Carbon4Minerals is a 48-month-long research project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101091870 with an EU contribution of 14.8 million € in funding and a total cost of 20 million €.

The project started in January 2023 and will end in December 2026.

The European Green Deal targets (40% GHG emission reduction by 2030, climate neutrality by 2050) are a major challenge for the energy-intensive process industry. While renewable energy can alleviate a significant part of GHG emissions, it offers no solution for process-inherent emissions. The cement industry (responsible for 6-8% of global GHG emissions) is looking for alternative materials to replace Portland clinker, to reduce the enormous amounts of CO₂ emitted during the calcination of limestone. This need is particularly dire in view of the steel industry’s transition to H2-based DRI-EAF, thereby phasing out blast furnace slag as cement replacement. Capture can assist in the abatement of CO₂ emissions, but is costly.

The core concept of Carbon4Minerals addresses the simultaneous use of CO₂ from industrial flue gases with current and future waste streams to unlock a vast stock of resources for innovative low carbon binders and construction materials (80-135% lower CO₂ emissions).

Carbon4Minerals develops innovative technologies for CO₂ capture and use in the production of carbon-negative minerals for high-value construction products, with the potential to reduce CO₂ emissions by 80% - 135% compared to cement-based reference materials. Thus Carbon4Minerals supports climate mitigation while safeguarding the competitiveness of European industry.