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Decarbonising the cement sector in the US, March 2024

27 March 2024

The 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.

Published in Analysis
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Heidelberg Materials France to trial carbon capture installation at Airvault cement plant

13 March 2024

France: Heidelberg Materials France plans to install a 1Mt/yr carbon capture system at its Airvault cement plant in the New Aquitaine. The Airvault cement plant is undergoing an upgrade, including the replacement of two pre-existing semi-dry lines with a new dry line and pre-calciner. This will reduce the plant’s CO2 emissions by 30% per tonne, reduce its energy consumption by 10% per tonne, reduce its clinker factor and raise its alternative fuel substitution rate to 90%. CO2 capture is set to commence in 2030. The project is one of several, under the GOCO₂ carbon capture, storage and utilisation (CCUS) cluster, which also includes installations at Holcim France’s Saint-Pierre-La-Cour plant and Lhoist France’s Réty lime plant.

Chair Dominik von Achten said “We started an ambitious modernisation programme for our sites in France several years ago, with a planned investment of more than €400m. With the integration of AirvaultGOCO₂, we are now adding a cutting-edge project in the field of carbon capture to our previous efforts, which will enable a further, massive reduction of Heidelberg Materials’ carbon footprint in France.”

Chief sustainability officer Nicola Kimm added “Our approach in Airvault is a perfect example of Heidelberg Materials’ strategy to implement dedicated carbon reduction roadmaps. We are taking every possible step to reduce CO₂ emissions: Phasing out fossil fuels, reducing the clinker content of our cements, and improving energy efficiency. To mitigate the remaining residual emissions, we rely on CCUS – as part of an integrated scheme and with our strong partners in GOCO₂.”

Published in Global Cement News
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Global cement and concrete industry aims for decarbonisation at Paris forum

07 March 2024

France: Representatives from the global cement and concrete industry will meet in Paris on 7- 8 March 2024 for the Global Buildings and Climate Forum. Industry leaders will seek to set out a framework for sustainable, decarbonised buildings.

Global Cement & Concrete Association CEO Thomas Guillot said “Our industry has been leading the way on decarbonisation through the implementation of our 2050 Net Zero Concrete Roadmap, and as our Roadmap sets out we are committed to fully decarbonising this essential material.”

Bruno Pillon, Chair the French cement association France Ciment, said “France and the whole world will still need to rely on cement and concrete for future infrastructure. But it’s really important that the cement and construction sectors, governments and suppliers all work together to achieve our net zero goal.”

Published in Global Cement News
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Cemex launches clinker micronisation method

05 March 2024

Mexico: Cemex has launched a new process called clinker micronisation, developed at its Research and Development Center in Switzerland. The method enables cement producers to lower the clinker factor of their cement by up to 50%, while maintaining its strength. It also offers the additional benefit of allowing concrete users to reduce the proportion of cement in their mixes.

CEO Fernando González said “We are finding new ways to boost our decarbonisation roadmap in the production of cement and concrete. We remain committed to achieving our ambitious 2030 decarbonisation goals on the path to becoming a Net Zero company by 2050.”

Published in Global Cement News
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NeoCem to build €50m clay calcination plant

27 February 2024

France: NeoCem plans to build a €50m clay calcination plant at Saint-Maximin, Picardy. The company recently raised €23m in investments in its Series A funding round. The Le Journal des Enterprises newspaper has reported that the Saint-Maximin plant will enter operation in 2025, and will subsequently grow to 200,000t/yr in capacity. NeoCem aims to employ 100 people by 2030.

Head of industrial deployment Guillaume Luu said “To be used in concrete, limestone must be heated for several hours at 1400°C. Our clay-based binder generates CO2 emissions of 120kg/t, compared to almost 1000kg/t of limestone binder, and our technology can transform all types of clays available. The idea is not to open new quarries, but to give a second life to materials already on the surface." He continued “The up-cycling of clays and their transformation into a low-carbon binder addresses several challenges for the construction sector. On the one hand, the reuse of clay waste, and on the other hand, the decarbonisation of the building materials sector.”

Published in Global Cement News
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Ecocem to showcase Advanced Cement Technology at Buildings and Climate Global Forum

27 February 2024

Ireland/France: Ecocem will showcase its Advanced Cement Technology (ACT) at the Buildings and Climate Global Forum in Paris on 7-8 March 2024. The French Government and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) will host the event, supported by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (Global ABC). It aims to advance the climate outcomes of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) in 2023. Ecocem joins global policy-makers, industry stakeholders and international organisations as the event’s sole international cement technology company exhibitor.

Managing director Donal O'Riain said "The Buildings and Climate Global Forum is happening at a crucial moment for the planet. Urgent and deep decarbonisation of construction materials is essential to achieving the 2015 Paris Agreement targets.” He continued “Ecocem’s ACT low carbon technology can decarbonise the cement sector on a trajectory consistent with 1.5°C of global warming, the first major industry sector to achieve this feat. But we must now mobilise resolutely, rapidly and globally to deploy this technology. The first ambition should be a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions from cement by 2030. Technology is no longer the barrier."

Published in Global Cement News
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Eqiom’s Lumbres cement plant upgrade to expand capacity by 57%

26 February 2024

France: Eqiom plans to expand its Lumbres cement plant by 57% from 700,000t/yr to 1.1Mt/yr by 2026. The project involves the installation of a new kiln and aims to reduce the plant's CO2 emissions by 20%, its fuel consumption by 35% and its NOx and SO2 emissions by 40% and 80% respectively. The producer plans to invest €300m, including €40m from France Relance funds.

Published in Global Cement News
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Heidelberg Materials grows sales in 2023

22 February 2024

Germany: Heidelberg Materials reported sales growth of 0.4% in 2023, to €21.2bn. The group saw its profits grow by 21%, from €1.72bn to €2.09bn. During the year, the company reduced its specific CO2 emissions per tonne of cementitious material by 3% from 551kg to 534kg and lowered its clinker factor from 72% to 70%.

Chair Dominik von Achten said "In the 150th year of our company's history, we have once again shown that we can deal with change and crises. I am extremely proud of our teams around the world, who have remained firmly focused on our targets and have once again done an extraordinary job." He added "We are entering 2024 with optimism. Although the general economic conditions in the construction sector remain challenging, we anticipate growth in revenue and earnings also in the current year. Our shareholders are benefitting from this growth thanks to the progressive dividend and the new, comprehensive share buyback programme.”

Published in Global Cement News
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Eagle Materials publishes 2023 Sustainability Report

22 February 2024

US: Eagle Materials has outlined its climate change mitigation successes in its 2023 Sustainability Report. During 2023, the company increased its production of blended cement products, including Portland Limestone Cement (PLC). It commenced a major CO2 reduction study with the US Department of Energy, and established a Greenhouse Gas Reduction Team to explore new clean technologies. Eagle Materials says that it is currently working to increase the use of alternative fuels at three of its cement plants.

Published in Global Cement News
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Magsort to help decarbonise slag processing at Emirates Steel Arkan's Al Ain Cement plant

20 February 2024

UAE: Emirates Steel Arkan has concluded a partnership for the deployment of Finland-based Magsort’s technology in steel slag processing at its Al Ain cement plant. ZAWYA News has reported that the partners expect the technology to help reduce the plant’s limestone and fuel consumption. This will reduce its CO2 emissions by 15%.

Emirates Steel Arkan CEO Saeed Ghumran Al Remeithi said "Green solutions such as this will help decarbonise the sector's value chain."

Published in Global Cement News
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