Lafarge Canada Collaborates with Svante and Dimensional Energy

Lafarge Canada Inc. today announced a tri-party agreement with Svante Technologies Inc., and Dimensional Energy, Inc to bring a demonstration of Dimensional Energy’s carbon dioxide utilization technology to their cement manufacturing facility located in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

In 2019, through a joint industry partnership between Svante, Total S.A., and Lafarge, Svante installed Project CO₂MENT; a demonstration carbon capture plant to capture 1 tonne per day (1TPD) of CO₂ emissions from Lafarge’s operations at the Richmond Cement Plant. Lafarge’s main contribution to this project was the in-kind support through the provision of land, operational support, and utilities required for the demonstration.

The project commenced in three phases: Pre-treatment, CO₂ capture, and Utilization. The demonstration has allowed Svante to de-risk their carbon capture technology in a cement industrial environment, focusing the last two years on pre-treatment of the cement flue gas and increasing their efficiency of CO₂ capture using its proprietary Metal Organic Framework (MOF) advanced sorbent. Throughout the project, Lafarge has directed efforts to determine a suitable end use for the captured CO₂. Given the lack of CO₂ transportation and sequestration infrastructure in southern British Columbia today, utilization of captured CO₂ is fundamental to the decarbonization of large industries in the region. This new agreement transitions the project into phase 3.

Phase 3 will convert the 1TPD CO₂ captured by Svante to produce approximately 1.5 barrels per day of synthetic hydrocarbons. Dimensional Energy’s technology will convert the CO₂ with green hydrogen to syngas using their patented reactor and catalyst technology. This renewable syngas will be further processed into liquid hydrocarbons with Dimensional’s proprietary integration of downstream hydrocarbon synthesis. The synthetic hydrocarbons can be used in the production of industrial wax products and other high value products that place previously emitted carbon in an industrial use cycle. Premium grade pure waxes produced from Dimensional’s process will be of interest to other offtake partners such as manufacturers of plastics, lubricants, cosmetics, among others. By utilizing this technology for production of the fuels and products that people use every day, the goal is to lower the carbon intensity of our entire economy once scaled.

This project will include an ISO verified life cycle analysis (LCA) performed by a third-party to aid in the overarching goal by the three companies involved; which is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Stephanie Voysey, Head of Sustainability & Environment, Lafarge Western Canada, notes, “Carbon capture is an important lever in our net-zero roadmap. However, for a carbon capture project to succeed, it must be paired with permanent geologic sequestration or utilization technology that will permanently isolate the CO₂ in a specific media or product. If this pilot can be scaled to capture and use all facility emissions, it would be a first of its kind project for Lafarge and advance export and global adoption of this technology.”

“Finding pathways to the viable use of the CO₂ we capture from industrial sites is key in developing a circular carbon economy,” said Claude Letourneau, President & CEO of Svante. “We must do everything we can to capture and remove CO₂ before it reaches the atmosphere, so we are thrilled to be working with Dimensional Energy and Lafarge Canada on this important project. This type of partnership and project could make a significant impact on the world if deployed at scale.”

“It is an absolute honor to be collaborating with both Lafarge and Svante on this ground-breaking project,” said Jason Salfi, Dimensional Energy’s CEO. “Together, we will transform carbon emissions from one of the world’s most persistent problems of our time to one of our greatest assets to grow a circular economy in better harmony with nature. Leveraging existing infrastructure in difficult to decarbonize sectors of our economy is where we, as technology providers, can have an immediate impact on abating carbon dioxide while providing growth and opportunity for all future generations.”

Lafarge Canada has made a monetary commitment to Dimensional Energy to support the project’s broader success for the industry and has been granted funding from the Innovation Accelerator for the CleanBC Industry Fund.