Displaying items by tag: decarbonisation

Spain: HeidelbergCement is starting the Neuclicem carbon capture use and storage (CCUS) project at its integrated Arrigorriaga plant near Bilbao. Local electricity company Volbas and the Tecnalia Research & Innovation centre are participating in the initiative. The project intends to look at a process based on the mineralisation of alkaline waste, such as residual construction waste or steel slag, by accelerated carbonation using CO₂ from the flue gas at the plant. The resulting materials will then be used as additives in cement production or to reduce the use of clinker. The scheme will study its viability of the process on an industrial scale.

The Neuclicem project has an estimated duration of 14 months. Its results are intended to prepare the way for scaling up to a subsequent industrial prototype. The project is partially financed by Ihobe, an environmental management division of the regional Basque government.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has told the Department of Energy’s Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) that federal policy and support is vital to accelerate the deployment of technologies that can decarbonise the local industrial sector. In its comments to the office, the PCA said that it shares the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 through its own Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality, which lays out a pathway to achieve this across the cement-concrete-construction value chain by 2050. However, it warned that without strong federal support the AMO’s timeline to reach carbon neutrality across industry was unrealistic due to the “significant technical, legal and economic challenges regarding technologies like carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), and others including hydrogen fuel and kiln electrification.”

“Federal policy must accelerate the significant technology, funding, and market innovation needed for rapid decarbonisation while preserving economic growth and international competitiveness,” said Sean O’Neill, senior vice president of government affairs at the PCA. “The adoption of CCUS is key to achieving deep decarbonisation in the cement industry.”

The PCA added that with the right federal and state policies, CCUS could become scalable within 10 years but infrastructure, policy, permitting and funding challenges remain. It suggested that tax incentive reforms and the use of Department of Energy loan programmes could accelerate early investment and adoption of CCUS.

The use of hydrogen fuels and kiln electrification was mentioned but these technologies are seen as being at least 15 – 20 years away. The association said that hydrogen remained very expensive and there was little current infrastructure for the transport and storage of hydrogen. More research and development is required to start evaluating the efficacy of kiln electrification.

Japan: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering has won the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s highest prize for contributions to industrial decarbonisation, the Minister’s Award, for its development and commercialisation of its CO₂ capture system. The system is based on KS-21 solvent technology, developed in partnership with Kansai Electric Power, and the company’s Advanced KM CDR Process capture model. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Engineering has successfully supported cement industry customers in implementing the system.

China: Nanjing Kisen International Engineering has secured a collaboration agreement with Canada-based Delta CleanTech for the implementation of the latter’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) systems at two China National Building Material (CNBM) cement plants. SCMP News has reported that there is a one-time licencing fee - which is not paid by Nanjing Kisen International Engineering but is traditionally paid by the CO₂ capture plant customer - of 4.5 - 5% of capital costs. Installations cost upward of US$40m, depending on capacity.

There are currently 40 operational or upcoming CCS installations nationally with a total capture capacity of 3Mt/yr, chiefly in the oil, coal chemicals and energy sectors.The Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning has forecast that China’s cement industry CCS demand will reach 200Mt/yr by 2060. Delta CleanTech president Jeff Allison said that current challenges for Chinese cement producers seeking to reduce their CO₂ emissions include difficulties disposing of captured CO₂ and a lack of rewards and penalties around emissions control beyond the basic national efficiency requirements.

Nanjing Kisen International Engineering previously launched its first 155kg/day pilot CCS study in partnership with the Canada-based International CCS Knowledge Centre in July 2021.

US: The Portland Cement Association (PCA) has responded positively to a raft of new measures launched by President Joe Biden to aid industrial decarbonisation. The new measures include: US$8bn investment in regional clean hydrogen hubs and a further US$1.5bn investment in associated initiatives; new carbon-based trade policies; greater incentivisation for carbon capture, utilisation and sequestration (CCUS) projects; and the launch of a Buy Clean Taskforce for government procurement and two interdisciplinary industrial advisory bodies to support research and innovation.

