Displaying items by tag: funding

US: Buzzi Unicem USA is among industrial partners collaborating with Electrified Thermal Solutions in the development of its Joule Hive Thermal Battery for industrial heat decarbonisation. The partners plan to launch a commercial-scale pilot of the battery in San Antonio, Texas, in association with the Southwest Research Institute. The project is supported by US$171m in funding from the US Department of Energy. The battery delivers heat of up to 1800°C from energy from renewable sources.

Buzzi Unicem USA president and chief executive officer Massimo Toso said “Cement production is known as a hard to abate industrial sector in large part because of the high temperatures required. Electrified Thermal Solutions’ Joule Hive Thermal Battery is the first industrial heat decarbonisation solution we have identified that could potentially enable us to cost-effectively and completely eliminate the use of fossil fuels in our heating processes and achieve our corporate decarbonisation goals.”

Electrified Thermal Solutions chief executive officer Daniel Stack said “We believe the breadth and depth of involvement from our industrial partners like Buzzi Unicem USA was critical to demonstrate to the Department of Energy just how valuable the Joule Hive Thermal Battery will be for industrial decarbonisation, and we are grateful for their partnership.” Stack added “Southwest Research Institute’s engineering support and world-class industrial demonstration facilities signalled to the Department of Energy that our technology will be developed, built, operated, tested and evaluated to the highest standards.”

US: The Department of Transportation has announced a US$5m initiative to investigate the use of steel slag in cement and concrete. This will take the form of a collaboration between the Department of Transportation and a selected US-based steel producer and university partner. The initiative seeks to reduce CO₂ emissions in the production of building materials. Prospective participants may view the grant opportunity here.

Transport secretary Pete Buttigieg said "We're proud to make this funding available to help develop the next generation of construction materials so that the future of our transport infrastructure is more resilient, more sustainable and made in America.”

Robert Hampshire, deputy assistant secretary for research and technology and chief science officer, said “This funding initiative will develop and advance innovative materials and technologies that support the nation’s goals to decarbonise the transportation sector by 2050, strengthen resilience of the nation’s transportation infrastructure, and address adverse environmental impacts created by the transportation system.”

US: Holcim US, in partnership with The Ohio State University and GTI Energy, will install membrane carbon capture technology at its Holly Hill, South Carolina, cement plant. The project is partly funded by a US$7m the US Department of Energy. The partners aim to capture 99% of the plant’s CO₂ emissions.

GTI Energy vice president of carbon management and conversion Don Stevenson said "This project will showcase the power of collaboration and innovation in tackling the complex challenge of transitioning to cleaner energy systems. The development and implementation of cost-effective carbon capture technologies are key to meeting our decarbonisation goals."

Nepal: Hetauda Cement Industry (HCI) will resume cement production at its Hetauda cement plant in early February 2024, following a suspension due to coal shortages. HCI uses 36,000t/yr of coal, and currently has 600t in stockpiles. The República newspaper has reported that on-going issues with equipment have reduced the Hetauda cement plant’s effective capacity to 10,000 bags per day. Additionally, HCI has failed to find a buyer for a shipment of 225,000 bags of cement. The Nepali government is reportedly considering paying new subsidies to the company.

General manager Basanta Raj Pandey said "The management of the factory has requested the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies to provide subsidies to help resume its production."

Nepal’s Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Prasad Rijal said "The Prime Minister and his government are discussing arranging all possible subsidies to bring the industry back into operation as soon as possible."

EU: Cembureau has published its manifesto for industrial transformation for the European Parliament’s 2024-2029 legislative term. The manifesto calls for an ambitious EU agenda focused on the implementation of the European Green Deal along five key lines: 1 - turbo-charging EU and national funding and developing national industrial decarbonisation plans; 2 – Rolling out the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to create a level playing field for EU industries; 3 – Building a pan-European CO₂ capture network and moving towards circular carbon feedstocks; 4 – Placing circular economy at the heart of industrial decarbonisation; 5 – Enhancing the EU buildings’ agenda to significantly cut emissions.

Cembureau said “The European cement industry was one of the first sectors to present a 2050 Carbon Neutrality Roadmap following the publication of the European Green Deal. The past five years were marked by the development of a comprehensive EU legislative framework and the launch of significant decarbonisation investments in our industry. Now, with the deployment of carbon-neutral cements within our grasp, we need to implement transformative measures on innovation, infrastructure, public acceptance, digitalisation and skills development.”

Spain: Cementos La Cruz plans to build a new unit to produce reduced-CO₂ cement at its 1.5Mt/yr Abanilla grinding plant in Murcia. In a video posted on YouTube, the producer said that the new unit will produce cement using supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) derived from industrial waste streams. Additionally, it will source 100% of its electricity consumption from biofuel-fired generators. Cementos La Cruz has secured Euro4.5m in European Union funding for the project.

General director Juan Luis Porrúa said that cement from the upcoming unit will have a specific carbon footprint below 200kg/t, and will eliminate over 400,000t of CO₂ emissions from Spanish construction in its first 10 years of operation.

Spain: Cemex España has announced its participation in the HYIELD consortium, which plans to build a waste-to-hydrogen demonstration plant at the producer’s Alcanar cement plant in Catalonia. The demonstration plant will process a total of 2000t of biogenic waste to produce 400t of green hydrogen for use as fuel, fertiliser and for other applications. The trial commands Euro10m in funding from the EU’s research and innovation funding programme Horizon Europe. Parent company Cemex believes that the technology being demonstrated at Alcanar has the potential to process 300Mt/yr of waste across Europe and produce 30Mt/yr of hydrogen.

Cemex’s Europe, Middle East and Africa regional president Sergio Menendez said “As part of its drive towards reaching net zero by 2050, Cemex is committed to partnering with like-minded organisations to explore the very latest innovations in more sustainable technology that can support the cement production process. We are proud to provide one of our cement plants in Spain as the location for the HYIELD trial and excited to see the outcomes from this research and development project.”

Greece: The EU Innovation Fund has awarded a Euro234m grant to Titan Group for its IFESTOS carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. Titan Group said that the project, the largest initiative of its kind in Europe, marks a ‘monumental leap forward’ in its decarbonisation journey. The company hopes that the project will help to promote the deployment of carbon capture technology in Greece and beyond.

IFESTOS director and project leader Aris Tsikouras said “This agreement solidifies our group’s role as leaders in driving transformative change in industrial decarbonisation across Europe. IFESTOS encapsulates our commitment to sustainability and innovation, forging a path toward a cleaner, greener and more resilient future for the industry, in line with EU climate policy.”

Croatia: The European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) has granted Holcim Hrvatska Euro117m-worth of EU funding for its KOdeCO Net Zero decarbonisation project. The project aims to decarbonise cement production at the company’s 500,000t/yr Koromačno cement plant in Istria by building a Euro237m carbon capture system there.

Holcim Hrvatska says that the project will commence in January 2024 and conclude by the end of 2028.

India: Village leaders from Maharashtra’s Chandrapur District began a hunger strike on 17 November 2023 with the stated aim of ensuring that UltraTech Cement continues to deliver on its commitments to its host communities. Specifically, the demonstration sought to make the producer distribute funding for roadbuilding projects across 12 villages surrounding its 3.6Mt/yr Awarpur cement plant. The Hitavada newspaper has reported that UltraTech Cement agreed to the strikers’ demands on 19 November 2023. In addition to the funding, the company will give preferential treatment to industrial training institute (ITI) and polytechnic students lodging at the selected villages when allocating apprenticeships and training places and make some of its land available for community uses.