Limenet, a start-up specialising in the development of technologies for the decarbonisation of hard-to-abate industries, and Fassa Bortolo, an Italian industrial group specialising in the production of building materials with an international presence, have announced the signing of a new €5 million agreement for the joint industrial development of a new-generation indirect electric kiln designed for the production of high-quality, low-emission lime. The partnership will enable Limenet’s technology to be tested in a real-world production environment, drawing on Fassa Bortolo’s experience and expertise in lime processing.
The agreement follows on from the transaction that took place in December 2025, when CDP Venture Capital and Fassa Bortolo invested €7 million in venture capital in Limenet (bringing the total equity raised to €9.5 million). This new €5 million agreement (€2.5 million of which is provided by Limenet and a further €2.5 million invested by Fassa Bortolo) will fund the industrial co-development of the electric oven, turning that vision into a concrete project.
The aim of the collaboration is to develop, within the next two years, a commercial-scale electric kiln with a capacity of around 10 megawatts, capable of producing high-quality lime whilst significantly reducing the environmental impact of lime production – a material widely used in the construction industry and in numerous industrial processes.
The production of lime requires very high temperatures and results in significant emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂), which stem from two main sources: the combustion of fossil fuels, such as methane, used to heat the kilns, and the chemical reaction involved in the calcination of limestone. Producing one tonne of lime using traditional technologies generates a total of approximately 1.066 tonnes of CO₂: of this, 0.79 tonnes result from the chemical reaction of the limestone (unavoidable process emissions) and approximately 0.28 tonnes come from the combustion of the methane used to fuel the kiln.
The technology developed by Limenet aims to eliminate combustion-related emissions by electrifying the process. By using electricity instead of fossil fuels, energy-related emissions are drastically reduced.
According to analyses carried out using life cycle assessment (LCA) – which evaluates the overall environmental impact of a product throughout its entire life cycle, from the production of its components to the end of its use – total energy-related emissions fall to approximately 0.038 tonnes of CO₂ per tonne of lime produced. When added to the unavoidable emissions resulting from the chemical reaction of calcination, this translates into an overall net reduction in emissions of approximately 22% compared to traditional fossil fuel-based systems.
The electric furnace developed in collaboration with Fassa Bortolo will eliminate combustion emissions; process emissions, which are intrinsically linked to the chemical reaction, can be eliminated by using CO₂ storage facilities, such as the one already developed by Limenet in Augusta in 2024.
In the future, Limenet plans to integrate the electric kiln with the storage facility. Indeed, the production of 100% decarbonised lime requires complementary technologies for CO₂ storage.
The technology developed by Limenet introduces a further element of innovation: the ability to process so-called ‘quarry fines’, i.e. the finest particle size fraction of the extracted limestone, which accounts for between 30% and 40% of the total material extracted. In traditional kilns, this material cannot be used as it would compromise the stability of the process, thus resulting in a low-value-added waste product. The new electric calciner, however, is specifically designed to process these fine fractions, enabling a material that is currently underutilised to be transformed into a useful resource for lime production. This approach helps to reduce waste and improve the efficiency of raw material use, in line with the principles of the circular economy.
Lime and cement production accounts for around 8% of global CO₂ emissions, making both sectors among the most challenging industrial sectors to decarbonise. In Europe, regulatory pressure is set to increase significantly: from 2034, the phase-out of free emission allowances under the ETS (Emissions Trading System) will be complete, making it urgent for companies in the sector to develop and adopt low-emission technologies. The agreement between Limenet and Fassa Bortolo therefore represents not only an investment in industrial innovation, but also a strategic response to the changing European regulatory framework, with the aim of positioning the companies involved at the forefront of the transition towards decarbonised lime production.
“This agreement represents the first crucial step on the path towards the production of fully decarbonised lime,” said Stefano Cappello, CEO of Limenet, in a statement. “Electrifying the calcination process allows us to eliminate emissions associated with the combustion of fossil fuels. To achieve carbon neutrality, we will need to integrate our production systems with CO₂ storage sites.”
“For Fassa Bortolo, this agreement is the practical realisation of the vision shared with Limenet: to bring electrification technology for the calcination process into a real-world production setting, with the aim of structurally reducing combustion emissions in lime production. By making our industrial expertise and our facilities available, we are contributing to a technological development that will benefit the entire sector.” “We believe that the decarbonisation of the lime industry depends on this kind of collaboration: between those who develop advanced technologies and those who need to apply them on a commercial scale,” says Alessandro Trivillin, CEO of Fassa.
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