Editorial comment
The US Department of Energy recently announced that four lucky US cement producers are going to each receive a portion of up to US$1.2 billion in funding for their decarbonisation projects as part of the Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The money is just part of the US$6 billion awarded by the administration to various hard-to-abate industries with the aim of supporting America’s industrial sector to both strengthen domestic manufacturing and significantly cut GHG emissions.
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Commenting on the news, Mike Ireland, Portland Cement Association (PCA) President and CEO, stated: “This funding is a welcome acknowledgement from the government that America’s cement manufacturers are taking ambitious and significant steps toward reaching carbon neutrality. This will move the needle closer to achieving what industry considers the ‘heavyweight’ of carbon solutions: carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS). Once established nationwide, CCUS will greatly accelerate cement manufacturers’ charge toward net zero.” So, who are the four cement producers in question, how much are they getting, and what for?
Heidelberg Materials US has been awarded a grant of up to US$500 million for the Mitchell Cement Plant Decarbonisation Project, which aims to capture up to 95% of the CO2 emissions from the plant, storing the gas in the geology beneath the site. Upon completion, the project aims to prevent as much as 2 million tpy of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, demonstrating a commercially viable pathway for other plants in the US.
National Cement Company of California was also awarded up to US$500 million for the The Lebec Net Zero Cement Plant Project, which aims to produce carbon-neutral cement. Key decarbonisation levers at this project include the use of locally sourced biomass from agricultural products instead of fossil fuels, replacing clinker with calcined clay, and a capture & storage programme to deal with the remaining 950 000 tpy of CO2.
Summit Materials, Inc. was awarded up to US$215.6 million for its Low-Carbon Calcined Clay Cement Demonstration Project, which will involve the construction of four new clay calcination facilities across Maryland, Georgia, and Texas. The project aims to demonstrate the commercial viability of replacing limestone-based cement with a clay-based product across varying geographies. In total, the project could result in preventing as much as 1.1 million tpy of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
And last, but by no means least, Roanoke Cement Company has been awarded US$61.7 million for its Limestone Calcined Clay Cement Production Project. This project will take place at the company’s Troutville, Virginia plant, and will demonstrate the ability to utilise widely available clay types to minimise the most carbon-intensive component in cement.
Of course, as we’re on the topic of decarbonisation, it would be remiss of me to not mention the success of our EnviroTech conference, which took place on 10 – 13 March, in Lisbon, Portugal. You can find out more about how things went in our post-show review on pgs. 118 – 126.
You can also register your interest in the 2025 edition of EnviroTech here: www.worldcement.com/envirotech2025
