Heavy industry low-carbon research backed by $39 million funding

Australian technology company Calix is partnering in a low-carbon research project, which has been awarded $39 million in Australian Government funding.

Calix is a key partner in the Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre (HILT CRC), which brings together heavy industry players, government and research with the aim of reducing carbon emissions from Australia’s heavy industrial processes. The group is working to boost the capability of Australian companies to remain globally competitive by capitalising on existing mineral and renewable energy resources to become leading international producers and exporters of low-carbon products.

As part of HILT CRC’s research, partners will work together to reduce heavy industry’s CO₂ emissions, which currently account for about 20% of Australia’s total output. The industrial sector globally accounts for 32% of all CO₂ emissions, of which approximately half are from the heavy industrial sector.

The $39 million federal government funding will increase HILT CRC’s resources from its partners to more than $210 million cash and in-kind contributions over 10 years.

Calix Managing Director Phil Hodgson said, “We are excited to be a key partner in the HILT CRC and welcome [the] funding from the Australian Government. It will provide opportunities for Calix to grow its expertise and network with some of Australia’s largest heavy industrial and mining companies, while helping to develop CO₂ hubs, fast-track projects and advance Australia’s long-term capability for low-carbon projects.

“More specifically, it is a chance for us to demonstrate the technology developed for CO₂ mitigation in the production of cement and lime through our European LEILAC-1 and -2 projects in an Australian setting, as well as explore other more sustainable applications for our technology in heavy industry, backed by this impressive team of researchers and industrial participants.”

Calix Managing Director Phil Hodgson.

Increased competitiveness resulting from heavy industry adopting low-emissions energy technology could provide an additional 376,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute up to an additional $120 billion into the Australian economy.

Led by University of Adelaide Director of the Centre for Energy Technology and Deputy Director of the Institute for Mineral and Energy Resources Professor Gus Nathan, the CRC research team includes the University of Adelaide, the Australian National University, CSIRO, Curtin University, the University of Newcastle, Swinburne University, Queensland University of Technology and international partners Arizona State University, German Aerospace, MINTEK and the University of Canterbury (NZ).

The core industrial partners include ADBRI, Alcoa, Boral, Fortescue, Grange Resources, Liberty, Roy Hill and South32.

Headquartered in Adelaide, the HILT CRC will establish hubs in the heavy industry regions of Gladstone, the Pilbara, Northern Tasmania, South Australia’s Upper Spencer Gulf, Western Australia’s Kwinana and south-west regions, the Southern Highlands of NSW and Portland in Victoria.

As part of the HILT CRC, Calix will continue to develop its technology for the reduction of carbon emissions from lime and cement production, and also use its Calix Flash Calciner (CFC) technology to develop other more sustainable processing applications, such as for bauxite processing for the aluminium industry and production of calcined clay from kaolinite for use in new lower-carbon cements.

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