Pilot plant for carbon capture at HeidelbergCement site Lixhe
Groundbreaking celebrated with an international conference
Capturing CO₂ in a highly pure form and thereby reducing the environmental footprint of the cement and lime production – that is the major goal of the project consortium LEILAC (Low Emissions Lime And Cement Industry)*.
The EU-funded project, in which HeidelbergCement is one of the main strategic partners, aims to demonstrate the feasibility of a process technology for the capture of CO₂ released during the heating of raw material in its purest form. The construction plans for the calciner were completed in 2017, and work began for constructing the demonstration facility at the Belgian cement plant Lixhe which belongs to the HeidelbergCement Group.
The consortium celebrated the groundbreaking together with over 100 experts from industry, academia and politics with a two-day conference at the beginning of February. First of all, in light of the global and European climate targets, the role of the industry and wider challenges as well as the significance of innovation and company entrepreneurship for further developing carbon capture and storage were discussed. The second day focused on innovative projects from all over Europe – above all LEILAC.
Highlight of the conference was the official groundbreaking ceremony which marked the beginning of the construction phase of the LEILAC pilot plant in Lixhe. The test facility is supported with €12 million from EU research funds and will be tested for two years after completion.
“For years, the HeidelbergCement Group has been working hard to continuously decrease its environmental footprint”, said Christoph Streicher, General Manager of HeidelbergCement Benelux. “Thanks to these efforts, the company has already come a long way to reduce the carbon emissions from its production process. However, to remain competitive and to meet the climate change goals, further improvement is necessary. We believe, carbon capture is an important part of the solution and that’s the reason why we signed up for this ambitious project.”
In order to contribute to the European climate targets, HeidelbergCement committed to reducing its carbon footprint by 30% compared to 1990 as part of its Sustainability Commitments 2030.
* The LEILAC consortium consists of the following organisations: Calix (Europe) Ltd, Heidelberg Cement, Cemex, LafargeTarmac, Lhoist, Calix Ltd (Australia), ECN, Imperial College, PSE, Quantis and the Carbon Trust.
