Displaying items by tag: carbon capture
US: Cemex USA and RTI International have secured US$3.7m in funding from the US Department of Energy for their Balcones cement plant amine technology carbon capture study. The plant in New Braunfels, Texas, will trial RTI International's non-aqueous solvent (NAS) system, licensed by energy and technology company SLB. Resources News has reported that the system will have a CO2 capture capacity of 670,000t/yr. RTI International's principal project investigator Vijay Gupta said that NAS capture has a 30 - 40% lower energy penalty than preceding solvent-based technologies.
Cemex USA president Jaime Muguiro said "We remain committed to exploring technologies that can help us meet our targets as we build a more sustainable future. We are striving to cut emissions across all our operations, and this study with RTI International is one of the many steps Cemex is taking to achieve our objectives."
Hanson's Ribblesdale cement plant carbonates recycled concrete paste with CO2 emissions
22 November 2022UK: Hanson has announced a 'carbon capture breakthrough' in its use of recycled concrete paste (RCP) in the wet scrubber of its Ribblesdale cement plant in Lancashire. In under 30 minutes, 15t of RCP was able to capture 1.5t of CO2 from the plant's flue emissions. Carbonated RCP is suitable to replace limestone in cement production.
Hanson's sustainability director Marian Garfield said “The trial was carried out with our parent company Heidelberg Materials’ research and development team, and marks another important milestone in our carbon capture journey."
Cemex announces raft of carbon capture projects
22 November 2022Mexico: Cemex has announced a raft of new carbon capture projects in Europe and North America. When commissioned, they will bring its total installed CO2 capture capacity to over 3Mt/yr. The projects consist of three front-end engineering (FEED) studies to scale installations of Australia-based Leilac’s direct separation technology at Cemex cement plants in Germany, Poland and the US; a fourth FEED study for 95% capture installation at the Balcones, Texas, cement plant using RTI International's solvent capture technology and a development partnership for the cement industry's most comprehensive carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) studies at eight further cement plants in Europe, Mexico and the US.
Chief executive officer Fernando González said “CCUS brings together the essence of our strategic priorities: sustainability and innovation. Our Future in Action programme to achieve sustainable excellence and become a net-zero company is all about measurable, verified progress towards the most ambitious decarbonisation pathway in the industry. Although CCUS technologies are not ready to be scaled quite yet, it will take relentless work and innovation to ensure their viability in time to avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.”
Singaporean parliament enacts tightened carbon credit scheme
17 November 2022Singapore: Parliament passed the Carbon Pricing (Amendment) Bill earlier in November 2022. Under the act, Singapore will raise the price of carbon credits to US$18.17/t from 2024, and to US$32.71/t from 2026. CNA News has reported that the government said that the new legislation will provide the basis for the realisation of carbon credit prices of over US$36.31/t by 2030, in line with the country's 2050 net zero CO2 emissions commitment.
Polluters which emit over 25,000t/yr of CO2 currently pay US$3.65/t for carbon credits.
Europe: The Carbon Negative Biofuels from Organic Waste (Carbiow) project has received EU funding under the Horizon Europe initiative. Carbiow seeks to develop a dense, dry homogenous marine and aviation biofuel by carbonising gasification ash with oxygen and captured CO2 from cement plants. 12 consortium members from the Benelux, Germany, Nordic countries, Slovenia and Spain are participating in the project.
Catch4Climate to start building oxyfuel pilot unit at Mergelstetten
10 November 2022Germany: The Catch4Climate project says it is ready to build an oxyfuel pilot unit at Schwenk Zement’s Mergelstetten plant following approval by the Stuttgart Regional Council. The project comprises Dyckerhoff, Heidelberg Materials, Schwenk Zement and Vicat, and It has set up a research company called CI4C to run it. Over Euro120m will be invested towards building a dedicated 450t/day production line to test the oxyfuel process. Jürgen Thormann, the Technical Managing Director of CI4C, said that this is the first time a so-called ‘pure’ oxyfuel process will be used for CO2 capture. At a later stage in the project the consortium plans to use the captured CO2 to produce so-called ‘reFuels’, climate-neutral synthetic fuels such as kerosene for aircraft, with the help of renewable electrical energy. Commissioning of the unit is scheduled for mid-2024.
