Calix Limited · CBR Cement · Belgium

LEILAC Cement Decarbonisation

Applying mineral-processing technology to one of industry's most difficult emissions sources: the carbon dioxide released by limestone itself.

When: During Calix tenure
Who: Calix, CBR Cement and European partners
Project status: Demonstration program
Michael's role: Senior technology and commercialisation leadership

The purpose

Why the work mattered

Cement emissions cannot be addressed through energy efficiency alone because calcination releases carbon dioxide from the raw material. LEILAC developed a way to separate that process stream without relying on conventional post-combustion capture.

What changed

Results built to last

Belgium: Industrial demonstration location
Cement: Hard-to-abate sector addressed
Process CO₂: Emissions stream targeted by the technology
Partners: Technology advanced through collaboration

The challenge

Define the real constraint

Cement production is continuous, capital intensive and intolerant of changes that compromise product quality or plant reliability. A decarbonisation concept therefore had to fit industrial constraints as well as demonstrate sound chemistry.

The work

Turn intent into delivery

The program translated Calix’s calcination approach into a cement setting through engineering, industry partnership and staged demonstration. It connected the company’s core technology with a clearly defined global emissions problem.

From idea to impact

Make the change endure

LEILAC established an internationally visible pathway for separating process carbon dioxide from cement manufacture and broadened the relevance of Calix’s platform beyond its original mineral products.

Perspective

Why this project matters

Cement is the material the world builds its homes, hospitals and infrastructure from, so the answer to its emissions cannot be to make less of it available to those who need it most. Confronting the chemistry directly, rather than accounting around it, treats climate responsibility as something to be engineered honestly. Sharing that work openly across an international partnership reflects a belief that a solution to a global problem should belong to everyone facing it.