Cemex has received a grant from the US Department of Energy (DoE) to research and develop carbon capture technology at its Balcones cement plant in Texas.
The grant will partially fund a feasibility study to implement this technology and is expected to advance Cemex’s aim to deliver net-zero carbon dioxide (CO2) concrete globally by 2050.
The building materials giant describes carbon capture utilisation & storage technology as a key lever to deliver on the 2050 ambition.
To achieve this target, Cemex is participating in 20 projects worldwide aimed at accelerating the development of solutions which can minimise the cost of capture, utilisation or avoidance of CO2 on an industrial scale.
As part of the new study, Cemex and Membrane Technology & Research (MTR) will explore the potential CO2 emission reduction from installing new membrane technology in the plant’s production process.
According to MTR, the membrane will act as a semi-permeable barrier through which CO2 can pass, facilitating carbon capture at a minimal adoption cost.
Cemex USA president Jaime Muguiro, says: “We strive to develop and gradually adapt new technology which will help us achieve our ambition to deliver net-zero CO2 concrete to all of our customers. With this grant, we will be able to leverage our expertise to define the feasibility of implementing the membrane carbon capture technology in a cost-effective manner.”
Tim Merkel, MTR vice president of technology, says: “Cement plant emissions are a good target for the CO2 capture membrane technology that we’ve been developing with DoE support.”
