RHI Magnesita and MCi Carbon have received a significant €3.8 million (~$4 million) grant from the Australia-Austria Industrial Decarbonisation Demonstration Partnership Program to spearhead the development of the world’s inaugural carbon capture and utilization (CCU) plant within the refractory industry.
This pioneering facility will be constructed in Hochfilzen, Tyrol, Austria.
The CCUPScale project, which will benefit from this substantial funding provided by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund and the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, will encompass a comprehensive range of activities.
These include in-depth raw material analysis, crucial pre-demonstration trials, the development of innovative low-carbon products, meticulous process engineering, and seamless industrial integration.
Scheduled to commence operations in 2028 at RHI Magnesita‘s state-of-the-art facility, this groundbreaking plant is poised to capture, convert, and effectively utilize an impressive 50,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.
The captured carbon will be transformed into valuable carbon-negative mineral products.
Relevant: MCi Carbon Holds A Foundation Ceremony For Its First Pilot Plant
This ambitious initiative leverages MCi Carbon‘s cutting-edge mineral carbonation technology to not only significantly reduce Scope 1 emissions but also to generate high-value materials from captured carbon.
Constantin Beelitz, Regional President for Europe, CIS, and Türkiye at RHI Magnesita, stated: “This funding approval shows that we are on the right track with this project. For industries with unavoidable emissions like ours, CO2 capture is currently the only viable path to achieve net-zero by 2050.”
“However, we go one step further by not only capturing CO2, but also converting it into products that provide solutions for us and other hard-to-decarbonise sectors, such as the cement industry,” Beelitz said.
Read more: Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank Makes Substantial Investment In Australia’s MCi Carbon
