LafargeHolcim is improving the carbon-efficiency of its cement with the launch of the CO₂MENT partnership project with Inventys and Total.
According to LafargeHolcim, the project’s objective is to build the world’s first full-cycle solution to capture and reuse CO2 from a cement plant while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“LafargeHolcim is committed to reducing CO2 emissions and we are excited to join forces with Inventys and Total through Project CO₂MENT. We hope to discover ways to capture emissions from our production processes and reuse them in our products, advancing a circular economy even further than today,” said René Thibault, Region Head North America.
Over the next four years, Project CO₂MENT will demonstrate and evaluate Inventys’ CO₂ Capture System and a selection of LafargeHolcim’s carbon utilization technologies at its Richmond, BC, cement plant.
The project’s three phases will work on purifying the cement flue gas in preparation for CO2 capture; focus on the separation of CO2 from flue gas using a customized for cement version of Inventys’ carbon capture technology at pilot scale; and prepare the captured CO2 for reuse and support the economical assessment and demonstration of CO2 conversion technologies onsite.
Subject to the pilot’s success, the vision is to scale up the project and explore how the facility can be replicated across other LafargeHolcim plants.
LafargeHolcim is also investing in measures to reduce the clinker-to-cement ratio and consume less energy per tonne of cement by using lower carbon fuels.
At its Richmond plant, the company recently launched a new lower carbon fuel (LCF) system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of cement.
“The recent launch of the new LCF system at our Richmond plant aims to make the facility the most carbon efficient cement plant in Canada. Our investment alongside funding support from the British Columbia Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy has made the system economically viable and demonstrates a long term commitment to the environment as well as the British Columbia cement market,” said Thibault.
LafargeHolcim states that the $28 million system is expected to replace up to 50 per cent of fossil fuel use with lower carbon fuels and could result in a 20 per cent reduction of combustion emissions.
It also allows Lafarge Canada to divert approximately 100,000 tonnes per year of waste from local landfills, which according to the company, is the equivalent of about 8,300 loaded garbage trucks.