Displaying items by tag: Sublime Systems
Decarbonising the cement sector in the US, March 2024
27 March 2024The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced a US$1.6bn investment in the cement sector this week. The funding was part of a total of US$6bn for 33 projects in over 20 states to decarbonise energy-intensive industries also including chemicals and refining, iron and steel, aluminium and metals, food and beverages, glass, process heat applications and pulp and paper. The DOE was keen to link the money to “the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.” Politics is never far away it seems! The projects are part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).
Company | State | Funding | Scale | Method |
Heidelberg Materials US | Indiana | US$500m | Full | CCS |
National Cement | California | US$500m | Full | Alternative fuels, calcined clay, CCS |
Summit Materials | Georgia, Maryland, Texas | US$216m | Demonstration | Calcined clay |
Brimstone Energy | TBD | US$189m | Commercial | Raw material substitution |
Sublime Systems | Massachusetts | US$87m | Commercial | Raw material substitution |
Roanoke Cement | Virginia | US$62m | Demonstration | Calcined clay |
Table 1: Summary of US Department of Energy funding announced on March 2024 to decarbonise cement and concrete production
Table 1 above shows the main approaches each of the projects aim to use. The two most expensive ones involve carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) at Heidelberg Materials US’ Mitchell cement plant in Indiana and National Cement’s Lebec plant in California respectively. In a complimentary press release Chris Ward, the CEO of Heidelberg Materials North America, said “This substantial federal funding investment will help create the first full-scale deployment of carbon capture and storage on a cement plant in the US.” The proposed CCS unit at the plant will capture around 2Mt/yr of CO2 from 2030. If Ward’s forecast is accurate (and no one beats them to it), then Heidelberg Materials will likely have set up the first full-scale CCS units at cement plants in both North America and Europe. This will be a significant achievement. The National Cement project, by contrast, is a mixed bag of approaches to decarbonising cement production that follows the multi-lever approach advocated for in many of the industry net-zero roadmaps. It intends to use agricultural by-products such as pistachio shells, as alternatives fuels to lower the fuel-based emissions, calcined clay to lower the clinker factor and CCS to capture the remaining 950,000t/yr of CO2 emissions.
The other projects either involve using calcined clay or substituting limestone with calcium silicate. The Summit Materials proposal is noteworthy because it aims to build four clay calcination units in locations in Maryland, Georgia and Texas. None of these appear to be near Summit’s (or Cementos Argos’) cement plants. This suggests that the company may be intending to use calcined clay in ready-mixed concrete production. The Roanoke Cement Company calcined clay project will be baseEuropead at its cement plant in Troutville, Virginia.
The remaining two grant recipients, Brimstone and Sublime Systems, will both test the companies’ different methods of manufacturing cement by using calcium silicate instead of limestone. Brimstone’s method produces ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and supplementary cementitious materials (SCM). The company said in July 2023 that its OPC met the ASTM C150 standards. However, the company has released less information about its actual process. Sublime Systems’ uses an electrolysis approach to create its ASTM C1157-compliant cement. It calls this ‘ambient temperature electrochemical calcination.’
Investment on the same scale of the DOE has also been happening in Europe. In July 2023, for example, the European Commission announced an investment of Euro3.6bn in clean tech projects to be funded from the proceeds of the European Union emissions trading scheme (ETS). This was the third call for large-scale projects following previous announcements of recipients in 2021 and 2022. Euro1.6bn of the third call funding went towards cement and refining projects including five cement and lime projects in Belgium, Croatia, Germany and Greece. The money granted for each of these schemes was in the region of Euro115 - 235m.
Both the US and Europe are throwing serious finance at the cement industry to try and kickstart the various pathways towards net zero. They are also doing it in different ways, with the US aiming to boost its economy by onshoring sustainable industry, and Europe hoping to fund its approach via carbon taxation. Government-driven decarbonisation investment for cement in other large countries and regions around the world appears to be lagging behind the US and Europe but these may spring up as net zero targets are set, roadmaps drawn up and government policy formulated. These places could also benefit from watching what works and does not work elsewhere first. Back in the US and Europe the next tricky part of this process will be bridging the gap between government subsidy and commercial viability.
Sublime Systems nears US$87m Department of Energy grant
26 March 2024US: Alternative cement developer Sublime Systems has entered award negotiations with the US Department of Energy for a grant worth up to US$87m. Gulf Oil & Gas News has reported that Sublime Systems plans to build an electrolysis-based cement plant in Holyoke, Massachusetts. The department’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations would provide any eventual funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Sublime Systems’ plant is one of 33 scalable decarbonisation solutions in energy-intensive industries selected for potential funding.
CEO Leah Ellis said “Access to sufficient capital for industrial-scale demonstrations is the single biggest obstacle preventing breakthrough innovations from reaching the scale humanity needs to combat the climate crisis. The Department of Energy has cleared this obstacle through funding from OCED’s Industrial Demonstrations Program, embracing its unique role in supporting the deployment of the decarbonised technologies of tomorrow. We look forward to collaborating with them on funding our first commercial manufacturing scale-up, which will ship our clean cement while creating meaningful economic opportunities for the surrounding community.”
