CEMEX and CEMEX Ventures, CEMEX's venture capital unit, are investing in Synhelion, a pioneer in solar fuels that are a climate-friendly substitute to fossil fuels, enabling a carbon-free cement manufacturing process.
This effort, which aims to decarbonise the cement manufacturing process based on solar energy, is part of CEMEX’s roadmap for its ambitious climate action goals, including delivering globally net-zero CO₂ concrete by 2050. This is one of several initiatives under the company’s Future in Action program, which focuses on investing today in the promising technologies that the company will need to achieve its ultimate goal of net-zero concrete by 2050.
Based in Switzerland, Synhelion offers a radically new approach to replace fossil fuels in cement plants with high-temperature solar heat and capture 100% of carbon emissions. The captured emissions are then utilised as feedstock for fuel production, enabling cement manufacturing to achieve net-zero emissions. This is made possible by Synhelion’s proprietary technology, which allows it to achieve an extremely high temperature by solar heat and its pioneering process to turn CO2 into synthetic solar fuels that several transportation industries can use.
“Synhelion’s technology has enormous potential; not only does it close the fuel carbon cycle, but it also facilitates a carbon-free cement industry. This investment is another example of the innovative projects and technologies we develop to decarbonise the industry,” said Gonzalo Galindo, head of CEMEX Ventures.
This funding round was led by Swiss KMU Partners with participation from other venture capital firms, including Orchiila, SMS Concat, AMAG, and CEMEX Ventures. Synhelion will use the funding to build and operate what should be the world’s first plant capable of producing solar fuels at an industrial scale.
