US: Leilac has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with US-based Heirloom to use Leilac’s kiln technology in Heirloom’s direct air capture (DAC) process. The MOU outlines the key terms for a licence and collaboration agreement.

Daniel Rennie, the chief executive officer of Leilac, said “Leilac is delighted to be partnering with Heirloom. Our partnership will apply Leilac’s core technology for cement and lime decarbonisation to address the global challenge of excess atmospheric CO₂.” He added “Heirloom uses low-cost and abundant limestone, which Leilac’s technology is specifically designed for. Both technologies are modular, easily scalable and can be renewably powered.”

Heirloom is developing a method of using limestone to remove atmospheric CO₂ in a DAC process. The proposed DAC method using both Leilac and Heirloom technology will heat limestone in a Leilac kiln to release CO₂ that can then be captured and sequestered. The lime that the kiln produces will then be reformed back into limestone directly capturing CO₂ from the atmosphere in an accelerated process. This limestone will then be feed back into the kiln restarting the process. The partners also suggest powering the kiln from renewable electricity sources to further increase the net reduction of CO₂ emissions from the process. No cost for the combined process or who would pay for it has been revealed so far.

Leilac is a subsidiary of Australia-based Calix that has been testing its indirectly heated calcination technology with the cement and lime industry since the mid-2010s. An industrial scale application of the process at Heidelberg Material’s Hanover cement plant in Germany is expected to be ready to start testing by the end of 2023. Additional projects have been announced in Australia with Adbri and Boral.