PCA chief executive officer and president Michael Ireland said “We are pleased to see our thinking reflected in many of the actions proposed today. We are delighted the White House has recognised that carbon reductions cannot be achieved via a single industry in isolation: it requires collaboration across an entire value chain.” He said that the White House’s approach aligns with the organisation’s own in its lifecycle approach to evaluating construction materials, encouraging collaboration, engaging the workforce and incentivising private sector innovation. Ireland continued "We look forward to working together with the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy and the Council on Environmental Quality on this vital initiative.”

Italy: Holcim has signed a collaboration agreement with energy company Eni for the development of ENI’s magnesium silicate-based carbon utilisation technology. The reaction of the magnesium silicate with captured CO₂ emissions yields a product which Holcim hopes to use in its cement production.

Holcim Innovation Center head Edelio Bermejo said “Reaching net zero in cement manufacturing will require the deployment of carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies at scale. ENI’s solution is very promising, and we are happy to explore its potential as it could take us all one step further on our decarbonisation journey.”

Canada: Lehigh Cement and Enbridge have announced a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on carbon storage for the integrated Edmonton cement plant in Alberta. Captured emissions will be transported via pipeline and sequestered by Enbridge. Lehigh Cement says it is developing North America’s first full-scale carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) unit for the cement industry at its Edmonton plant, with the goal of capturing approximately 0.78Mt/yr of CO₂.

Pipeline company Enbridge intends to apply to develop an open access carbon hub in the Wabamun area, west of Edmonton in conjunction with Lehigh Cement and Capital Power, as part of the Government of Alberta's Request for Full Project Proposals process. Once complete the Open Access Wabamun Carbon Hub would be among the largest integrated CCUS projects in the world. Subject to the award of carbon sequestration rights and regulatory approvals, the project could be in service as early as 2025.

Italy: Buzzi Unicem has signed an agreement with Italgas to collaborate on the development of power to gas plants for implementation in combination with carbon capture systems. Their research will assess the possibility of producing and using synthetic methane obtained from the combination of green hydrogen from power to gas plants with captured CO₂.

Buzzi Unicem’s group technical director at Luigi Buzzi said "We are very interested in the opportunity to collaborate with Italgas as an experienced partner to develop a project that is fully integrated into our industrial investment plan aimed at identifying technologies for capturing and reusing the CO₂ released by our plants, in line with the roadmaps defined by industry associations.” He added “Our aim is to responsibly contribute to containing climate change by developing CO₂ capture technologies and identifying the best solutions for its reuse. We are currently experimenting with calcium looping technology for capturing the carbon dioxide released by the production process at our plant in Vernasca, Piacenza. Thanks to the EU Horizon 2020 Cleanker project, it will be possible to assess the technical and economic sustainability of this technology and estimate the changes to the plant and the investments required to adopt this process in existing cement plants.”

Australia: RMIT University in Melbourne, Victoria, has developed a new method of carbon capture, called the bubble column method. The method uses liquid gallium at 100 – 120°C, through which flue gas is bubbled. This activates the CO₂, leading to oxidation of the metal. The captured carbon accumulates on the surface of the pool.

Gallium is a by-product of bauxite and zinc ores mining. The United States Geological Service (USGS) has estimated its global reserves in these ores alone as 1Mt.

Project co-lead Torben Daeneke said “Turning CO₂ into a solid avoids potential issues of leakage and locks it away securely and indefinitely. Because our process does not use very high temperatures, it would be feasible to power the reaction with renewable energy.” He added “Ideally the carbon we make could be turned into a value-added product, contributing to the circular economy and enabling the carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology to pay for itself over time.”

The Australian Government plans to invest US$719m in low emissions technologies by 2050 under its Net Zero Plan.

Spain: LafargeHolcim España has announced the launch of a joint venture called ECCO2 with Carbon Clean and Sistemas de Calor. The joint venture will develop carbon capture technology for use at the producer’s Carboneras cement plant in Almería. It will then seek to market captured CO₂ from the plant for use as a gas in local agricultural greenhouses. When commissioned in early 2023, the carbon capture system will have the capacity to capture 10% of the Carboneras plant’s CO2 emissions.