LafargeHolcim expands carbon capture projects with government funding from the US and Germany

Carbon capture portfolio now exceeds 20 projects across the US, Canada and Europe
Latest project addition in Spain, where CO₂ will increase farm efficiency
Partner in three-year project funded by the European Union

LafargeHolcim’s portfolio of carbon capture projects was recently reinforced as the United States Department of Energy’s National Energy Laboratory Technology (DOE-NETL) announced that it will support the LH CO2MENT Colorado Project. This follows funding by the German government of the Westküste 100 project, which was announced in August.

LafargeHolcim and consortium partners Svante Inc, Oxy Low Carbon Ventures LLC (OLCV) and Total have completed a study to assess the viability and design of a commercial-scale carbon-capture facility. With the confirmation of DOE-NETL funding, the partnership has committed to the next project phase to evaluate the feasibility of the facility designed to capture up to two million tons of CO₂ per year directly from the Holcim cement plant and the natural gas-fired steam generator, which would be sequestered underground permanently by Occidental.

The Westküste 100 project in Germany also received the go-ahead and funding approval from the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy in August. In this project, CO₂ from the LafargeHolcim Lägerdorf plant will be transformed with green hydrogen into a synthetic fuel. The potential carbon capture capacity for the cement plant is approximately one million tons of CO₂ per year. Westküste 100 (www.westkueste 100.de) is a ten-company consortium focused on the creation of low-carbon solutions and end-to-end sustainable business practices across industries.

LafargeHolcim recently added to its portfolio of CCUS pilots with the ECCO₂-LH project in Spain, in collaboration with Carbon Clean and Sistemas de Calor, which will capture CO₂ from flue gas at its Carboneras plant and turn it to agricultural use for accelerated crop production. This will increase farm efficiency by reducing water and soil consumption ratio per kg of vegetable production. Starting with 10 of CO₂ emissions from 2022, the commercial applicability of this viable CO₂ circular economy business model can potentially leverage 700,000 tons of CO₂ and achieve 100 decarbonization at the plant.

Chief Sustainability Officer, Magali Anderson: “Carbon capture, usage and storage will most likely play a key role in many industries' decarbonization journey. That’s why we are multiplying our pilots to test various scenarios with the ambition of reaching effective, affordable and scalable solutions. It is very encouraging to receive the support of funders such as the US and German governments, as partnering with like-minded organizations is key to scale up our impact.”

LafargeHolcim is expanding its CCUS portfolio with more than twenty projects across the US, Canada and Europe. Overall these ongoing CCUS projects could save approximately four million tons of CO₂ per year. This expanding range of projects is designed to give the company maximum flexibility in applying CCUS technologies. The best solutions in terms of technology and cost efficiency could be replicated in other plants in selected regions, advancing the company’s CO₂ reduction journey and adding value in the form of CO₂-related materials, thereby creating new growth opportunities for the company.

Working with other multinationals as well as start-ups, CCUS pilots are evaluated in terms of cost, technical feasibility, compatibility with CO₂ usage opportunities and other aspects of viability and scalability.

With the coordination of the LafargeHolcim Innovation Center in Lyon, the company also participates in a three-year project funded by the European Union to support the development of low-carbon energy and industry in Southern and Eastern Europe¹.

The company’s objective is to work from a long menu of carbon capture, usage and storage solutions, combining them in different ways and environments to assess their potential. For more information on CCUS: https://www.lafargeholcim.com/our-carbon-capture-vision.

About LafargeHolcim
As the world’s global leader in building solutions, LafargeHolcim is reinventing how the world builds to make it greener, smarter and healthier for all. On its way to becoming a net zero company, LafargeHolcim offers global solutions such as ECOPact, enabling carbon-neutral construction. With its circular business model, the company is a global leader in recycling waste as a source of energy and raw materials through products like Susteno, its leading circular cement. Innovation and digitalization are at the core of the company’s strategy, with more than half of its R&D projects dedicated to greener solutions. LafargeHolcim’s 70,000 employees are committed to improving quality of life across more than 70 markets through its four business segments: Cement, Ready-Mix Concrete, Aggregates and Solutions & Products.