Reducing CO2 Emissions

On February 7 and 8 our European Leilac project hosted a major Innovation in Industrial Carbon Capture and Storage conference (IICCS). More than140 top-level delegates from our consortium partners, industry and the European Commission, attended the conference in Liege, Belgium.

The event marked the official “ground-breaking” commencement of fabrication and construction of the Leilac project.

Panel moderated by Jaap Vente, ECN on the role of technology innovation in driving deep decarbonisation of cement and lime sectors L-R Jorge Pablo Garcia. Garcia (CEMEX), Eleni Despotou (EuLA), Dr Nils Rokke (EERA/Sintef), Claude Lorea (CEMBUREAU), Jeroen Schuppers (EC DG Research & Innovation), Gianpiero Nacci (EBRD) and Phil Hodgson (Calix).

Calix secures 3.4 million euros from EFIC to build CO2 capture facility in Belgium

Delegates at the IICCS Conference tour the Leilac construction
site at HeidelbergCement’s plant in Lixhe, Belgium.

Calix has secured 3.4 million Euros in working capital from EFIC, the Australian Government’s export credit agency, to build the CO2 capture facility for the Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement (Leilac) project in Belgium.

EFIC is a specialist financier that delivers simple and creative solutions for Australian exporters. Its aim is to assist Australian businesses by helping them to win business, grow internationally, and achieve export success.

As an Australian company developing technology with global applications, the support of government organisations such as EFIC is critical in ensuring Calix’s success.

Calix engineers and scientists are leading the Leilac project, which is a European-Australian collaboration, and includes a consortium of some of the world’s largest cement and lime companies, as well as leading research and environmental institutions.

Calix’s technology uses indirect heating so CO2 and furnace combustion gases don’t mix. This re-engineering of the existing process captures almost pure CO2 released from the limestone without significant additional costs or increased energy use. The technology is complementary with other carbon capture methods already developed in the power and cement sector, such as oxyfuel, and can make use of alternative fuels.

The pilot plant will aim to demonstrate a technology that facilitates dramatic reduction of CO2 emissions in the cement and lime industries without significant energy or capital penalty.