Cement producer CEMEX announced last week that its U.S. operations have been awarded a grant from the United States Department of Energy (DOE) to research, engineer and develop a pilot for a breakthrough carbon capture unit.

A press release from the company stated that the project is to be anchored to CEMEX’s Victorville, California cement plant, and will also contemplate “cost-competitive solutions to completely close the loop on current carbon emissions.”

In this initiative, led by RTI International, a non-profit research institute, CEMEX is joining forces with UK-based Carbon Clean and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The goal of the consortium is to increase efficiencies and value in CEMEX’s overall building material fabrication process, while significantly reducing its CO₂ footprint by way of technological upgrades.

The specific objectives of the project include the development, optimisation, and scaleup of specific CO₂ capture process components and the incorporation of next-generation non-aqueous solvents. Aspects of integrating the capture technology with CEMEX’s cement plant are also planned to be covered, together with cost evaluations and technical considerations related to transforming the captured CO₂ into new marketable products.

In 2020, CEMEX announced its Climate Action strategy, defining a global target of a 35% reduction in CO₂ emissions per ton of cementitious products by 2030. The company’s vision is to deliver net-zero CO₂ concrete to all its customers globally by 2050.

Read the full press statement here.

Read related CIN story here.