Adbri aims for net-zero cement technologies Peter Roberts
Contributor
2 May 2022
Cement and lime manufacturer Adbri has launched an ambitious plan to decarbonise its emissions intensive processes and operations and has announced a goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
The company’s detailed net zero emissions roadmap released today calls for action on reducing emissions, developing new products and collaborating with Australian low emissions technology company Calix to test breakthrough zero emissions processes.
And the company has backed the plan by linking executive remuneration to both financial performance and its tough new sustainability targets.
Cement and lime processes are major producers of carbon dioxide with CO2 emitted as part of traditional processes.
The company’s lime exports to European aluminium producers in particular are threatened by looking EU regulations.
Adbri cement production
Adbri has committed itself to a short term target of a seven per cent absolute reduction in operational emissions by FY24 compared to the FY19 baseline.
Medium term targets are:
A 20 per cent reduction in cement emissions intensity (kg CO2e/tonne) by 2030 compared to a FY20 baseline
A 10 per cent cut in lime emissions by FY30
And 100 per cent zero emissions electricity supply by FY30.
And by 2050 the company aims to have net zero emissions for all its scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. To achieve this final goal Adbri partnered with manufacturing process company Calix in March last year.
Adbri today reaffirmed the two companies would co-develop a Calix calciner for lime production with CO2 capture in a five-year project. The project will cover lime production of 30,000 tonnes a year and capture of 20,000 tonnes a year of CO2.
Unlike traditional lime kilns, Calix technology involves heating the kiln from the outside with renewable energy. CO2 released from limestone in the process can easily be captured from the process gases.
Calix’s LEILAC technology for cement production is being tested in a full scale cement plant in Europe funded by the European Union and European cement producers.
While Adbri did not commit to utilising or testing the Calix process for cement its net zero roadmap said: “This could present a technically viable pathway to zero emissions manufacturing for lime and cement.”
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…. “One example of a breakthrough technology is Calix’s Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement (LEILAC) carbon capture technology, which allows pure CO2 to be captured as it is released from heating limestone.
Calix’s technology uses external heating, so that process emissions are not mixed with combustion gases, which makes it simpler to capture CO2, ready for compression and transport.
There is the potential to combine the Calix technology in the calcination process with a zero emissions fuel source or renewable power to provide heat for the Calix reactor and, for cement, the clinkering kiln.
This could present a technically viable pathway to zero emissions manufacturing for lime and cement.
Supported by the European Union, the LEILAC projects are demonstrating this new type of pre-calciner.
In order to quickly and effectively apply this technology, the European-Australian collaboration includes consortia of some of the world’s largest cement, and lime companies, as well as leading research and environmental institutions.
The LEILAC2 project, commenced in 2020, will build a demonstration plant that aims to separate around 100,000 tonnes per year of CO2, in a scalable module.
As carbon capture technologies emerge, there are both technical and economic constraints in retrofitting to existing lime and cement plants. We would need to fully assess how these technologies could be integrated across our manufacturing processes.
Even where carbon capture technology may be available, there remains the question of CO2 storage or use, including transport costs to suitable storage sites.
Industry storage hubs may present an option over the longer term, such as the potential of the South West Hub in Western Australia. We are working through the Kwinana Industries Council to monitor this development.
Breakthrough technologies are also a factor in the fuel sources available to heat clinker and lime kilns to the very high temperatures required for limestone calcination.
The increased number of large-scale demonstration projects in recent years where CCS/CCUS is being used in cement and lime plants is promising.
Although there has been significant progress in CCS/CCUS technology to date, the technology is not commercial, at scale for industrial applications such as cement and lime manufacturing.
To progress commercialisation, significant investment will be required in research, demonstration and pilot scale plants.
Infrastructure investment for industry hubs to store CO2 will also be important.
Partnerships and collaboration are a key way to progress breakthrough technologies.
That is why Adbri is a core partner in the HILT CRC, established in June 2021.
Adbri has also partnered with Calix. In March 2021, we signed a Heads of Agreement covering the co-development of a Calix calciner for lime production with CO2 capture. The project is framed around a five-year development and demonstration program.
It would cover lime production of around 30KTPA, including demonstration of 20KTPA CO2 capture. We will continue to monitor and assess CCS/CCUS developments in Australia and internationally……
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