Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
4/18/2014
Mantra Energy is on track to have an operational electrochemical reduction pilot plant at a Lafarge cement facility in Richmond, British Colombia, by the end of the year. The plant will utilize Mantra ERC technologies to convert CO2 emissions from the Lafarge cement kiln into salable chemicals such as formic acid and formate salts, which can be used in a number of different industries and are currently produced commercially using natural gas. Mantra estimates the plant will convert 100 kilograms per day of CO2 into formate salts which the company estimates will sell for $1,500 per tonne. A plan to expand the plant to introduce the production of formic acid and other products is anticipated.
Among the potential uses for the chemicals that will be produced by the Lafarge pilot plant is use in another Mantra project, a platinum- and membrane-free mixed-reactant fuel cell (MRFC). The creation of marketable products through the capture of CO2 may help ease the burden of expensive carbon capture technologies as well as circumvent uncertainties related to geological storage. “People are looking for higher value creation of the CO2 as opposed to just burying it, which can become a liability. We don’t know yet how that’s going to evolve over time, whether the CO2 will eventually come back out of the ground or whether it will stay there,” said Randy Gue, Industry Specialist at Mantra Energy. “At the very least, we’re finding ways to use the CO2. You put a lot of money into collecting this CO2 and burying it in the ground after you’ve put all that money into collecting it seems to be a bit of a waste. Why not find a reuse for it?”
Gue added, “There isn’t going to be just one magic bullet. We think we have one of them, but there are going to multiple ones to address the global climate change issues.”
