The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED) has named four portland cement producers and two alternative binder start-ups as candidates for $1.6 billion in funds steered to projects lowering the carbon footprint of finished concrete. Heidelberg Materials North America and National Cement Company of California lead the way with their respective projects, Mitchell Cement Plant Decarbonization and Lebec Net Zero Cement Plant, each eligible for $500 million awards.
Heidelberg Materials management and technical staff will negotiate with OCED staff toward a final award decision by year end. The producer will provide additional feasibility, performance and construction timeline insights for a facility engineered to capture, treat and prepare for storage or use approximately 2 million tons of annual Mitchell plant CO2 output.
“Substantial federal funding will help create the first full-scale deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCUS) on a cement plant in the U.S.,” says Heidelberg Materials North America CEO Chris Ward, who along with fellow directors budgeted $500 million-plus to more than match a DOE project commitment. “We are investing in leading the development and application of CCUS in our industry, and successful implementation of this technology at scale will play a critical role in achieving our goal of decarbonization.”
CCUS infrastructure, equal to 900,000 metrics tons of CO2 emissions per year, is part of the National Cement of California project, which also calls for limestone calcined clay cement (LC3) production ramp up at the producer’s mill above Los Angeles. Roanoke Cement Co. and Summit Materials Inc. are likewise eyeing LC3 capacity through their respective projects: Limestone Calcined Clay Cement Production and Low-Carbon Calcined Clay Cement Demonstration, with potential $61.7 million and $215.6 million awards, respectively. The other two Cement and Concrete sector projects under the OCED Industrial Demonstrations Program, Deeply Decarbonized Cement and First Commercial Electrochemical Cement Manufacturing, involve clinker alternative advocates Brimstone Energy Inc. and Sublime Systems Inc., with potential awards of $189 million and $86.9 million, respectively.
“DOE steps to invest in decarbonization will help the U.S. cement and concrete industry aim for the White House’s initiative of net-zero emissions operations by 2050,” observes Dean Frank, executive director of NEU An ACI Center of Excellence. “We will continue our work with government agencies and the industry to help encourage the use of both new and existing materials and technologies to reduce carbon emissions.”
The six Cement and Concrete projects are among 33 the DOE announced late last month under Industrial Demonstrations, whose $6 billion award pool draws from Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and Inflation Reduction Act funds. The other sectors with major CO2 emissions reduction opportunities are Chemicals and Refining, Iron and Steel, Aluminum and Metals, Food and Beverage, Glass, Process Heat and Pulp and Paper. Their 27 projects are eligible for awards of up to $4.4 billion combined.
Mitchell plant team members and Texas headquarters colleagues flank Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb, DOE Under Secretary for Infrastructure David Crane and Heidelberg Materials North America CEO Chris Ward (back row, 10th, 12th, 13th from left) following the agency’s announcement of CCUS project award prospects.
