Displaying items by tag: Grant

UK: Innovative Ash Solutions has received a Euro588m Scottish government grant to establish a 20,000t/yr ash processing plant in South Lanarkshire. The Herald newpaper has reported that the plant will process boiler ash, cyclone ash and incineration fly ash for use in local cement production. When commissioned in 2022, the plant will eliminate 6104t/yr of CO₂ emissions, according to the operator. The government granted the funding under its Zero Waste Scotland circular economic investment scheme.

The company said “Using this new patented process, which diverts waste materials from landfill and avoids the use of virgin sand, creates a product which is cheaper and will reduce the environmental impact of cement production compared to the use of imported pulverised fuel ash.”

Innovative Ash Solutions is a joint venture of waste management company Levenseat and consultancy Organic Innovative Solutions.

Switzerland: Holcim has announced its support of Beton, the first Swiss exhibition dedicated to the history of concrete, at the Swiss Architecture Museum in Basel. The exhibition will run until 24 April 2022 and feature talks by an industry expert on the future of concrete.

Holcim chief executive officer Jan Jenisch said “I congratulate our partners at the Swiss Architecture Museum for creating this first-of-its-kind exhibition showcasing the essential role of concrete in our world. This exploration is a great inspiration for all of us at Holcim as we shape the future of concrete, making it green, circular and technology-driven. Throughout its history, concrete has been part of building progress in our world. Today we are reinventing it to make it work for people and the planet.”

US: LafargeHolcim US has revealed more information about a commercial-scale carbon-capture study based at its integrated Ste. Genevieve cement plant in Missouri. The project aims to deliver a front-end engineering design (FEED) study for a carbon capture retrofit that can separate up to 95% of CO₂ emissions at the plant. The captured CO₂ will be ‘pipeline ready’ for geological storage and analysis of the project socio-economic impact will also be part of the study. The US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory awarded US$4m to the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois to work on the project in early October 2021. LafargeHolcim and Air Liquide are also making cost share contributions.

The design will use Air Liquide’s Crycocap FG system at the cement plant. LafargeHolcim US says that it combines pressure swing adsorption capabilities with cryogenic refrigeration technologies to achieve high CO₂ capture rates with high CO₂ purity rates. Notably, for a carbon capture project, the Ste. Genevieve plant has one of the largest single clinker kilns in the world.

UK: The government has awarded funding to the planned HyNet North West low-CO₂ industrial cluster. The cluster will reduce industrial CO₂ emissions by 10Mt/yr in North Wales and North West England. It includes a planned 800,000t/yr carbon capture installation at Hanson UK’s Padeswood cement plant in Flintshire. The producer is currently carrying out a feasibility study at the plant. Parent company HeidelbergCement said that the project will play a ‘critical role’ in the UK’s transition to net zero CO₂ emissions by 2050.

Chair Dominik von Achten called the decision “A well-deserved recognition for the HyNet consortium and our colleagues working on carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the UK as part of this collaborative project. Cutting CO₂ emissions is a key priority for us, and we are delighted to add our Padeswood cement works to our growing range of CCS activities, as a key part of our pathway to reaching net zero.”

US: LafargeHolcim US and ECOncrete Tech have launched a research and development collaboration to design and manufacture a fully structural concrete scour protection unit for offshore wind turbines. The unit’s specifications include seabed stabilisation and promotion of the growth of marine organisms. The collaboration includes a large-scale pilot project to evaluate the ecological performance of units in an offshore environment. The US/Canada Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Energy programme are funding the project, which will conclude in May 2024.

LafargeHolcim US commercial excellence vice president Josep Maset said “There are many paths to achieving our net zero commitment, and most require innovative partnerships and out-of-the-box thinking. The work we’re doing with ECOncrete Tech is a notable example of searching for solutions that enable increased use of renewable energy in an environmentally responsible way.”

US: The US Department of Energy has selected Central Plains Cement to receive US$5m-worth of funding to realise its plans for a cryogenic carbon capture (CCC) installation at its Sugar Creek, Missouri, cement plant. Contify Energy News has reported that the system will initially have a capacity of 30t/day of CO₂, with a view to eventually capturing 95% of the plant’s flue gas’ CO₂ content. The Eagle Materials subsidiary will receive US$5m in funding from the US Department of Energy for the project. The sum is part of a raft of a total US$45m-worth of grants to help towards decarbonising heavy industry and natural gas power. Chart Industries will carry out the work.

Chart Industries CEO and President Jill Evanko said that the company’s CCC model increases cement production costs by just 24%, compared to 38% - 130% for other types of system. She added “We are delighted that public and private entities recognise Chart as a leader in carbon capture technologies and products; we view this award as well as our third quarter 2021 commercial activity as meaningful steps and accelerators toward capturing - pun intended - a significant share of our anticipated US$6bn total addressable market for carbon and direct air capture in 2030.”

The St Louis Post newspaper has reported that Holcim US’s Ste-Genevieve, Missouri, cement plant is also among facilities chosen to receive funding for carbon capture and storage (CCS) installations.

Australia: Boral plans to run a pilot scale carbon capture and storage unit at its integrated Berrima Cement plant in New South Wales. The project follows an allocation of a US$1.7m grant from the Australian Government’s carbon capture and utilisation and storage (CCUS) Development Fund in June 2021. The pilot intends to develop and test a re-carbonation strategy for CO₂ storage. Captured CO₂ will be stored in recycled concrete, masonry and steel slag aggregates. In its 2021 sustainability report, the buildings materials company said that, “The relatively low capital and operation costs, abundance of selected waste materials and the financial return potential due to the increased value of processed aggregates are key drivers for adoption of this technology.”

UK: The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has announced the successful completion of a trial of cement production using a net-zero fuel mix consisting of hydrogen and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) at Hanson’s Ribblesdale, Lancashire, cement plant. The RDF in the mix consists of meat and bone meal (MBM) from the food industry and glycerol from biodiesel production.

Increased alternative fuel (AF) substitution is one of seven key levers in the MPA’s Roadmap Beyond Net Zero emissions reduction strategy. The association says that the fuel will eliminate 180,000t/yr of CO₂ emissions from the Ribblesdale plant’s operations when fully implemented. The project received Euro3.71m in government funding.

Hanson’s environmental sustainability manager Iain Walpole said “We are delighted to be involved with this world-leading project, which is a further example of our commitment to cutting CO₂ emissions.” He added “It will also contribute to our ambition of supplying net zero carbon concrete by 2050.”

Croatia: Holcim Croatia plans to invest Euro1.28m to upgrade the dosing equipment of its Koromačno cement plant’s kiln line. The planned upgrade will enable the line to increase the proportion of alternative materials used in its cement production, thus equipping the plant for low-carbon cement production. Innovation Norway has granted the producer Euro441,000 towards the cost of the project.

Managing director Nikola Kovačević said “Mineral admixtures in cement have a threefold benefit: on the one hand, different characteristics are created in the cement to meet the requirements of different types of construction; on the other hand, the exploitation of natural resources decreases. Thirdly, the carbon footprint of the cement is thus reduced through the lowering of the clinker factor.”

Spain: Cementos Cosmos plans to install a new screw compressor in the cement discharge system at its Ourense grinding plant in Galicia. The producer says that the new equipment will improve the energy efficiency of the process of discharging cement from railway tanks to storage silos. The cost of the work is Euro23,500, towards which Cementos Cosmos has received a Euro8140 grant from the European Reagional Development Fund (ERDF) under its A New Way to Build Europe programme.