A Germany-based cement maker is tackling what is perhaps the industry's biggest issue — the production of heat-trapping air pollution, explained here by MIT News — with an ambitious plan reported on by the New York Times.
Heidelberg Materials' Norway location will capture planet-warming carbon dioxide at the plant with a filtration system that includes specialized chemicals. The pollution will be cooled until it turns into a liquid and shipped miles from the coast. Then it will be pumped into rocks more than a mile below the North Sea and safely stored indefinitely, all per the Times.
It's an ambitious plan meant to reduce emissions from the sector, widely reported to generate 8% of the world's CO2.
As Nature notes, more than 33 billion tons of cement are made each year, and concrete producers are being pressured by government regulators to clean up operations. That's why Heidelberg and others are working on profitable ways to address the problem, per the Times.
"The whole thing has to make business sense. Otherwise, your investors are in the trees." Heidelberg management board Chairman Dominik von Achten said, per the Times.
Now the company is on a mission to prove that both interests — profit and planet-friendly operations — can be met, according to the newspaper.
Other industries are undergoing similar transformations. A South African Nestlé plant uses a system built with smart chemistry and artificial intelligence to pull air pollution from its stacks, turning it into harmless, reusable baking soda. Experts at Purdue are developing liquid filters to capture CO2 from flues, as well.
The Norwegian government is providing up to 85% of the funding needed for the Heidelberg project — "the first large, commercial-scale" effort of this type, per the Times. The operation could double the cost of cement. But Heidelberg is banking on its customers being OK with paying a premium for the cleaner concrete.
It's part of the way we can use our purchasing power as consumers to support businesses that have our world's best interests in mind. Staying educated on companies that tout impressive environmental goals is an important way to keep tabs on if they are fulfilling their promises.
Carbon-capture tech is a process that draws criticism from some environmental watchdogs, as well. Critics call it a crutch for prolonged fossil fuel use, as noted by a Greenpeace official in the Times report.
For its part, Heidelberg seems to be sincere in its efforts.
"We want to be the first in the industry to show that this industry can be fully decarbonized," von Achten told the Times.
Officials from Norway, Great Britain, and other nearby countries are apparently on board. The governments are working together on a massive regional CO2 capture and storage effort. The project, getting billions of dollars in public funding and support from fossil giant Shell, among other companies, is called Northern Lights. It provides the infrastructure to pump the pollution safely under the ocean floor for storage.
The Times reports that Heidelberg's Norway plant will "likely" be the first industrial site to remediate its air pollution through the program.
The capture operation at the cement plant is expected to corral more than 440,000 tons of air pollution annually. For reference, the company's cement operations churn out tens of millions of tons of harmful gasses each year, all per the Times.
It's a number that will likely continue to grow with demand.
"It's literally a building block of society," the International Energy Agency's Sara Budinis told the Times about cement. "So the demand for cement is not expected to decline over time."
Join our free newsletter for weekly updates on the latest innovations improving our lives and shaping our future, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
