ENSO and Carburos Metálicos announce their deal for the renewable CO2 capture plant

• This innovative circular economy project will make use of the complementarity of the industrial activities of Bioeléctrica de Garray of ENSO through a CO2 capture plant of Carburos Metálicos.
• The launch of this project will prevent thousands of tons of CO2 from being emitted per year and save around 100,000 km a year in transporting liquid CO2 by road.
• Carburos Metálicos consolidates its presence in Castile and León while increasing its capacity of CO2 production in Spain.
• The project is backed by the LIFE Programme of the European Union to contribute to sustainable development and achieve goals related to the environment and climate change.

Carburos Metálicos, a leading company in the industrial and medicinal gas sector in Spain, which is part of the Air Products Group, will build and operate a plant to recover, treat and reuse the CO2 coming from our Bioeléctrica de Garray plant which works with biomass. The biomass plant will also provide the energy and steam needed to capture and process this CO2. The plant is expected to start operating in June 2021.

The project will prevent thousands of tons of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere per year and also save 100,000 km a year in transporting CO2 by road to the clients of Carburos Metálicos in Castile and León and neighbouring regions, for various sectors of the industry, including the food and drink sector.

3D simulation of the location of the Carburos Metálicos plant in the facilities of Bioeléctrica de Garray.

As a result, with this deal and the new plant, Carburos Metálicos increases its production capacity, consolidates its leadership on the Spanish carbon dioxide market and backs a circular economy model, using a source of CO2 from a renewable origin, as a resource that would otherwise be wasted is captured and reused.

The biomass plant of Garray, which has been in operation since 2013, has a capacity to generate 17MWe and uses forest biomass as a fuel, which comes from pruning and clearing forests and by-products of agroindustrial activities such as pomace, and it therefore helps to prevent fires and values this waste.

The project for the new installation to capture, treat and use CO2 in Garray is financed by the LIFE Programme of the European Union, an instrument created in 1992 to support and finance actions aimed at protecting the environment and reducing climate change. The website of the project is www.lifeco2intbio.eu.

“This strategic alliance once again shows that sustainability is at the centre of the activity of Carburos Metálicos. It also contributes to our strategic goal ‘Third by ‘30’ which will make it possible for the carbon footprint of the entire Air Products Group to be reduced by a third by 2030, from a 2015 baseline. From a local point of view, this innovative circular economy project allows us to keep increasing sustainability and efficiency by expanding our production capacity in the area, while at the same time reducing the CO2 generated when delivering our products by road. Our actions therefore also benefit the neighbouring regions, thanks to the improvement in air quality,” said Miquel Lope, General Manager of Carburos Metálicos.

“This is one step further in our optimisation strategy for Bioeléctrica de Garray in line with our view of a more sustainable world based on a circular economy. With this project, we bring together our focal points, renewable energy and innovation and we reinforce our commitment to local development,” stated Emilio Luis López Carmona, CEO of ENSO.

 About Carburos Metálicos

Carburos Metálicos is a leading company in the industrial and medicinal gas sector which produces, distributes and sells gas for numerous sectors: metallurgy, glass, water, food, medicinal, energy, petrochemical, laboratories, freezing, refrigeration, oenology, leisure and drinks. Founded in 1897, since 1995, the company has belonged to the American group Air Products (NYSE: APD). Air Products is one of the top industrial gas companies in the world. In 2020, the group recorded sales of 8.9 billion dollars. It operates in 50 countries and currently has a market capitalisation of around 60 billion dollars, with more than 19,000 employees around the world.

For more information, please visit www.carburos.com or its Twitter and LinkedIn