Displaying items by tag: CCUS

US: In 2022, Fortera began building a 15,000t/yr-capacity plant to produce its low-carbon cementitious material, Fortera Reactive Calcium Carbonate (RCC), at CalPortland's Redding cement plant in California. The commercial-scale plant will produce a reactive form of calcium carbonate using CO₂ from the kiln of the 600,000t/yr cement plant. Fortera's process converts 1t of limestone into 1t of Fortera RCC by capturing and mineralising CO₂ from the cement plant's kiln. Fortera cement production emits 60% less CO₂ than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). The 15,000t/yr plant will operate at 20 times the scale of previous pilot tests. The Redding Record newspaper has reported that 15 workers will be employed at the site.

Former Redding cement plant owner Lehigh Hanson formed an agreement with Fortera to collaborate on the low-carbon cement plant project in March 2021. The plant subsequently switched ownership to Martin Marietta Materials in October 2021, before CalPortland bought it in July 2022.

Cemex highlighted its Clyngas project at its Alicante cement plant in Spain this week. The project will produce synthesis gas (syngas) from different types of waste for direct injection into the burner at the plant during the combustion process. It is being run in conjunction with Waste to Energy Advanced Solutions (WTEnergy), a company that Cemex invested in at the end of 2022. It is also receiving Euro4.4m in funding from the European Commission (EC) as part of its innovation fund for small scale projects. The initiative estimates that it will save over 400,000t of equivalent CO₂ during the first 10 years of the project's life by replacing petroleum coke with syngas.

Clyngas is another example of Cemex’s innovation with alternative fuels for cement and lime. It follows on from the group’s work with hydrogen injection into cement kilns. As presented at the 15th Global CemFuels Conference 2022 it has been using hydrogen in low volumes as a combustion enhancer in more than 20 plants worldwide. However, it was also looking into using hydrogen more directly as a fuel and as a feedstock for other alternative fuels. WTEnergy’s gasification process could potentially link up to this as it converts waste streams such as wood chips, agricultural waste, refuse derived fuel (RDF), solid recovered fuel (SRF), dry sewage sludge, meat and bone meal, poultry litter and plastics into syngas. WTEnergy then proposes that its gasification process and/or the syngas can be used for power generation and thermal applications. In the case of the Clyngas project it will be the latter, as the gasification process will be used to boost the burnability characteristics of RDF with a high biomass content. One part of this to note is that the syngas can potentially be used to manufacture hydrogen. This would be a useful capability for a cement company, for example, that was already using alternative fuels and was now considering further decarbonisation by switching to using hydrogen.

A few other cement companies have been looking at synthetic fuels too, but this has generally been as a by-product of carbon capture and utilisation. This week Lafarge France, for example, said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Axens, EDF and IFP Energies Nouvelles for a synthetic fuel production trial. Its plan is to build a unit that will produce synthetic kerosene using captured CO₂ from a carbon capture installation at Lafarge France's Saint-Pierre-La-Cour cement plant. The kerosene will then be sold to airlines. Other examples of cement companies looking at using captured CO₂ to manufacture synthetic fuels include Finnsementti’s pre-engineering study with Aker Carbon Capture to consider producing methanol as a fuel for transport, Holcim’s and TotalEnergies’ various plans of what to do with the CO₂ captured from the-to-be upgraded Obourg cement plant and Cemex Deutschland’s ambitions for its Rüdersdorf plant.

As can be seen above there are different types of synthetic fuels and cement companies are at the research and pilot stages. Although there isn’t a commonly accepted definition of what a synthetic fuel is, the general meaning is that of a fuel made from feedstock using a chemical reaction as opposed to, say, a refining process. The wide variety of potential synthetic fuels puts the confusion over the different types of hydrogen into perspective. However, this may be a problem for a later date if usage by cement companies becomes more serious.

