Displaying items by tag: decarbonisation

Poland: Górażdże Cement has announced an investment of Euro261m in planned sustainability upgrades to its Górażdże cement plant in Opole Voivodeship, the Polish News Bulletin newspaper has reported. The Heidelberg Materials subsidiary plans to build a carbon capture installation, a green energy source and a facility to recycle construction and demolition waste for use in its cement production.

Europe: Norway-based Capsol Technologies says that it has signed contracts for two new feasibility studies for carbon capture installations at ‘large cement plants’ in the EU. If successful, the plants will proceed to the installation of Capsol Technologies’ CapsolEoP carbon capture systems. Nordic Daily News has reported that the technology reduces the energy consumption of carbon capture by 50%, and lowers its costs by 25%, according to the supplier.

The new contracts bring Capsol Technologies’ number of cement industry carbon capture contracts to four, and its total contracts to nine, with a potential CO₂ capture capacity of 10Mt/yr.

CEO Jan Kielland said "We are pleased that our solution is gaining attention, as demonstrated by an increasing number of incoming requests for sales engineering and engineering studies, and look forward to being a major contributor in the path to net zero for cement.”

Germany: Engineering company GEA has installed a carbon capture pilot plant at the Phoenix Zementwerke cement plant in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The supplier will now conduct testing over ‘several’ months, but said that it is confident that the cement plant is suitable for an installation to capture over 90% of its CO₂ emissions. GEA’s carbon capture systems run on energy from waste heat recovery, with minimal to zero extra electrical input.

Phoenix Zementwerke managing director Marcel Gustav Krogbeumker said “We consider carbon capture a very exciting technology. Thanks to GEA's decades of experience in emissions control, I am very positive that together we can develop and implement a solution."

Norway: The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has signed a new agreement with Heidelberg Materials Sement Norge, confirming funding of up to US$14.1m for the producer’s construction of a full-scale carbon capture system at its Brevik cement plant. Under the agreement, Heidelberg Materials Sement Norge will absorb extra costs that have arisen, and retain a larger share of any return on the project. Costs rose due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and international supply chain pressures.

Nordic Daily News has reported that Heidelberg Materials Northern Europe director Giv Brantenberg said "We are in the process of completing the world's first full-scale plant for carbon capture in the cement industry, and have had great support from the Norwegian authorities throughout the project's many phases. Today's agreement reflects the good cooperation with the Norwegian government, and we look forward to completing this unique facility.”

Spain: A cross-industry group of companies has launched All4Zero, a platform to speed up development of renewable fuels and the CO₂ capture in Spain. Representatives from steel-maker ArcelorMittal, oil producer Repsol and cement producer Holcim launched the platform on 6 September 2023 in Madrid, describing All4Zero as "a unique industrial technological innovation hub in Spain, of a private, multi-sector and non-profit nature, which will promote disruptive technologies in the field of renewable fuels, circular materials, CO₂ capture and conversion or renewable hydrogen, among others.” All partners share the common objective of net zero operations by 2050.

All4Zero will focus on the scale-up of early-stage technologies developed by private companies, universities, research centres and start-ups, and will allow them to validate their technological developments in real industrial environments, thus bridging the gap between ideas and implementation. Participants will be able to participate in technical conferences and carry out concept tests in the facilities provided by the industrial partners.

Norway: Heidelberg Materials Sement Norge set in place a 220t absorber unit at its Brevik cement plant on late August 2023. The unit will form part of the upcoming 400,000t/yr carbon capture and storage (CCS) installation at the site. It expects to complete the installation of the absorber unit within two weeks of its placement. In September 2023, Heidelberg Materials Sement Norge will proceed to install the system’s 100m-high absorber stack.

Brevik CCS operational manager Tor Gautestad said “The absorber is in many ways the heart of the carbon capture process, because it is where the flue gases are separated.”

Canada: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has successfully delivered and installed a KS-21 solvent-based carbon capture pilot system at Heidelberg Materials North America’s Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. The partners will now proceed to test the technology using different fuel sources and plant operating modes. Heidelberg Materials North America says that the installation is an ‘important step’ in the CO₂MPACT carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Once completed the project will comprise a 1Mt/yr capture installation at the plant and its integrated heat and power system. Heidelberg Materials North America expects the installation to be operational by late 2026.

Heidelberg Materials North America’s vice president cement operations, Northwest Region, Joerg Nixdorf said “Today is a substantial milestone in our journey to building the world’s first full-scale carbon capture project in the cement industry.”

Spain: Switzerland-based Synhelion and Cemex España plan to build a new clinker plant near Madrid. The plant will use Synhelion’s synthetic fuel to produce clinker from clay and crushed sand at 1200°C. The fuel consists of a gas produced from green hydrogen and captured CO₂, using solar heat. La Tribune de Genève Online News has reported that Synhelion’s thermochemical reactor further helps to capture CO₂ emissions from clinker production. A study by the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne indicated that this can halve the cost of carbon capture at cement plants, to below Euro85/t.

Japan: A Taiheiyo Cement plant will be one of two facilities to host carbon capture systems under the Tohoku West Coast carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The Japan Organisation for Metals and Energy Security selected the project to advance to the feasibility study stage on 2 August 2023. The partners will now investigate technical issues in the entire CCS value chain, as well as commercial and social issues around transporting captured CO₂ by ship to temporary storage sites. Identification of permanent underwater storage sites is scheduled for 2024, with the design stage of capture, transport and storage systems scheduled to conclude in 2026. The Tohoku West Coast carbon capture and storage project will commence in 2030.

Taiheiyo Cement is committed to a 20% reduction of its CO₂ emissions between 2000 and 2030, while the Japanese government is committed to a 46% reduction between 2013 and 2030.

Canada/UK: Carbon Upcycling has raised US$26m in a Series A funding round. The clean tech company says that the funding will support its construction of planned carbon capture systems at CRH's Mississauga cement plant in Canada and Cemex UK's Rugby cement plant in the UK. Carbon Upcycling’s technology injects captured CO₂ into industrial byproducts and minerals to produce supplementary cementitious materials. BDC Capital and Climate Investment led the funding round, with strategic investments from Cemex Ventures, CRH and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures.

Carbon Upcycling chief executive officer Apoorv Sinha said "Closing this round is a major milestone on the road to becoming the most impactful carbon tech company of this decade.” He continued “Over the next year, our mission is to demonstrate our technology's versatility, scalability and operational elegance. Significant, cost-effective decarbonisation potential in the cement industry is possible without a green premium.”

Mexico-based Cemex first invested in Carbon Upcycling via its venture capital unit Cemex Ventures in February 2022. Its said “Cemex is committed to supporting decarbonisation for the built environment, and our follow-on investment in Carbon Upcycling demonstrates such ambition. Carbon Upcycling provides a scalable solution that effectively reduces the carbon footprint of cement. Increasing the supply and use of cementitious materials aligns with Cemex’s goals of reducing CO₂ emissions and becoming fully net-zero by 2050”

The collaboration between Carbon Upcycling and Cemex dates to early 2020, and work towards a commercial-scale plant at the Rugby cement plant commenced in June 2022. The project will target a capture capacity of 1600t/yr, and has secured US$2.96m in government funding from UK Research and Innovation. Cemex says that it will subsequently roll out further CO₂ mitigation projects in partnership with Carbon Upcycling at cement plants across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Mexico and the US.