Hanson’s Ketton cement plant in Rutland, UK, is part of a new carbon capture project funded by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which aims to provide a low-cost solution to decarbonisation. The multi-industry initiative will see C-Capture’s carbon capture technology, which uses a solvent to selectively capture CO2, installed at a number of sites across the country. Trials are already underway in the glass industry and at a waste-to-energy plant in Hull. The process requires 40 per cent less energy than other carbon capture technologies, significantly reducing its cost.  

C-Capture’s system can be retrofitted to existing cement kilns or designed into new ones with the captured CO2 compressed and sent for storage in safe, geological reserves, or used in other industries. According to Hanson, if successful, the C-Capture process has the potential to be rolled out to other sites across the HeidelbergCement Group. “Our Padeswood cement works in north Wales is already part of the HyNet North West carbon capture and storage project and this new venture at our Ketton works is another example of our commitment to developing new technologies,” said Simon Wills, CEO, Hanson. “Carbon capture is a critical part of our strategy to decarbonise cement production and essential if we are to reach net zero carbon by 2050.”