What is a problem, though, has been the EC’s planned legislation to phase out the use of industrial CO₂ in synthetic fuels by 2041. Cembureau, the European cement industry association, warned in late 2022 of the issues this would pose for industries trying to find a way to utilise their CO₂ emissions where storage was too difficult or expensive. Its view was that while synthetic fuels using industrial CO₂ are not fully net-zero, as the captured CO₂ is later released into the atmosphere, it is a necessary short to medium term step for sectors trying to make the transition. Companies trying to build industrial-scale chemical plants for synthetic fuels need running periods of 20 to 30 years to achieve payback. As of March 2023 Cembureau was still concerned about the implication of proposed regulations, specifically with regards to the proposed criteria for which synthetic fuels could be used, based on their greenhouse gas emissions savings (at least 70% compared to the regular fuels being replaced). It directly linked this to synthetic fuels projects being launched by the cement sector that might be adversely affected by the new rules. The EC published the legislation in late June 2023 and it is set to become legal in mid-July 2023.

Using synthetic fuels either as a fuel or a by-product from cement production is an area of interest currently with the projects detailed above and others in progress. One vision for their use in Europe, at least, is that they might offer a route for carbon capture for cement plants without access to the logistic networks necessary for sequestration. Whether they find a place in cement manufacture either on a transitional basis or over a longer term should become clearer over the coming decade. Yet the EC’s new rules are likely to slow this process down as at least some of the planned pilots may become unviable in Europe. Other jurisdictions around the world take note.

UK: Carbon8 has appointed Paul Drennan-Durose as its chief executive officer (CEO). He succeeds John Pilkington, who becomes the non-executive chair.
Drennan-Durose holds experience in the sustainable energy sector with both public and private companies, including private equity and venture capital. He previously worked as the CEO of Ineo Partners, Powerhouse Energy Group and Heliex Power. Before this he was the managing director of Poole Process Equipment for seven years in the 2010s. Other roles of note include that of Group Commercial Director - Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific for SMP Europe and the managing director of PLW and Fiamm Energy Technology.

Carbon8 is a UK-based company that supplies carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) equipment. Its main investors include EDF Pulse Ventures and Vicat. Notable corporate achievements include deploying its technology at Vicat’s Montalieu-Vercieu cement plant in France, at an EFW plant in the Netherlands and establishing business partnerships with FLSmidth and Return Carbon.

US: Ash Grove Cement has won funding for a US$15.2m front-end engineering design (FEED) study for a carbon capture installation at its 2Mt/yr Foreman cement plant in Arkansas. Parent company CRH said that the study will run for 24 months from its date of commencement. The project team also includes consultancy and research firms Advanced Resources International and Crescent Resource Information, as well as non-profit interstate policy organisation Southern States Energy Board. Equipment suppliers will include France-based industrial gases company Air Liquide and energy company Sargent & Lundy, while electricity provider Talos will participate as an energy sector stakeholder.

The Foreman cement plant carbon capture FEED study is one of eight projects selected by the US Department of Energy to receive part of a US$189m funding pot for carbon capture demonstrations across US industry.

Denmark: Aalborg Portland and US-based Fidelis New Energy have signed a letter of intent to collaborate on the onshore storage of captured CO₂ from the cement producer's Aalborg cement plant in North Jutland. The partners will convey captured CO₂ from the plant to Fidelis New Energy's upcoming Norne Carbon Storage Hub at East Port of Aalborg via a pipeline. The pipeline is scheduled for commissioning ahead of the launch of the Aalborg cement plant's upcoming carbon capture system in 2030. The system will capture 400,000t/yr of CO₂ from the plant's flue gases.

Fidelis New Energy's Norne Carbon Storage Hub is due to commence operations in 2026. It will have a handling capacity of 4Mt/yr of CO₂, with the possibility of subsequently expanding to 8Mt/yr.

Sweden: Heidelberg Materials Sweden has called for swifter action to be taken by the government on a planned upgrade to the mains electricity supply to the island of Gotland. The building materials company is planning to build a full-scale carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) unit at its integrated Slite cement plant on the island by 2030. However, the newly approved plans to build two new electrical transmission cables to Gotland are currently scheduled for completion in 2031. The cement plant is expected to require annual electricity requirements of up to 1.5TWh with a power requirement of up to 250MW when the CCS unit is completed.

