Displaying items by tag: CCUS

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.”

Belgium: France-based Air Liquide has signed a memorandum of understanding with Holcim to supply and operate a Cryocap Oxy carbon capture unit for the forthcoming upgrade to the Obourg cement plant. The intention is that 95% of the CO₂ generated from the new production line will be captured and then transported via the Antwerp@C export terminal for under-sea sequestration. Air Liquide and Holcim have co-applied for the European Innovation Fund to support the project.

Pascal Vinet, Senior Vice President at Air Liquide Group, said “The decarbonisation of the industry is at the heart of our Advance strategy. We are committed to accompany our customers through providing a wide range of innovative solutions. As an example, Air Liquide's proprietary Cryocap technology is particularly well suited to decarbonise the cement industry.”

Canada: The Cement Association of Canada (CAC), with its members and partners in the concrete sector, has released Concrete Zero, an action plan to help the local cement and concrete sector reach net-zero CO₂ emissions by 2050. The five priority areas it is focusing on include: eliminating the use of coal and petroleum coke as fuel sources for clinker production; reducing the volume of clinker used to produce cement; increasing the use of supplementary cementitious materials; working towards building carbon capture, utilisation and storage capacity; and advocating for performance-based codes, standards and specifications, procurement policies and increased material efficiency in construction. Targets include reaching a 100% fuel mix from non-fossil-based sources by 2050. The latest plant follows the goal of achieving a 40% emissions reduction by 2030 as part of its Roadmap to Net-Zero Carbon Concrete by 2050.

Adam Auer, the president and chief executive officer of CAC, said “Our net-zero action plan is ambitious and cannot be achieved by industry action alone. Working with government, industry, and partners in the design, architecture, and construction industry will be essential for success. Canada’s cement and concrete industry are committed to doing our part to help Canada build a better, cleaner future. Working together, we can deliver Concrete Zero.”

India: More than 75 representatives from academic institutions and businesses from across the world are attending the Innovandi Global Cement and Concrete Research Network (GCCRN) Spring Week taking place in New Delhi. The GCCRN has brought together 450 researchers and scientists from more than 40 universities and institutions, including the EPFL in Switzerland, South East University in China, University of Toronto in Canada, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the University of Cape Town, Imperial College London in the UK, as well as 35 cement and concrete manufacturers and their suppliers. The focus of the conference is to work towards reaching net-zero CO₂ concrete production, including sourcing and improving alternatives to clinker, work on calcined clays, concrete recycling – plus its carbonation and durability - as well as kiln electrification and carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS).

Claude Loréa, the Innovation and ESG Director at the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA), said “Global Innovation collaboration and research will help unlock our industry’s decarbonisation mission. Spring Week is the key date in the GCCA’s Innovandi calendar. It provides an opportunity for our partners to meet face-to-face, exchange ideas, run workshops, and measure progress on key research projects in line with our industry’s 2050 Net Zero Roadmap. Our industry and our key partners are stepping up to the challenge and it’s fantastic to see the progress on some of the 75 PhD candidates supported by the GCCRN.”

The event is also updating attendees about progress made by projects involved with the Innovandi Open Challenge. This initiative matches start-ups with GCCA member companies from around the world, to help scale up research and technical innovation. Two of the six start-ups selected in 2022 at the first ever Innovandi Open Challenge, which focused mainly on carbon capture and utilisation, have already gone to pilot stage. Applications for the second challenge, which focuses on low carbon concrete, close on 15 May 2023.

The GCCRN was set up by the GCCA, a lobbying group representing more than 80% of the world’s cement and concrete manufacturers outside of China. All GCCA member companies are committed to decarbonising the industry by the mid-21st Century, in line with the GCCA’s Concrete Future 2050 Net Zero Roadmap.

France: Ciments Calcia has announced an investment of Euro86m to further decarbonise cement production at its integrated Beaucaire plant. The subsidiary of Germany-based Heidelberg Materials has allocated a total of Euro600m towards reducing CO₂ emissions from all of its operations in the country in response to a government initiative, according to The Tribune newspaper.

The current funding follows a spend of just under Euro7m on upgrades at the site, including installing a new clinker cooler that will allow for greater recovery of waste heat, and the addition of a new computer control system. Following this work, the single production line plant was restarted in early April 2023.

The next stage of investment has started with a feasibility study. If successful, a tendering process could start in the second half of 2023 with work planned to start in 2025. The company intends to renovate the plant’s electricity network, modernise the production line with a preheater and a pre-crusher and make further changes to target an alternative fuels thermal substitution rate of 75%. A third stage, involving carbon capture and utilisation and/or storage, is tentatively planned to start in 2030.

Germany: Heidelberg Materials has appointed industrial gases and engineering company Linde to install a carbon capture and liquefaction plant at its 1Mt/yr Lengfurt, Bavaria, cement plant. The project is scheduled for delivery in 2025. When commissioned, the system will capture and liquefy 70,000t/yr of CO₂. Heidelberg Materials plans to use a small part of the liquefied CO₂ in its development of recarbonation technologies for cement and concrete, with the remainder to be marketed by Linde to industries, including chemicals and food. The German government granted Euro15m in funding for the project under its Decarbonisation of Industry programme.

Heidelberg Materials’ chief executive officer Dominik von Achten said "We are pleased to be able to implement the world's first carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) project in the cement industry on an industrial scale.”

Linde’s executive vice president Jürgen Nowicki said “With this joint venture, two companies that are world leaders in their field are combining their skills with the aim of finding a solution that is as sustainable as it is economical. After successful pilot applications, this large-scale plant paves the way for sustainable cement production.”

Image credit: Cement plant Lengfurt, Germany. Copyright: Heidelberg Materials. Photographer: Steffen Fuchs.

Canada: Heidelberg Materials and the Canadian government have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the installation of a carbon capture system at the company’s Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. The project is scheduled for completion in 2026, at a total cost of US$1.01bn. When operational, the system will capture 100% of the Edmonton cement plant’s CO₂ emissions - 1Mt/yr – for transportation and storage in nearby Wabamun. Canada Newswire has reported that construction of the system will create 2000 jobs.

The government said that it would be a ‘significant partner’ for the project. The size of funding will depend on other provisions under its Investment Tax Credit for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage scheme, which is currently being finalised.

Greece: Titan Cement Group published its 2022 Integrated Report on 6 April 2023. The report outlines the cement producer’s financial and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. For the full year, the group recorded a net profit of Euro110m, up by 19.3% year-on-year. It made ‘record’ capital expenditure investments of Euro242m, and increased its net debt by 12% to Euro797m.

The group says that it is ‘on track’ to meet its ESG targets for 2025 and beyond. It reduced its specific CO₂ emissions by 5% decade-on-decade in 2022. Throughout the year, Titan Cement Group continued its investments in research, development and innovation activities across all markets, with an increased focus on carbon capture, storage and utilisation. It also rolled out its digital transformation to further plants around the globe.

Japan: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Osaka Gas have launched a collaboration to develop a value chain for captured CO₂ from Japan's hard-to-abate industries, including the cement sector. JCN Newswire has reported that their collaboration will leverage MHI's expertise in CO₂ capture, liquefied CO₂ maritime vessel transport and CO₂ management, and Osaka Gas' expertise in e-methane production and CO₂ storage. The project will integrate MHI and IBM Japan's CO₂nnex software platform to model value chains. The project aims to contribute to the realisation of Japan's target of net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.