Ecocem becomes founding partner of Cleantech Scale-Up Coalition
31 October 2022Europe: Ireland-based Ecocem and seven other European sustainable technology companies have launched the Cleantech Scale-Up Coalition, with the backing of green investment funding network Breakthrough Energy. The coalition will work to contribute to European climate neutrality, energy autonomy and industrially competitiveness. Other participants' fields include carbon capture, green hydrogen technologies, transport electrification, batteries and recycling.
Ecocem's managing director Donal O’Riain said “Scalable, low carbon cements, which can decarbonise the European cement industry by 50% by 2030, are ready to deploy today. To do so, they need to be rapidly industrialised. This coalition, which allows Ecocem to combine forces with other world-class companies, will enable our ambition by working to remove the barriers to an accelerated decarbonisation of European, and global, industry.”
Germany/Australia: Calix subsidiary Leilac has concluded a licence agreement with Heidelberg Materials for use of its carbon capture technology. The cement producer holds the licence indefinitely and for all operations across the globe. It said that Leilac’s technology offers effective capture of unavoidable cement plant CO2 emissions with minimal operational impact.
Heidelberg Materials currently has one Leilac system installed at its Lixhe plant in Belgium. It expects to commence construction of a second unit at its Hanover plant in Germany in 2023. Together, the installations will be able to capture 125,000t/yr of CO2. The producer says that both projects pave the way for future full-scale deployment of Leilac’s carbon capture model.
Cement Australia partners with Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company for green methanol trial at Gladstone cement plant
28 October 2022Australia: Cement Australia’s Gladstone cement plant in Queensland will host a study of methanol production from green hydrogen and captured CO2. Japan-based Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company will supply its green methanol production technology, while hydrogen and oxygen feedstocks will be sourced locally. Cement Australia and Mitsubishi Gas Chemical Company will collaborate on commercialisation of their green methanol. Cement Australia said that carbon capture and its utilisation in value added products is a strategic pillar of the company’s decarbonisation roadmap.
The cement producer said “The Gladstone region is the ideal location for growing a diverse green hydrogen sector, with abundant renewable energy sources, existing infrastructure, including port facilities, and a highly skilled workforce. The green hydrogen economy is a priority for the Queensland government under the Queensland Hydrogen Industry Strategy.”
Thomas Gruppe acquires Opterra Zement and Opterra Beton from CRH
26 October 2022Germany: Ireland-based CRH has agreed to sell its subsidiaries Opterra Zement and Opterra Beton to Thomas Gruppe. Thomas Gruppe expects to complete its acquisition of the businesses later in 2022. Opterra Zement owns the 1.4Mt/yr Karsdorf, Saxony-Anhalt, cement plant and 0.5Mt/yr Sötenich, North Rhine-Westphalia, grinding plant, the latter of which is closed. Opterra Beton operates the Neufahrn, Bavaria, ready-mix concrete batching plant.
Thomas Gruppe said "For years, we have been pursuing a steady and long-term growth course in the field of cement and precast and ready-mix concrete. In the cement segment, our competitive position improved significantly with the purchase of the Erwitte (North Rhine-Westphalia) plant in 2017. Together with the grinding plant in Dorndorf (Thuringia), we have achieved a significantly larger area coverage in Germany, and also in the Netherlands, and benefit from synergy effects." It continued "We would like to continue on this growth course. An opportunity like the one to take over the cement plant in Karsdorf does not come often. The Karsdorf plant, with its gigantic limestone deposits, its market position of well over 1Mt/yr of cement and its experienced team, enables us better to supply our customers, and to leverage improvement potential. In addition, Karsdorf is of sufficient size for us to install CO2 separation technology in its production of clinker for the Dorndorf grinding plant." Thomas Gruppe concluded "We are convinced that cement will become a clean building material and believe in its future."