On Tuesday 11 April, Newcastle City Council approved MCi Carbon’s Demonstration Plant project.
The project will be one of the world’s first mineral carbonation demonstration plants, converting thousands of tonnes of CO2 emissions annually into building products and other valuable materials for the circular economy.
The continuous processing demonstration plant will operate rapid validation customer campaigns, empowering hard-to-abate industries, such as steel, cement, chemicals, and mining, to decarbonise their operations.
MCi’s team will test the reactivity of industrial mineral feedstocks with captured CO2, and simulated flue gas and deliver products (such as magnesium and calcium carbonates, and amorphous silica) to materials offtake customers for testing.
The outcomes of the demonstration plant campaigns will empower hard-to-abate industries, such as steel, cement, chemicals, and mining, with a profitable pathway to decarbonise their operations during the transition to net zero.
MCi Carbon CEO, Marcus Dawe said the announcement is a huge win for their team and the future of the local industries that make this region what it is today.
“This announcement by Newcastle Council is incredibly significant for our team,” Marcus said.
“MCi is empowering hard-to-abate industries to decarbonise their operations with our technology that has been developed for 15 years.
“The MCi Demonstration Plant will fast-track our technology towards commercial opportunities.”
Scaling decarbonisation technology from New South Wales to the world creates the opportunity for whole new industries to emerge in the just transition.
These industries capitalise on key comparative advantages of Australian skills and endowments, particularly resource processing and bulk handling, and can be used for sustainable industries.
As a recognised carbon dioxide removal (CDR), MCi’s Carbon Plants could be scaled and integrated with emerging Direct Air Capture (DAC) technologies to provide a safe and permanent solution for removing and locking away more than a billion tonnes of CO2 per year from the atmosphere permanently and safely, to help achieve long-term climate goals and enable an inclusive, resilient, and a just circular transition.
“Our team is focused on more than just the capturing and transforming of industrial emissions, known as Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) – we are thinking about the circular economy, and creating a competitive advantage for Australia in advanced manufacturing and critical minerals,” Marcus continued.
With technical headquarters in Mayfield West, the MCi Carbon team is growing rapidly in Newcastle, as skilled people transition from coal and traditional mining to our decarbonisation technology.
“We are a proudly Australian company with global ambitions. Our team is moving ahead with Japanese, European and US customers.”
IMAGE | MCi Demonstration Plant Render.
