Air Liquide and Holcim start industrial carbon capture pilot for cement at CaptureLab in France

Air Liquide has started up its first industrial-scale carbon capture pilot unit for the cement industry at Holcim's CaptureLab in France. The unit uses Air Liquide's Cryocap FG technology to treat flue gas and pre-concentrate CO2 before final purification. It processes 3,000 Nm3 per hour of flue gas and is designed with a modular approach for easier transport and deployment at other sites. Cement emissions come mostly from limestone calcination, not just energy use, so carbon capture is seen as critical for deep cuts in the sector. The pilot builds on over a decade of Cryocap experience at Air Liquide's Port-Jerome facility. Insights from CaptureLab are expected to help scale up CO2 capture across heavy industry, including cement and lime production.