The cement producer has welcomed the government’s upgrade plans so far but has impressed the urgency of its timeline to build a CCS unit at the Slite plant. It says it is currently considering investing around Euro850m on the project. If completed the CCS unit is expected to capture up to 1.8Mt/yr of CO₂. The company said that this corresponds to approximately 3% of Sweden's emissions annually.

Germany: Chemicals company BASF has won a contract to supply its OASE Blue CO₂ separation technology for use in the upcoming 70,000t/yr carbon capture installation at Heidelberg Material's Lengfurt cement plant in Bavaria. The Capture to Use (Cap2U) project, in partnership with fellow chemicals company Linde, aims to capture CO₂ from the plant for use in the chemicals, food and beverages industries.

BASF head of gas treatment Andreas Northemann said “Our portfolio of OASE technologies makes a significant contribution to sustainability and is perfectly suited to help our customers achieve their sustainability targets. This carbon capture and use unit facility has the potential to become a show-case project in a hard-to-abate sector."

UK: Aggregate Industries, Breedon, Lhoist and Tarmac have announced the launch of the Peak Cluster, a carbon capture and storage cluster of cement and lime plants. The partners aim to eliminate 3Mt/yr of emissions from operations across their plants in Cheshire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire by capturing 100% of their CO₂ emissions. Progressive Energy will oversee the capture and transportation of CO₂ from the plants for storage below the Irish Sea. Possible storage partners for the cluster are Liverpool Bay CCS or the upcoming Morecambe Net Zero storage project. When operational, the Peak Cluster will eliminate 40% of emissions from UK cement and lime production. Participating cement plants are Aggregate Industries' 1Mt/yr Cauldon cement plant in Staffordshire, Breedon's 1.5Mt/yr Hope plant in Derbyshire and Tarmac's 0.8Mt/yr Tunstead plant in Derbyshire.

Mineral Products Association (MPA) energy and climate change director Diana Casey said “The launch of the Peak Cluster is an exciting and vital step forward in the journey of the cement and lime sectors towards net zero. The region is a historic heartland for cement and lime production providing highly skilled jobs for local communities, and a secure supply of essential materials to the UK economy." She concluded "The UK Concrete and Cement Industry Roadmap to Beyond Net Zero highlighted the importance of carbon capture for the decarbonisation of the cement and concrete supply chain, and the Peak Cluster is an essential part of that transition. This launch demonstrates the commitment of cement and lime producers to transition to net zero to secure the future of these important industries, and the vital products they produce, in a net zero world.”

US: Heidelberg Materials North America has secured funding for a feasibility study for a 2Mt/yr carbon capture installation at its Mitchell cement plant in Indiana. The study will also investigate possible storage and utilisation solutions for a future installation. The producer says that the US government's Department of Energy has pledged US$5m in funding towards the US$10m study.

Heidelberg Materials North America president and CEO Chris Ward said “We are pleased for this additional federal funding to help move our Mitchell carbon capture project forward. Heidelberg Materials recognises the significant role that carbon capture will play in achieving its goal of net zero carbon, and we are very excited to take the next steps in exploring this technology at our new cement plant in Mitchell.”

Canada: Lafarge Canada signed a tri-partite agreement with Dimensional Energy and Svante Technologies for the construction of a synthetic hydrocarbons plant to use captured CO₂ from its Richmond cement plant on 15 May 2023. The upcoming plant will convert the Richmond cement plant's 1t/day captured CO₂ emissions into 1.5 barrels/day of synthetic hydrocarbons. The producer, a subsidiary of Holcim, selected this particular solution due to the lack of CO₂ transport and sequestration infrastructure in the area of British Columbia where the Richmond plant is located. The project marks Phase 3 of the installation of Lafarge Canada and Svante's carbon capture project at the Richmond plant.

Holcim's Western Canada regional head of sustainability and environment, Stephanie Voysey, said "Carbon capture is an important lever in our net-zero roadmap. However, for a carbon capture project to succeed, it must be paired with permanent geologic sequestration or utilisation technology that will permanently isolate the CO₂ in a specific media or product. If this pilot can be scaled to capture and use all facility emissions, it would be a first-of-its-kind project for Lafarge and advance export and global adoption of this technology.”