UltraTech Cement, an Aditya Birla Group company, has signed a collaboration agreement with the Institute for Carbon Management at the University of California, Los Angeles, to pilot a new technology- The Zero Carbon Lime (ZeroCAL)- developed by ICM that can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cement production.

ICM, in partnership with UltraTech, will build a first-of-a-kind demonstration plant for the technology at one of UltraTech’s integrated cement manufacturing units.

The Zero Carbon Lime process, developed by ICM researchers, can eliminate nearly 98 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions associated with limestone decomposition in cement manufacturing. UltraTech will be the first company globally to implement the ZeroCAL process at scale through a demonstration plant that will produce several metric tons of zero-carbon lime per day.

KC Jhanwar, Managing Director, UltraTech, said the partnerships like these, which place an emphasis on developing and deploying new and emerging technologies, will be a key enabler in cement sector’s efforts to accelerate decarbonisation and deliver carbon neutral concrete by 2050, he added.

Prof Gaurav Sant, Director, ICM, said the ZeroCAL approach is a powerful solution to eliminate carbon emissions associated with the process of cement production in the existing industrial paradigm of Ordinary Portland Cement clinker production and without a need for carbon capture and storage.

It effectively eliminates the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from limestone’s decomposition while providing clean hydrogen and oxygen to heat the cement kiln, he said.

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