Carbon capture scheme for French cement plant

Carbon8 Systems – a UK company that invented a process that combines industrial waste residues with captured CO2 emissions to produce lightweight construction aggregates – has signed a commercial agreement with the Vicat Group cement company. The technology has been deployed at Vicat’s Montalieu cement plant, near Lyon in France.

Carbon8’s ‘CO2ntainer’ system captures CO2 directly from the plant’s flue gas emissions. This will be used to convert cement bypass dust into lightweight aggregates. In its first phase of operation, Carbon8 Systems’ plant will process and convert up to 12,000 tonnes of cement bypass dust.

Vicat can then repurpose the aggregates in various applications, for instance in lightweight concrete blocks. With cement responsible for 5% to 7% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, the industry is searching for ways to capture and sequester its hard-to-abate emissions.