Climate Insider Brief:

• Lafarge Canada is piloting Hyperion Global Energy Corp.’s Tandem Carbon Recycling system at its Eastern Ontario plant to capture and recycle flue gas from cement manufacturing, aiming to produce low-carbon concrete and help meet net-zero emissions goals.
• Hyperion’s system, which is self-contained in 40-foot shipping containers, mineralizes captured carbon to produce sellable calcium carbonate, providing an alternative revenue stream to carbon credits.
• Lafarge Canada is exploring multiple carbon reduction technologies, including partnerships with CarbonCure Technologies Inc., Carbon Upcycling Technologies, and CarbiCrete, as part of a broader strategy to reduce emissions and eliminate the use of coal and petroleum coke in the cement industry.

According to the Globe and Mail, Lafarge Canada, a unit of Switzerland’s Holcim Group and the world’s largest cement company, has initiated a pilot project with Hyperion Global Energy Corp., an Ottawa-based startup, to test a new technology designed to process carbon emissions and produce low-carbon concrete. This initiative is part of Lafarge’s strategy to achieve its net-zero emissions goal.

The pilot project will take place at Lafarge’s Eastern Ontario plant, where Hyperion’s Tandem Carbon Recycling system will capture flue gas from cement manufacturing and store the resulting minerals in concrete. Hyperion’s system, which fits into 40-foot shipping containers for on-site installation, aims to streamline the implementation process. Heather Ward, Hyperion’s CEO and co-founder, indicated that the company’s business model includes selling calcium carbonate, a byproduct of the mineralization process, as a scalable alternative to mining.

“This pilot project demonstrates our ability to potentially achieve carbon negativity while providing permanent CO2 storage, which allows companies to leverage carbon credits,” said Ms. Ward. “However, we are not solely dependent on carbon credits for revenue. We are producing a market-driven mineral with a defined market price.”

Hyperion builds and operates the patented system independently, allowing it to circumvent traditional barriers to new technology adoption. Although the company is currently focused on refining and expanding its unit at Lafarge Canada, it has plans to target other markets and industries with hard-to-abate emissions.

Founded by Ms. Ward and Jerry Flynn, the inventor of the process, Hyperion has fewer than 10 employees. In 2018, the company participated in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE contest with a prototype unit and emerged as a finalist.

The global market for high-purity CO2-derived minerals, valued at US$44 billion, encompasses areas such as pharmaceuticals and green building materials. This demand aligns with the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cement and concrete, which are crucial for infrastructure development as the world shifts to cleaner energy sources but currently contribute about 8 percent of total emissions.

Lafarge is piloting the Hyperion technology at its Bath, Ontario plant, where it has the capacity to capture and recycle 1,000 tonnes of carbon annually. Hyperion aims to increase this capacity by a factor of 10 over the next 12 months.

This circular process is one of several approaches Lafarge is testing in Canada as part of its parent company’s strategy to reduce emissions globally and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Robert Cumming, head of sustainability and public affairs for Lafarge in Eastern Canada, highlighted the appeal of Hyperion’s technology. “Capturing CO2 from cement production and producing a sellable calcium carbonate is very attractive to us. We see it as a more viable early technology compared to some more expensive alternatives.”

Furthermore, the self-contained nature of Hyperion’s system eliminates the need for significant expenditures on equipment such as smokestack scrubbers.

Lafarge Canada is also collaborating with other startups, including CarbonCure Technologies Inc., Carbon Upcycling Technologies, and CarbiCrete, each offering different carbon-reduction and utilization processes. Under the Carbon Zero strategy proposed by the Cement Association of Canada, the industry anticipates relying on multiple carbon extraction and byproduct utilization methods, alongside eliminating the use of coal and petroleum coke, to meet its climate targets.

Ms. Ward emphasized Hyperion’s goal to demonstrate to emitters that they can transform waste into an asset, thereby saving money. “This approach will be crucial for driving decarbonization in the industrial sector,” she said.

News Source: The Globe and Mail

Featured Image: Credit: Hyperion