On June 7, 2023, twenty-one members of a US delegation, organised by the Great Plains Institute, visited Leilac-1, our pilot plant built in 2019 in Lixhe, Belgium, a novel and purpose-built solution designed to capture CO2 released unavoidably during the manufacture of cement and lime. In addition to this hands-on tour, we also shared plans for additional projects, such as Leilac-2, our demonstration plant in Hannover, Germany. Both Leilac-1 and Leilac-2 are supported by the European Union and a consortium of industry partners. 

The Great Plains Institute, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is working to transform the energy system to benefit the economy and environment. It does so by bringing together disparate interests to broker consensus to create solutions that no one interest group would have come to on their own. 

The delegation included leaders from business, government, NGOs, and other organisations representing diverse sectors from across the US. They share a keen interest in cement and lime decarbonisation as well as government policymaking, such as the US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU’s European Green Deal, both of which are contributing greatly to growing the development of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) initiatives.

Leilac was delighted to host the delegation and grateful for the efforts each member is making to shape our collective future and provide a direction for cement decarbonisation. 

Partnerships are critical to the system-level changes needed to reach net zero and we actively seek strategic partnerships at local, regional, national, and international levels. 

For more information, please get in touch at contact@leilac.com 

Leilac-2 update

Meanwhile, our Leilac-2 project in Hannover continues to progress, with the procurement of long lead equipment items underway. Commencement of civil works remains subject to permitting, which has taken longer than expected and is now critical path for the project. We continue to press for a speedy resolution to permitting to minimise impact on the project timeline.