Clyngas technology for Alicante cement plant

European Union awards Cemex €4.4 million grant for innovative waste-to-fuel technology

THE European Union has awarded Cemex and WtEnergy Advanced Solutions a €4.4 million grant for the implementation of a novel waste-to-fuel technology utilizing synthetic gas at Cemex’s Alicante cement plant, in Spain.

The project has been catalogued as ‘the first of its kind’ for the cement industry by the EU.

‘Innovation is crucial in our efforts to decarbonize our operations and lead the industry’s efforts to evolve for a more sustainable future,’ said Fernando A. González, chief executive officer of Cemex.

‘Our products and solutions help build the structures that humanity needs to thrive, and technologies like this one ensure that we enable cleaner, lower-carbon, and more circular construction.’

The technology, named ‘Clyngas’, was developed by WtEnergy and substitutes fossil fuels with synthetic gas derived from waste and by-products from other industries, substantially reducing the carbon footprint of cement operations.

WtEnergy Advanced Solutions are a company in the portfolio of Cemex Ventures, Cemex’s venture capital and open innovation unit.

The Clyngas project is said to have the potential to reduce more than 400,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions over a decade at the Alicante plant.

The committee responsible for awarding the grant lauded the project for its ‘strong innovation component, reliability, and the improvement it represents in the use of gasification technology’. 

The project is part of Cemex’s Future in Action programme, which seeks to achieve sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity, and natural resource management, with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO₂ company.