Decarbonized Cement Manufacturing via Advanced Production Technologies

Abstract

Cement production is the second-largest source of industrial carbon dioxide emissions world-wide. Due to the chemical reactions inherent in its production and the temperatures required to drive those reactions, cement is considered a “hard-to-decarbonize” industry. In this study, three emerging technologies to reduce the carbon intensity of industrial processes, namely, direct high-temperature electric process heat, electric process heat utilizing thermal storage, and liquid amine-based carbon capture are assessed in the context of a greenfield cement production facility relative to a new-build conventional cement plant fueled with natural gas. Cement plants utilizing this set of technologies were modeled in five U.S. geographies to determine the relative economic returns. The economics were assessed, inclusive of available economic incentives, both for the scenario in which the cement produced is sold in the U.S. market and for the scenario in which the cement produced is exported to the European Union (E.U.) market to assess potential benefits from the E.U. carbon pricing system. The analysis indicates that at current technology prices, the economic returns of the assessed technologies, while in some cases profitable, continue to lag those of conventional production technology for the domestic U.S. market. As costs come down as technology is deployed, the economics of carbon capture solutions have the potential to be competitive with conventional technology. The E.U. carbon emissions penalties are effective in altering the economics in such a way that implementing carbon capture systems becomes the most attractive economic option, demonstrating the power of carbon emissions markets. With increased technology deployment as well as the adoption of targeted incentives in the U.S. market, the adoption of low carbon cement production technologies can be accelerated.