Advanced BioFuels USA

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …At Brimstone Energy, we developed a process to co-generate cement and hydrogen while eliminating process emissions. If clean energy were used, our process could be CO2-free.

Q: What stage of development are you? Choose one:
Proof of concept stage – in the lab or in the product/service formation process

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Our technology is a mix between a mining and a cement process. By doing so, we are able to work with broader range of raw materials and produce a variety of products: cement, SCM, and hydrogen. Our innovative chemistries allow us to eliminate process emissions which for example in cement are responsible for around 60% of the emissions. Cement is done at a massive scale worldwide, there is 4.1 Bt of cement produced every year, if we were able to co-generate clean hydrogen at cement plants we could produce very large quantities of clean hydrogen. On top of that, cement is a local commodity which for the most part doesn’t travel more than 300 miles, co-generating clean hydrogen and cement will allow the development of a distributed network of clean hydrogen across the country. This kind of network would allow the adoption of hydrogen as a source of clean fuel and tremendously reduce CO2 emissions.

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Currently, cement is produced by the mixing of clinker, which the most CO2-intensive part in a cement process, and supplementary cementitious material (SCM). The majority of SCM are waste products from either coal-fired power plants or blast furnace slag. SCM are used to reduce cost of cement, reduce CO2 intensity by using less clinker, and increase strength. Regulations and customers are pushing for cleaner cement and nowadays increasing the SCM content in cement is one of the only cost-competitive way to do so. With the coal industry declining in the US and western countries, SCM is a hot commodity, and cement companies are struggling to sign multi-year contract for SCM supply.

Our technology allows co-generation of cement and supplementary cementitious material (SCM) while significantly reducing CO2 emissions emission. Being able to vertically integrate this material into the cement supply chain will significantly reduce cost and increase product consistency.

Q: What are the 3 top milestones you have accomplished in the past 3 years?

1. Thinking about CO2 emissions in general and targeting the “blank spaces”. Area who highly pollutes but where not a lot of research are done. We worked on different processes and being able to finally close the loop and develop this process is huge accomplishment for us.
2. Starting the company and dedicating 100% of our time to develop this technology.
3. Raising more than $3M in grants and private funding in the first year. We are really blessed to have the support that we have.

Q: What are the 3 top milestones you will accomplish in the next 3 years?

1. Prove that the technology is feasible at the lab-scale, pilot-scale, and demonstration scale.
2. Build an inclusive and diverse team with culture that we represent us and that we are proud of.
3. Convince more people to support us in this journey.