Rohrdorfer Zement GmbH awarded state prize for innovation

Gmunden, October 24, 2024 – Rohrdorfer Zement GmbH, based in Gmunden, is one of three winners of the Upper Austrian State Prize for Innovation 2024. The Upper Austrian State Prize honors innovative companies that drive forward pioneering technologies and create measurable added value for the region through their innovative strength. The Rohrdorf submission “Intensified Carbon Capture and Utilization – How an exhaust gas becomes a valuable material” impressed the jury. The winners in the large companies category were selected from a total of 88 submissions.

Turning a pollutant into a new recyclable material

Direct electrolysis turns the pollutant carbon dioxide, which is produced during cement production, into a new recyclable material. The production of formic acid and methanol from CO₂ has already been successfully carried out at the Gmunden cement plant. The production of other green chemicals such as hydrogen using electrolysis is also conceivable. The advantages of the new process are a more efficient use of CO2, the combination of different sectors, high energy efficiency and ultimately the possibility of emission-free cement production. The process can also be used in other energy-intensive industries.

Top-class event at the ORF regional studio in Linz

The award ceremony took place on October 21 at the ORF Landesstudio Linz. Primetals Technologies Austria GmbH and KEBA Group AG took first and second place. The prizes were presented by Upper Austria’s Governor Thomas Stelzer and Markus Achleitner, Provincial Councillor for Economics and Research. Katharina Mairhofer and Thomas Mairegger from the Rohrdorfer Net Zero Emission team accepted the certificate on behalf of Rohrdorfer Zement GmbH.

The company in Gmunden is delighted with the award: “Thanks to our process, industries, especially those with so-called unavoidable emissions, can also use their flue gases as a source of carbon. This makes us pioneers in the defossilization of Upper Austrian industry,” says plant manager Peter Fürhapter.