Australian cleantech MCi Carbon (MCi) has been awarded the NSW Clean Technology Award for breakthroughs achieved at their Pilot Plant facility in Newcastle.
Presented by the Banksia Foundation, the NSW Sustainability Awards were announced by the NSW Treasurer and Energy Minister, The Hon. Matt Kean. The event was supported by the NSW Government and sponsored by EY and the United Nations Association of Australia (UNAA) NSW Division.
MCi Carbon’s semi-continuous research Pilot Plant is one of the first-of-its-kind in the world. The plant conducts intensive industrial programs to refine the patented mineral carbonation process, deliver customer projects, and generate low-carbon materials for product testing.
MCi Carbon CEO, Marcus Dawe said it was an honour to be recognised by the Awards.
“The MCi team, with our engineers in Newcastle, should be proud of their achievements being celebrated alongside other stellar projects and initiatives, undertaken in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals,” Marcus said.
Banksia Foundation CEO, Graz van Egmond commended this year’s winners for their ambition, creativity, and innovation.
“Our judges were impressed by the calibre of this year’s winners, especially the young leaders who are inspiring local communities to take climate actions,” Graz said.
Located at the University of Newcastle NIER facility, the plant reacts industrial emissions with feedstocks such as low-grade minerals, tailings and waste, creating both carbonates and silica by-products. This is then used in building materials, such as concretes and plasterboards, demonstrating the potential to create value from CO2.
As a winner in the NSW Sustainability Awards, MCi Carbon will be automatically entered into the 34th National Banksia Sustainability Awards. The winners of the national awards will be announced in March 2023.
MCi Carbon sits within a portfolio of carbon utilisation technologies that will ultimately be required to meet the Paris Agreement climate change targets. They are creating negative emission and low-carbon embodied materials for the circular economy and utilising waste products as a resource in the mineral carbonation process, increasing resource-use efficiency across hard-to-abate industries. This reduces the per capita environmental impact of cities by utilising these materials.
IMAGE |MCi Carbon Communications Officer, Todd McHenry; MCi Carbon CEO, Marcus Dawe; and NSW Treasurer and Energy Minister, The Hon Matt Kean (L-R).
