Project description
Very-low-cost carbon capture option
Concrete is a highly durable material and, when used effectively, it helps buildings to be extremely energy efficient. Due to global population growth and increasing urbanisation, demand is set to increase. However, cement production is CO2-intensive (8 % of global CO2 emissions). The majority of these CO2 emissions are released directly and unavoidably from the processing of the raw materials – not from the combustion of fossil fuels. The EU-funded LEILAC2 project is piloting new technology that re-engineers the existing process flows by indirectly heating the limestone. Building on the success of the first LEILAC Horizon 2020 project (capturing around 5 % of a typical cement plant’s process CO2 emissions), this project seeks to scale up to around 20 % of a typical cement plant’s process CO2 emissions in a deployable and scalable module.
Objective
The LEILAC2 (Low Emissions Intensity Lime And Cement) project will pilot a breakthrough technology that aims to enable Europe’s cement and lime industries to capture their unavoidable process carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for minimal energy penalty (just compression).
Responsible for 8% of global CO2 emissions, low-cost, fast, and effective options are urgently needed for the cement and lime industries.
Building on the success of the previously H2020 LEILAC1 project – capturing around 5% of a typical cement plant’s process CO2 emissions – the LEILAC2 project seeks to scale -up to around 20% of a typical cement plant’s process CO2 emissions in a deployable and scalable module; demonstrate the use of multiple fuel sources (particularly electricity with rapid ramping to enable renewable load-balancing); and show how it can be immediately, cheaply and incrementally or fully retrofitted to all cement plants.
This will be achieved by building a demonstration plant alongside an operational cement plant in Europe: allowing 100ktpa of pure CO2 to be captured – and four business cases will be investigated for the near-term use or storage. Due to the purity of the captured CO2 (there are no new chemicals or additives), there is already interest from CO2 users. As an early mover in the heart of industrial Europe, LEILAC 2 would actively develop a CO2 hub, with onshore and offshore storage options being investigated. Engaging with all relevant stakeholders will be critical: CO2 producers and users, transport and storage operators, and most importantly the public – conducting Social Impact analysis, and extensive bespoke dissemination. The most feasible storage or use option will then result in a final business case being developed.
The significant industrial partners involved in this project – contributing around €19m of funding - testifies to the interest of the cement and lime industries.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
IA - Innovation actionCoordinator
75001 Paris
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.