CEMEX and Carbon Clean work on carbon capture project in Germany

Global building materials supplier CEMEX has appointed Carbon Clean to work on a FEED study for a ground-breaking carbon capture project at its Rüdersdorf plant in Germany, as part of its Carbon Neutral Alliance at the site.

The initial stage of this project aims to capture 100 tonnes per day of CO₂ at the plant and combine this with hydrogen from renewable sources to produce greener synthetic hydrocarbons that can be used in other industries.

Then, the aim will be to increase the CO₂ capture by an additional 300 tonnes per day, and use hydrogen supplied by a dedicated pipeline. Both project stages have already been submitted for national and European funding and will be operating by 2026. The receiving of funding is crucial for the implementation of the innovation projects.

Finally, a study will be completed to investigate how to scale up to 2,000 tonnes per day of CO₂.

Sergio Menendez, President of CEMEX Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia, commented: “This project with Carbon Clean is the latest development in CEMEX’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality at the Rüdersdorf cement plant by 2030, through our pioneering carbon neutral alliance with expert industrial consortiums. Carbon capture will play a fundamental role in the efforts to succeed at this goal and ensure our operations are more sustainable.”

CEMEX and Carbon Clean are working together with the objective of demonstrating the potential of significantly reducing CO₂ capture costs and establishing technology to support this.

Last year, CEMEX already carried out a feasibility study with Carbon Clean to demonstrate the reduction in CO₂ capture cost from the cement plant flue gas with an initial capacity of 100 tonnes per day.

Globally, CEMEX has committed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 35% by 2025 and 40% by 2030, with its European operations being the first to align to the EU’s aspiration to reduce CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 as part of its ‘Future In Action’ strategy – committed to net zero CO2.