‘We are focusing on reducing our carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, over the past 20 years we have halved our CO2 emissions from 800 kg to 400 kg per tonne of cement. In addition, we will have implemented a modern carbon capture technology by 2030,’ said President of Holcim Polska Maciej Sypek, PhD, during the 33rd Economic Forum in Karpacz, Poland (3-5 September 2024).
Participants in the debate Challenges for Business Related to Decarbonisation and the Implementation of New Technologies: Where We Are Today - Plans - Technological and Financial Opportunities, which took place on the second day of the Forum, focused on problems related to limiting atmospheric CO2 emissions.
The participating experts emphasised that there is no method in the cement industry today that allows production with no CO2 emissions. At the same time, they pointed out that carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced through the use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. In their view, CCS is currently a key element in decarbonising energy-intensive industries and maintaining their competitiveness.
Marek Ściążko, Professor at the AGH University of Krakow in Kraków, noted that the past few years have seen very rapid development of carbon capture technologies.
‘Our analyses for the energy, cement, and lime industries indicate that carbon capture costs for the period 2030 - 2050 will be significantly lower than the price of CO2 emission allowances,’ said Marek Sciążko.
In his opinion, in addition to the implementation of carbon capture technologies, it is also necessary to build infrastructure for transporting and storing the gas.
'The issue needs to be resolved at the governmental level. In no state documents, both in the previous and current national energy policy, do we make any explicit reference to a timeframe for the creation of an infrastructure for transporting and storing CO2,’ explained Prof Ściążko.
A project to implement CCS technology is currently underway at the Kujawy Cement Plant. Maciej Sypek, Ph.D., president of Holcim Polska, the owner of the plant, says that the €400 million investment will be completed in 2030.
‘Thanks to it, we will no longer be impacted by CO2 emission prices and will be able to compete with the cement imported from neighbouring countries,’ emphasised Maciej Sypek.
In his opinion, the development underway at the Kujawy Cement Plant is a pioneering project that could set new trends in the industry - not only in Poland, but also abroad.
'We aim to capture 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 annually. We want to purify it, liquefy it, transport it to the terminal in Gdansk, and from there by special ships to the North Sea, to Denmark or Norway, and store it there. These are still early days, but I think that ultimately storing CO2 in Poland will be economically viable,' explained Maciej Sypek.
Zbigniew Liptak, partner and Regulatory Advisory team leader at EY, argued that Poland can only benefit from energy transition.
‘Energy transition makes sense ecologically, climatically, but also economically. If we end up with more green energy, then hydrocarbons imported from the East will be less needed and costly, and at the same time we will not be sponsoring countries that are not necessarily friendly to us,’ Zbigniew Liptak pointed out.
Jan Szyszko, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy, pointed out that the Green Deal policies face a lot of criticism and a mixed public perception, which cannot be ignored.
'It is up to the government to formulate decarbonisation policies in such a way that they enjoy public support. This is something that has been neglected not only in Poland, but in the whole of Europe,’ said Jan Szyszko.
The 33rd Economic Forum was held on 3-5 September. The event enables participants to exchange views and establish contacts and partnerships, as well as learning about the latest trends that shape the modern world. The main partner of the event is the Marshal's Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodship.
During a meeting with stakeholders from the Świętokrzyskie and Kujawsko-Pomorskie Voivodships that was held on 12 September, Holcim Polska summarised its environmental activities and investment projects. The Environment Day was also attended by a representative of the Marshal's Office in Kielce from the Department of Agriculture, Climate and the Environment, who touched on the development of circular economy in the region.
In its expectations of businesses, the EU repeats 'zero net emissions' like a mantra. Holcim is taking up this challenge. As a result, the Kujawy Cement Plant may become the first full ydecarbonised construction materials plant in Poland. Jolanta Zdunowska, Technical Director of Carbon Capture and Storage Projects at Holcim Polska, talks about the PLN 2-bln investment project.
The first zero-emission cement plant in Europe is to be built in 2027 in Poland, in the Kujawy region. Holcim is in the process of implementing the GO4ECOPLANET project, under which 100 percent of the carbon dioxide produced by Cementownia Kujawy will be captured.
The Kujawy Go4ECOPlanet project, which aims to capture 100 percent of CO2 emissions in Kujawy Cement Plant, enters the next stage.
The cement sector is characterized by a high degree of innovation in introducing solutions conducive to reducing the negative impact on the environment.
Holcim and the Innovation Fund (CINEA European Agency) signed the project grant agreement in Brussels on 19 January 2023.
Holcim has secured substantial commitments from the European Union (EU) Innovation Fund for two of its breakthrough Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage projects in Germany and Poland.
