For the last few years, Buzzi SpA has been hosting a pilot project to demonstrate the efficiency of calcium-looping CO2 capture technology for a cement plant. Results from the project’s nine experimental campaigns carried out over the course of 2022-23 have delivered positive outcomes, building the foundations for a technology scale-up. By Matteo C Romano, Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, Italy, Martina Fantini, EU CORE Consulting Srl, Italy, and Maurizio Spinelli, LEAP Scarl, Italy.
Almost five years have passed since ICR published an article announcing the start of CLEANKER,1 the Horizon 2020 project aimed at demonstrating at Technology Readiness Level 7 (TRL7)2 the calcium looping (CaL) process integrated with the cement production process. In the time since then, the European Commission (EC) has developed the new “Fit for 55” policy that sets a more ambitious emissions reduction target of 55 per cent by 2030 compared to 1990, as a major milestone towards the final objective of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
