Concrete Chemicals on the way to climate-friendly cement production and CO2-neutral flying by using green hydrogen

Stefan Schmorleiz, Managing Director of CEMEX Zement GmbH and Plant Manager CEMEX Zementwerk Rüdersdorf (left), welcomes the partners of ENERTRAG and Sasol ecoFT during their visit to the cement plant, where the pioneering project of the newly founded Concrete Chemicals GmbH will be implemented.

12^th April 2022, Berlin / Dauerthal / Johannesburg – To make air transport possible even in a CO₂-neutral world, three players from completely different backgrounds have joined forces in the “Concrete Chemicals” project. Global cement producer CEMEX, ecoFT, part of the integrated chemical company Sasol, and renewable energy company ENERTRAG are planning the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which will concurrently contribute to the decarbonisation of the cement industry.

Both the cement and aviation industries are widely viewed as the most challenging sectors in which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The international consortium sets the course for CO₂-neutral cement production by converting CO₂ into SAF with the use of hydrogen and thus presents an opportunity for CO₂ reduction in both sectors. The SAF production uses a Power to Liquid (PTL) process, which relies on the supply of a sustainable carbon feedstock, such as unavoidable industrial carbon dioxide sources, and the production of green hydrogen through electrolysis using renewable energy. The carbon and hydrogen are converted to synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which is converted to longer chain hydrocarbons for the production of e-kerosene or SAF via the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process.

For this purpose, the three partners combine their technical know-how in Germany: ENERTRAG will produce green hydrogen exclusively with energy from regional wind and solar plants. CEMEX will capture the CO₂ generated during cement production, now a liability in a hard-to-abate sector, on-site and will thus provide another raw material for the production of the SAF while reducing its CO₂ emissions. To produce the SAF, Sasol ecoFT will contribute its innovative Fischer-Tropsch technology. The e-kerosene will be certified for use in aircraft, which includes its chemical properties such as composition and purity. Furthermore, the project partners intend that the e-kerosene will meet the EU RED II criteria and thus allow it to be accounted for in the greenhouse gas reduction quota and the mandatory minimum blending quota for PtL kerosene.

The project has two scaling stages. Initially, hydrogen will be produced on site with electricity from regional renewable energy plants. Thus, in the first phase, 15,000 tonnes of e-kerosene will be produced annually. For this purpose, 100 tonnes of CO₂ per day are to be captured at the Rüdersdorf site, combined with 12 tonnes of H₂ per day and used for PtL production. In the second stage, the aim is to receive larger quantities of hydrogen by pipeline. The green hydrogen will be produced as part of the ENERTRAG-IPCEI project "Electrolysis Corridor East Germany", which will have an electrolysis capacity of 210 MW, and will allow for a production of 35,000 tonnes of e-kerosene fuel annually. In this project, exclusively renewable electricity is also used for the production of 40 tonnes of green hydrogen per day. This requires increasing CO₂ capture by a further 300 tonnes per day.

Concrete Chemicals, like the Electrolysis Corridor Eastern Germany, is part of the joint project "doing hydrogen". From H2 production to transport and consumption, doing hydrogen covers all essential elements of an H2 value chain and thus connects H2 projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. 

The partners have founded "Concrete Chemicals GmbH", which is to implement the pioneering project at the CEMEX site in Rüdersdorf near Berlin. All three companies are equal partners in the joint venture. To implement the project, the consortium is preparing funding applications, which will be notified at European level.