UK-headquartered Carbon Clean provides low-cost modular carbon dioxide capture and separation technology, aimed at developing a carbon capture solution for the cement industry that lies below the line of US$30/ton cost of CO2 captured. CEMEX is participating through its CEMEX Ventures corporate venture capital unit.
The partners says the initiative can enable the development of a technology that allows for the economically viable capture of CO2 emissions in the cement industry at industrial scale.
As part of the agreement, both companies will further develop and adapt Carbon Clean’s third generation modularised carbon capture technology for the cement industry. Carbon Clean uses an integrated modular system that works using rotating packed beds (RPBs) to intensify the carbon capture process. The company says this technology could provide a significant reduction in both capital cost and equipment size, when compared to traditional capture technologies, enabling the wider-scale commercial deployment of carbon capture systems.
The technology will be tested for the first time in the cement industry at a CEMEX facility by deploying an industrial-scale pilot during the first quarter of 2021.
The partners say the technology has the capacity to capture up to 100,000 tons of CO2 per year at a cost lower than US$30/ton of CO2 captured.
“Accomplishing CO2 capture at an industrial scale and affordable cost is one of the biggest challenges that CEMEX is facing in its road to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete products globally by 2050,” said Gonzalo Galindo, head of CEMEX Ventures.
“Carbon Clean’s vision of working with players from various industries is something we value in CEMEX Ventures. Due to the impact of CO2 emissions on global warming and the importance of implementing new solutions to reduce the environmental impact, we look forward to joining efforts with other companies that are also working towards achieving carbon neutrality.”
Aniruddha Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean, said: “We are confident that this partnership and the operating experience of CEMEX will help us bring down the cost of carbon capture to just US$30/ton of CO2 captured by 2021, which will help accelerate take-up of the technology across the cement industry and beyond.”
