HeidelbergCement has received funding to undertake a carbon capture project that aims to capture 95 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from a cement plant.
The project which is to take place at the Mitchell cement plant, in Indiana USA, that is part of HeidelbergCement’s US subsidiary Lehigh Hanson Inc., aims to capture 95 per cent of the CO2 emissions from the newly renovated production facility.
The emissions are to be stored in a local onshore reservoir in the Illinois Basin, which will corresponds to an emission reduction of approx. 2 million tonnes of CO2 per year.
HeidelbergCement is one of the world’s largest integrated manufacturers of building materials and solutions, with leading market positions in aggregates, cement, and ready-mixed concrete.
Speaking on the company’s Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) strategy, chairman of the managing board for HeidelbergCement, Dr Dominik von Achten, indicated the integral nature CCUS has to HeidelbergCement’s sustainability goals.
“CCUS continues to be a key part of our climate strategy,” Achten said.
“With now eight large-scale initiatives worldwide, our CCUS project portfolio keeps growing and is scaling up fast. Our ongoing projects in Europe and Canada are progressing very well. In Mitchell, we will build on the experience of those projects to supply carbon-free cement to our customers in the important US market at large scale.”
The Mitchell plant has been substantially upgraded in recent months to significantly increase energy efficiency and lower the company’s carbon footprint, with full production anticipated to start in early 2023 as Chris Ward, member of the managing board for HeidelbergCement says.
“Carbon capture technology is essential to offering carbon-free products,” Ward said.
“We are very excited to take the next steps in this journey at our Mitchell cement plant.”
A site-specific Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) study is slated to be conducted at the Mitchell site, which in addition to evaluating the cost and performance of the overall project, will also examine social, economic, and environmental impacts of the project.