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.
10 sustainable cement and concrete technology developers launch the Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance
18 January 2024North America: A new coalition for the scaling and deployment of low-carbon building materials, the creation of new clean cement and concrete jobs and the promotion of environmental justice launched earlier in January 2024. Called the Decarbonized Cement and Concrete Alliance (DC2), it comprises alternative cement developers Biomason, Brimstone, Chement, Fortera and Terra CO2, sequestration company Blue Planet Systems, circular concrete producer CarbonBuilt, biogenic limestone producer Minus Materials, hydrothermal processing technology developer Queens Carbon and electrified cement production technology developer Sublime Systems. DC2’s areas of engagement in policy will include tax credits, standards, ecolabeling and subsidisation, in line with the US Department of Energy’s Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Low-Carbon Cement strategy.
CarbonBuilt’s government and community affairs manager Sal Brzozowski said “DC2’s platform of robust policy, standards and incentives to scale innovative solutions will not only accelerate deep decarbonisation, but also transform the concrete industry from one of the world’s largest CO2 emitters to one of the world’s largest carbon sinks.”
US: Sublime Systems has acquired a site in Holyoke, Massachusetts, to build its first commercial-scale cement plant. The planned unit is expected to be commissioned in 2026, create 70 jobs, and will eventually have a capacity of 30,000t/yr. The selected site previously housed paper mills and is powered by local hydroelectric resources. The project is also being supported by a state tax credit from the Economic Development Incentive Program and local Tax Increment Financing from the City of Holyoke to offset property taxes. The commercial-scale plant is being developed as a stepping-stone before building a larger 1Mt/yr plant in the future.
Sublime Systems chief executive officer and co-founder Leah Ellis said “The same qualities that made Holyoke a world-class industrial hub in the past perfectly position it to now be the home for clean tech manufacturing of the future.” She continued, “The Water Street site exemplifies that in its ample space, industrial zoning, access to renewable hydroelectricity, utilities and even rail.”
Sublime Systems is commercialising an electrolysis cement production process that will manufacture cement at ambient temperature from a variety of calcium sources. Its Sublime Cement product received an ASTM C1157 designation in September 2023. The company has raised over US$50m from a consortium of climate technology investors, Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) funding and strategic investor Siam Cement Group.
Sublime Systems secures ASTM C1157 designation for Sublime Cement reduced-CO2 cement
18 September 2023US: Sublime Systems’ Sublime Cement reduced-CO2 cement has received an ASTM C1157 designation. InterestingEngineering News has reported that this enables builders to use it in various projects in line with international building codes. Sublime Systems’ cement consists of lime and silica produced by electrolysis using non-carbonate calcium compounds.
CEO Leah Ellis said "Our aim is to make a profound and lasting impact on global CO2 emissions. The ASTM C1157 designation is a validation of our efforts to integrate low-carbon innovation into quality construction materials."
Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement & Concrete counts nine new members
01 September 2023World: Nine new members have joined the Alliance for Low-Carbon Cement & Concrete (ALCCC), a global association of low-CO2 cement and concrete developers, producers and users, since its launch in May 2023. The alliance has welcomed alternative cement and concrete companies Betolar, 3Béton, CarbonRE, Cemvision, the European Environmental Bureau, Greenmade, Materrup, Nomad and Sublime Systems.
Joren Verschaeve, Programme Manager at ALCCC founder Environmental Coalition on Standards, said “It is great to see that so many actors - particularly innovators from within the industry - are committed to speeding up the decarbonisation of cement and concrete through better standards and policies. We are eager to work with our members and other stakeholders to (finally) help put the right incentives in place for low-carbon cement and concrete solutions.”
US: Sublime Systems says it has secured US$40m in funding from its latest investment round. Venture capital company Lowercarbon Capital, The Engine, Energy Impact Partners and others took part in the Series A funding round. Siam Cement Group has also been announced as a strategic investor. The company will use the new capital to increase production at its pilot plant, build its team, conduct product testing and promote offtake commitments from new customers and partners.
Sublime Systems is commercialising an electrolysis cement production process that will manufacture cement at ambient temperature from a variety of abundant calcium sources. It says it is the first company to produce cement through this process.
Leah Ellis, co-founder and chief executive officer of Sublime said, "We have successfully demonstrated the viability and scalability of our approach and we are able to produce cement with the same or better strength, slump and durability than today's Portland cement. The support of our talented team and capital from our investors will enable us to operate our pilot facility, secure advance offtake agreements and work toward producing our low-carbon cement at scale."
The company was spun-out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2020. It was co-founded by Yet-Ming Chiang, an MIT professor and co-founder of several climate-tech companies, including A123 Systems, 24M Technologies and Form Energy, and Leah Ellis, an Activate Fellow and one of MIT Technology Review's 35 Innovators under 35. To date, the company has concentrated its efforts on developing its first drop-in, low-carbon cement product, validating its manufacturing process at the pilot scale, validating buyer demand and building up its team.