HeidelbergCement has entered the implementation phase of its Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement (LEILAC 2) project in Hanover, Germany.
The project will involve building a facility capable of capturing 20 per cent of CO2 emissions from the German building materials suppliers’ Hanover plant. Using patented carbon-capture technology, the LEILAC-2 installation will trap a portion of the CO2 released during cement production in an effort to reduce atmospheric pollutants.
This process requires a relatively small energy input and no additional chemicals, which will prove to be very cost-effective for the company.
A pilot installation (LEILAC-1) with a capture capacity of 25,000 tonnes of CO2 per year has already been developed at HeidelbergCement’s Lixhe plant in Belgium.
With the help of a European consortium and the Australian technology company Calix, the LEILAC-2 facility will be four times as large. By 2025, it will capture approximately 100,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
Construction of the LEILAC-2 facility is expected to commence in 2023.
Calix managing director and CEO and chairman of the LEILAC executive board, Phil Hodgson, is pleased with the project’s progression.
“It is a testament to the strong level of collaboration which has been cultivated between the consortium partners, who have all worked together to make significant progress on this breakthrough project,” he said.
In the meantime, HeidelbergCement will be exploring the possible destinations for the captured carbon, including whether it will be utilised or stored offshore. The company has also expressed a commitment to minimise its use of fossil energy overall, and the LEILAC-2 project will involve testing alternative fuels and electrical energy.
Last October, a report was commissioned by Calix at HeidelbergCement’s Belgian facility which assessed the final output of the LEILAC-1 project, titled Roadmap 2050.
Written by Gabrielle O’Hagan.
More reading
Promising carbon capture from Calix, HeidelbergCement