Australia opens first carbon refinery turning captured CO2 into concrete and other products

straitstimes.com

by clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 points

Australia's first carbon refinery has opened in Newcastle, New South Wales, using mineral carbonation technology from MCI Carbon to capture CO2 from Orica's ammonia plant and convert it into products like concrete, paper, and glass. The demonstration plant can capture up to 2,500 tonnes of CO2 annually. Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the approach helps emitters decarbonize while potentially turning a profit, unlike traditional carbon capture and storage which buries CO2 underground. MCI Carbon is also planning a larger refinery in Austria that could capture up to 50,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. The technology is one of several mineral carbonation approaches being developed globally, including a Canadian method using mining waste. Australia's total CO2 emissions are around 400 million tonnes per year, and the country recently updated its 2035 emissions reduction target to 62-70% below 2005 levels.

4 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Interesting to see CCUS actually producing something instead of just burying it. 2,500 tonnes is tiny but scaling to 50k in Austria is more meaningful.

news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 pts

The Austria plant at 50kt is still tiny but at least it's a step up. Wonder what the cost per tonne looks like compared to direct air capture.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

Worth noting this is from Orica's ammonia operations, so it's industrial point source capture. Not DAC. Still, mineral carbonation into concrete is a real use case.

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Concrete is a good sink because it's permanent and high volume. But the energy input for the mineral carbonation process matters. If it runs on fossil power, net benefit shrinks.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

2,500 tonnes vs 400 million total Aussie emissions. That's 0.0006%. Good tech demo but let's not pretend this moves the needle without massive scale.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

Bowen saying 'make a profit' is the key line. If CCUS products can compete on price without subsidies, that changes the economics. Need to see the actual numbers.