KRISTIANSAND, Norway—Elkem, a global producer of silicon, silicones and alloys for the foundry industry, has been awarded a $1.9 million grant from the European Union for CO2-free silicon production.
Specifically, Elkem will look to produce its Sicalo material, which includes silicon production with carbon looping, capturing the carbon coming from the furnace and reusing it as a reductant in production.
A pilot phase at an Elkem technology campus in Norway—a partnership between Elkem and several other government organizations—is being initiated, according to Elkem.
"Our research into carbon looping has the potential to be a game changer for the metal alloys industry to achieve net zero emissions," said Elkem CEO Helge Aasen. "We are grateful to the EU for supporting this groundbreaking project. Strong public-private partnerships are essential for bridging resource gaps, spreading risk and leveraging complementary competencies. Together, we are strengthening Europe's resilience in the critical raw materials value chains."
The EU, in aggregate, has awarded more than $10 million to the Horizon Europe project MECALO, which uses production methods that capture carbon oxides from process off-gases in general metal production (manganese alloys).
Eramet, a major manganese producer with six smelters in Norway, France, the U.S. and Gabon, is part of the consortium to develop technology from MECALO.
If MECALO is successful, according to Elkem, the project could save 33 million tons of CO2 emissions per year by 2050.
Outside of metallurgical grades, refined silicon—reducing quartz into silicon—is used in silicone rubbers, EVs, solar cells, batteries, smart phones and wind turbines.
"Some metals, such as steel, can be produced with hydrogen as a reductant," Elkem said. "This is not possible for silicon, manganese and several other metals. That's why pioneering projects such as MECALO are needed, to develop innovative production methods without CO2 emissions.
"While this method is showing promising results, it also presents challenges that need to be resolved, such as increased energy use."
In addition to drastic CO2 reduction, the MECALO project aims to eliminate the need for external carbon in carbothermic production.
The project will look into production of turquoise hydrogen from methane pyrolysis, whereby methane is cracked into hydrogen and solid carbon, using "only a fifth of the energy required for green hydrogen production."
"Significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions while enabling the production of green products is the recipe for competitiveness in a low-emission society," said Eli Aamot, executive vice president of SINTEF Industry, one of the partners on the MECALO project. "Thanks to an ambitious research agenda, we are now in a position to deliver a huge impact on European industry."
