Heidelberg Materials plans carbon capture plant in Mitchell

Heidelberg Materials North America is looking to become an industry leader in sustainability. Earlier this year, the company was selected for a US$500m grant to build a carbon capture and storage system (CCS) and this month, the company has announced that it has finalised negotiations with the US Department of Energy (DOE) on the project. 

The company and the DOE have set up a complex series of grants, with the Heidelberg Materials Mitchell cement plant (Indianapolis) set to be one of the first full-scale plants in the world to have a carbon capture system in place.

Jeff Sieg, Heidelberg Materials North America's director of corporate communications, said, “Carbon capture is the way that we can truly get to a net-zero cement which goes into making a much more sustainable concrete product. Ultimately, it’s a differentiator for the company. If we produce this net-zero cement out of Mitchell, we will be the only cement producer in the US doing it.”

The carbon capture facility will likely cost the company over US$1bn in total. Heidelberg predicts it will prevent 2Mta of CO₂ entering the atmosphere. Heidelberg Materials aims to be fully carbon-neutral as a company by 2050. With the carbon capture facility fully operations, it envisions the Mitchell plant to be carbon neutral by 2030. The US$500m funding Heidelberg Materials expects to receive is part of US$6bn being awarded by the Biden administration for nearly three dozen projects to help reduce carbon emissions from industrial sectors such as steel, aluminium and concrete.