This cement plant doesn't just capture carbon, it sells it

The promise of carbon capture — that you can grab climate-changing emissions out of the air and shoot them underground or put them to use — has always exceeded the reality.

- MARCO CHOWN OVED

Rob Cumming, head of Sustainability, Environment, and Public Affairs at Lafarge Canada, above a large kiln that is the length of two football fields.

Carbon capture projects around Canada and the world have consistently failed to live up to expectations, even after great expense.

But a pilot project at a cement plant in Bath, Ont., is doing more than capturing carbon — it’s selling it.

This, project proponents say, changes the economics of the process, transforming an expense into a source of revenue.

“We’re turning dirty air into dollars,” said Heather Ward, CEO and founder of Hyperion Energy, which developed the proprietary system. “We’re not dependent on carbon credits because we produce a product with a commodity value.”

Hyperion has found a willing partner in Lafarge, the Canadian arm of Holcim, one of the world’s biggest building materials companies, which has committed to reducing its emissions.

With steel tanks housed in shipping containers, the carbon capture machinery is a “drop-in” modular solution that requires no modifications to the existing plant. It’s been running for a year, capturing one tonne of carbon a day and making a product that can be mixed with cement as a strengthener for concrete.

“It’s a circular strategy,” said Rob Cumming, head of Sustainability, Environment and Public Affairs at Lafarge Canada.

The limestone used in cement forms over thousands of years with absorbed CO2, he said. That carbon dioxide is released in the cement kiln, and with this project, it’s captured and added back in.