Three players from completely different backgrounds have joined forces in the “Concrete Chemicals” project to make air travel possible even in a CO2-neutral world.
CEMEX, a global cement company, ecoFT, a subsidiary of Sasol’s integrated chemical company, and ENERTRAG, a renewable energy company, are planning to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which will help the cement industry decarbonize.
Cement and aviation are widely regarded as the most difficult industries in which to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. By converting CO2 into SAF with the help of hydrogen, the international consortium paves the way for CO2-neutral cement production, allowing for CO2 reduction in both sectors. The SAF is made using 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 using renewable energy electrolysis. The carbon and hydrogen are converted to synthesis gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which is then converted to longer chain hydrocarbons in the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process to produce e-kerosene or SAF.
In order to achieve this, the three partners pool their technical expertise in Germany: ENERTRAG will only use energy from regional wind and solar plants to produce green hydrogen. CEMEX will capture CO2 generated during cement production, which is now a liability in a difficult-to-abate sector, on-site, providing another raw material for SAF production while lowering CO2 emissions. Sasol ecoFT will contribute its innovative Fischer-Tropsch technology to the production of the SAF. The chemical properties of the e-kerosene, such as composition and purity, will be certified for use in aircraft. The project partners also hope that the e-kerosene will meet EU RED II criteria, allowing it to be counted toward the greenhouse gas reduction quota and the mandatory minimum blending quota for PtL kerosene.
Project stages
There are two stages to the project’s scaling. Hydrogen will be produced on-site at first, using electricity generated by regional renewable energy plants. Thus, 15,000 tonnes of e-kerosene will be produced annually in the first phase. At the Rüdersdorf site, 100 tonnes of CO2 per day will be captured, combined with 12 tonnes of H2 per day, and used for PtL production. The goal of the second stage is to receive larger amounts of hydrogen via pipeline. The green hydrogen will be produced as part of the ENERTRAG-IPCEI project “Electrolysis Corridor East Germany,” which will have a 210 MW electrolysis capacity and allow 35,000 tonnes of e-kerosene fuel to be produced annually. For the production of 40 tonnes of green hydrogen per day in this project, only renewable electricity is used. This will necessitate a 300-tonne-per-day increase in CO2 capture.
Concrete Chemicals is a partner in the joint project “doing hydrogen,” along with the Electrolysis Corridor Eastern Germany. Doing hydrogen covers all essential elements of an H2 value chain, from production to transportation and consumption, and thus connects H2 projects in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Berlin, Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.
The partners established “Concrete Chemicals GmbH” to carry out the groundbreaking project at the CEMEX site in Rüdersdorf, near Berlin. In the joint venture, all three companies are equal partners. The consortium is preparing funding applications to implement the project, which will be announced at the European level.
