positive to see the Government’s commitment to two carbon capture clusters and this news provides an important signal of intent to businesses and the investor community. While we await the specific detail of the package of support, the support announced for the HyNet cluster creates an opportunity to bring forward the UK’s first cement carbon capture plant.”