Boral and Calix awarded $30 m grant to build “FutureCem” plant in NSW’s Southern Highlands

The federal government has awarded a project between Boral and Calix a $30 million grant to install a commercial-scale plant in NSW’s Southern Highlands, able to capture 100 kilo-tonnes per annum in emissions from lime manufacture.

The funding was announced on Monday by federal industry minister Angus Taylor and comes through the Carbon Capture Use and Storage program’s Technology stream.  

According to a statement from Taylor, the “FutureCem” plant would capture and compress unavoidable emissions through Calix’s LEILAC (Low Emissions Intensity Lime and Cement) process. This involves re-engineered process flows for calcining limestone, which is indirectly heated, allowing for  furnace exhaust gases to be captured.

“Not only will this investment help to deliver long-term emissions reductions in a hard-to-abate sector, it’ll also generate new jobs across the Southern Highlands region with 140 new roles expected to be created during construction,” said Taylor.

Approximately 55 per cent of the cement and concrete sector’s greenhouse gas impact is through emissions produced when limestone is turned into cement clinkers and carbon dioxide.

Picture: A pilot plant built by Calix at Heidelberg Cement’s Lixhe facility in Belgium

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