Displaying items by tag: net zero

UK: The Cement 2 Zero project has successfully concluded its first trial melt of recovered cement paste in an electric arc furnace at the Materials Processing Institute’s Teesside campus. The project uses the paste as flux for electric steel recycling. Cambridge Electric Cement (CEC) has demonstrated that the ‘slag’ from this process can be ground into fine clinker that, when mixed with gypsum and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), produces net zero CO₂ cement. The Cement 2 Zero project to produce CEC’s cement at an industrial scale launched in March 2023, with US$7.85m in funding from UK Research and Innovation. Tarmac will grind the clinker from the project’s trial melts for testing in order to obtain certification and specification as a usable cement product.

Switzerland: Holcim has invested in CO₂ mineralisation technology developer Neustark. Neustark aims to remove 1Mt of atmospheric CO₂ by 2030 and sequester it in recycled construction and demolition waste. The company’s technology achieved Gold Standard certification as a method of CO₂ removal in March 2022. Holcim says that its investment advances its group commitment to putting clean technologies to work towards achieving net zero.

Holcim’s Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said "At Holcim, we are working to decarbonise building for a net zero future, and Neustark's technology helps us reach this goal. After the successful demonstration of Neustark's solution in Switzerland, we are ready to scale up this carbon removal technology globally."

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.”

France: The French cement sector association, France Ciment, has called on the government to make ‘heavy investments’ in the industry amid its on-going transition to net zero CO₂ cement production. It estimated the total cost of its transition, which will include carbon capture, at Euro3.5bn,according to Les Echos newspaper. The association said that producers currently benefit from the government’s partial price cap on electricity for industrial plants. It sought clarity as to whether the cap will remain in force beyond its scheduled limit in 2025. Lafarge France said that capped prices covered 50 – 60% of its electricity consumption in 2022.

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.

Mexico/Switzerland: Cemex and industrial solar heat specialist Synhelion have achieved constant clinker production on an industrially viable scale using only solar heat. The partners say that this confirms the technology's potential for industrial-scale implementation.

Cemex chief executive officer Fernando A González said “I am convinced we are getting closer to the technologies that will enable net-zero CO₂ cement and concrete production. The solid progress I see here proves that solar cement is not just a dream: it is achievable through continued collaboration, and backed up by rigorous research and testing.”

US: Prometheus Materials' microalgae-based biocement has demonstrated 12 times greater sound absorption than ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Prometheus Materials produces its biocement at ambient temperature, with no process CO₂ emissions.

Mexico: Cemex recorded first-half 2023 revenues of US$8.6bn, up by 11% year-on-year from US$7.76bn for the first half of 2022. The group's operating earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) totalled US$1.69bn, up by 18% from US$1.4bn. The group said that the results bring it close to achieving its aim of restoring its 2021 EBITDA margins.

Chief executive officer Fernando A González said “The success of our pricing strategy, bolt-on investments and Urbanisation Solutions business, as well as decelerating cost inflation, are driving what is shaping up to be a very strong year for our company." He continued "Beyond our financial results, we continue progressing on the ambitious carbon reduction and circularity commitments of our Future in Action programme, remaining on the path to becoming a net zero CO2 company by 2050.”

UK: A team at Imperial College London has won a US$1.27m grant for its research into developing carbon negative cement from silica. The research won the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ)’s Carbon Capture, Usage & Storage (CCUS) Innovation 2.0 competition. The Imperial team sources its silica from natural olivine. It says that the compound behaves in the same way as other supplementary cementitious materials. Meanwhile, magnesia from the decomposition of the olivine can serve as a carbon sink in the form of magnesium carbonate. It, in turn, could serve as a raw material for concrete block production.

The DESNZ’s Net Zero Innovation Portfolio, of which the CCUS Innovation 2.0 competition is a part, has a budget of US$1.29bn.

Europe: Holcim has secured funding for three separate carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) projects at its cement plants in Europe. The recipient projects are the Go4Zero project at Holcim Belgium's Obourg cement plant in Belgium, the KOdeCO project at Holcim Croatia's Koromačno cement plant in Croatia and the eM-Rhône project at Lafarge Ciments' Le Teil cement plant in France. The Le Teil plant's system will be used to produce e-methanol, while the investment at the Koromačno plant will be part of a package of upgrades to turn the plant carbon neutral.

Alongside on-going projects in Germany and Poland, this will bring Holcim's total number of EU-funded CCUS projects to five. Holcim is committed to US$2.33bn-worth of investments of its own in over 50 carbon capture projects worldwide before 2030.

Holcim's Europe regional head Miljan Gutovic said “It’s exciting to be at the forefront of decarbonising the building sector in Europe. The support we are receiving from the EU Innovation Fund for five of our CCUS projects is a great testament to the strength of our engineering teams, the maturity of our technologies and our advanced partnerships across the value chain. Our robust pipeline of projects positions us as the partner of choice to scale up carbon capture technologies in Europe.”