The European Union has awarded Cemex and WtEnergy a €4.4 million grant for the implementation of a novel waste-to-fuel technology utilising synthetic gas at its Alicante cement plant in Spain. The project has been catalogued as “the first of its kind” for the cement industry by the European Union.

“Innovation is crucial in our efforts to decarbonise our operations and lead the industry’s efforts to evolve for a more sustainable future,” said Fernando A. González, CEO of Cemex. “Our products and solutions help build the structures that humanity needs to thrive, and technologies like this one ensure that we enable cleaner, lower-carbon, and more circular construction.”

The technology, named “Clyngas,” was developed by WtEnergy and substitutes fossil fuels with synthetic gas derived from waste and byproducts from other industries, substantially reducing the carbon footprint of cement operations. WtEnergy is a company in the portfolio of Cemex Ventures, Cemex’s venture capital and open innovation unit.

The Clyngas project has the potential to reduce over 400,000 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions over a decade at the Alicante plant. The committee responsible for awarding the grant lauded the project for its “strong innovation component, reliability, and the improvement it represents in the use of gasification technology.”

This project is part of Cemex’s Future in Action program, which seeks to achieve sustainable excellence through climate action, circularity, and natural resource management with the primary objective of becoming a net-zero CO2 company.