Project CO2MENT launches in British Columbia

Project CO₂MENT will showcase Inventys’ CO₂ capture system and a selection of CO₂ utilisation technologies at Lafarge’s Richmond, British Columbia (BC), cement plant over the next four years.

The project, led by Inventys, is in partnership with Lafarge Canada Inc., a member of the global building materials group, LafargeHolcim, and Total, an energy company.

“At Inventys, we see a real opportunity to build a CO₂ marketplace where tonnes of CO₂ are traded between emitters and users,” said Claude Letourneau, Inventys President and CEO.

“This project provides an opportunity for global industry leaders to work together using everyone’s expertise to create new business models while fighting climate change.”

“Project CO₂MENT is a great example of how made-in-B.C. innovations and technology are putting us on the path to a cleaner, better future,” said Michelle Mungall, Minister of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

The objects of Project CO₂MENT are:

Phase 1 – The contaminant programme: reduce harmful organic and inorganic substances, such as sulphur dioxide, dust and soot, as well as nitrogen oxides, from cement flue gas.

Phase 2 – The CO₂ capture programme: separate the CO₂ from flue gas using a customised for-cement version of Inventys’ carbon capture technology at pilot scale.

Phase 3 – The CO₂ reuse programme: prepare post-combustion CO₂ for reuse and support the economical assessment and demonstration of CO₂ conversion technology onsite.

Lafarge’s Richmond cement plant has been building in Canada for over 60 years. Lafarge recently expanded its low carbon fuel programme to meet its 2030 sustainability goals. 

The new fuel system will make Richmond the most carbon efficient cement plant in Canada. More than a million tonnes of cement are produced per year in Richmond, making it a large emitter of CO₂.

“It takes intensive energy to heat limestone to the level necessary for its transformation into cement and the chemical reaction itself to produce CO₂ so we are very interested in researching way to capture these emissions and reuse them in our concrete products,” said Lafarge Western Canada CEO, Brad Kohl.

“Total is delighted to invest and support the CO₂MENT project that demonstrates effectiveness and robustness of technologies to capture CO₂ from real industrial flue gas. This is an important step forward to make CCUS and economic solution,” said Samuel Lethier, Total CO₂ Capture R&D Project Manager.

“Using the CO₂ as a raw material, especially when couple with BC’s renewable energy, could potentially generate profits to subsides the costs of CO₂ capture and enable a use in a region where storage can’t exist,” said Brett Henkel, Inventys Co-Founder and Vice-President of Strategic Accounts.

“Our objective is to see if a commercial scale provide a business case for up to 3,000 tonnes of CO₂ per day, preventing those emissions from going to the atmosphere.”

The project has also received financial support from CCP (CO₂ Capture Project), the Province of B.C., and Canada’s federal government through the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Programme.