HeidelbergCement’s US subsidiary Lehigh Hanson and Silicon Valley-based materials technology company Fortera confirmed the news last week (12th March), stating that they have joined forces for the effort.
Under the project plans, both partners will construct and operate a small commercial plant where CO2 will be captured from the kiln exhaust and converted into a cementitious material.
The final product will be the first cementitious material produced commercially from CO2 captured directly from a cement kiln and will be suitable for use as a new low carbon supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in the production of high-quality concrete with a lower CO2 footprint.
Commenting on the development, Dominik von Achten, Chairman of the Managing Board of HeidelbergCement, said, “We are delighted to add yet another technology to our existing portfolio of carbon capture initiatives, contributing to the circular economy.”
“Carbon capture and utilisation or storage (CCU/S) is one key lever to significantly reduce otherwise unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions in the cement industry. This is why building new partnerships towards CCU/S and investing in breakthrough technologies are a core part of HeidelbergCement’s climate strategy.”