Japanese cement producer Taiheiyo Cement Corp will implement technology for CO2 capture from the flue gas of rotary cement kilns in the first, 10tpd demonstration plant in Japan. For this purpose, Taiheiyo Cement has selected the technology for CO2 chemical absorption supplied by UK-based Carbon Clean, which has been awarded by Marubeni Protechs Corp (Marubeni Protechs) in Japan. This technology will be installed at Taiheiyo Cement's plant in Kumagaya City, Saitama, and demonstration tests are expected to begin in September 2021.
Taiheiyo Cement has positioned the reduction of CO2 emissions as an important growth strategy and formulated "Specific measures of their long-term vision for greenhouse gas emissions reduction towards 2050" on 30 March 2020. In this long-term vision it is necessary not only to develop existing technology but also to develop innovative technology to achieve the stated reduction in CO2 emissions. The most important project among the innovative technologies that Taiheiyo Cement is currently working on is the development of CO2 capture and carbon recycling technology suitable for cement kilns. The company has been developing this technology as a sole grant recipient of the "Development of Carbon Circulation Technology for the Cement Industry," a project funded by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), which was awarded in June 2020.
Marubeni Protechs is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marubeni Corp who invested in Carbon Clean, and has been part of a variety of domestic and international projects involving equipment supply and construction beyond the scope of a conventional machinery trading company.
Through this demonstration, Taiheiyo Cement will establish a technology that can be implemented to help achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
