Buzzi Inaugurated CLEANKER Plant at Vernasca

On October 9, 2020 Buzzi Unicem successfully inaugurated the CLEANKER pilot plant at Vernasca. The new plant will will make it possible to capture carbon dioxide generated during the cement production, preventing it from reaching the atmosphere. The goal is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions during cement production at Vernasca by 90 %.

The engineering process took about a year and a half and the second year was occupied by the construction process of the prototype. Now, in 2020 it is time to launch the project towards the phase of experimental campaigns and analyse its results in 2021.

The research is being funded by Horizon 2020, a 7-year Framework Program through which the European Commission supports the most promising research and innovation activities in Europe.

The initiative, which involves 13 partners, and is coordinated by LEAP (Energy and Environment Laboratory Piacenza), a consortium operating in the energy and environment sector and supported by the Polytechnic Institute of Milan, the Catholic University of Milan and companies involved into the energy sector. The European Union has invested over 8 million euros in this project.