The environmentally compatible cement Celitement developed by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; Karlsruhe, Germany; www.kit.edu) has been granted the 2011 German Innovation Award for Climate and the Environment (IKU). Celitement GmbH (Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany; www.celitement.de) founded by KIT, the four inventors, and Schwenk Zement KG (Ulm, Germany; www.schwenk.de) received the award in the category of Product and Service Innovations at Berlin. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety and the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e. V. (Federation of German Industries) grant this award for outstanding innovations in climate and environmental protection. The award is endowed with €25,000.
“The German Innovation Award again reflects the high potential of this development made by KIT. With Celitement, we want to contribute to climate protection in the building sector,” says Peter Fritz, KIT vice president for Research and Innovation.
Cement holds together all concrete buildings. Every year, cement works produce nearly 3 billion tons of the binder. During production, they also emit 3 billion tons of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide annually. These emissions exceed those of global air traffic by a factor of three to four. Cement production has a share of about 5–7% in worldwide carbon dioxide emissions. Compared to conventional cement production processes, Celitement promises an enormous reduction of energy consumption. Presumably, carbon dioxide emissions will be halved. Moreover, the new cement is characterized by a low consumption of resources. Compared to conventional Portland cement, only one third of the amount of limestone is required and it can be done completely without a gypsum additive. “This is achieved by a novel production process, in the main stage of which temperatures of about 200°C are needed only. Conventional cement clinker requires 1,450°C,” emphasizes Hanns-Günther Mayer and Peter Stemmermann, who accepted the award for Celitement GmbH. (For more details, see Chem. Eng. February 2010, p. 12; www.chemengonline.com/chementator/5434.html.
The jury chaired by Professor Klaus Töpfer selected the four IKU 2011 laureates from among 76 applications this year. The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Reactor Safety and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) granted the award for the third time.