As cement producers continue on the path to decarbonisation and carbon capture readiness, XDH-energy discusses the interconnected themes of Environmental Compliance as a Service (E-CaaS), Energy as a Service (EaaS), and waste heat recovery for increased peak load demand and flue gas cleaning for optimal CO2 capture. By Xavier d’Hubert, XDH-energy.
Not a day goes by without an announcement for a new project – or rather a new study – for a potential CO2 capture project. The carbon dioxide molecule is competing with the hydrogen one for the spotlight, and investors, governments, agencies and technology providers are all in a frenzy.
However, green does not necessarily mean simple. On the contrary, carbon capture plants are complex, expensive to build and operate, utilise large amounts of energy (thermal or electrical), and require a substantial footprint. For the cement industry in general, carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is the ultimate solution, but other pathways exist that can be implemented sooner, eg, cementitious materials in lieu of clinker, the use of alternative fuels, waste heat recovery (WHR), the potential use of hydrogen and accelerated mineralisation.
