Hanson is collaborating with researchers at the Energy Safety Research Institute at Swansea University, UK, looking at innovative technologies to reduce industrial carbon emissions. A new hydrogen demonstration unit, which generates green hydrogen through renewable energy, has been developed and installed at the cement producer’s Regen GGBS works in Port Talbot, UK, to replace some of the natural gas used to power the plant. By Dr Charlie Dunnill, Energy Safety Research Institute, UK.
Global decarbonisation of the cement industry has to be one of the biggest challenges of modern-day cement production. The industry accounts for approximately six per cent of global emissions (1.5 per cent of UK carbon emissions) and is in many respects impossible to decarbonise as the release of CO2 is central to the chemistry occurring. However, fuel switching has the potential to make significant inroads into carbon reduction targets, with added benefits beyond simply decarbonising the industry. The search for greener and more environmentally friendly fuels is key to the future of all heavy industry.
