Germany, Austria and Luxembourg will provide up to €2.12bn through a joint eSAF funding scheme, using a double-sided auction to bridge the price gap between buyers and sellers of electricity-based aviation fuel. Germany, Austria and Luxembourg announced on 21 September a joint eSAF funding scheme worth up to €2.12 billion.…
Mesabi Metallics has announced an $18bn plan, including a $15bn Iowa steel complex that will pair hot direct-reduced iron with electric arc furnaces and use ore from its new Minnesota mine. Mesabi Metallics announced on 28 September an $18 billion investment to build a fully integrated steel company. The plan…
The Commission has published final terms for its second industrial heat auction, releasing €1 billion from EU Emissions Trading System revenues to cut fossil fuel use in process heat, with bidding expected from December. The European Commission published the final terms and conditions on 24 September for its second Europe-wide…
NSG Group has completed a float glass recycling trial at its Chiba Plant, reprocessing end-of-life laminated glass from a University of Tokyo building into new glass products. NSG Group has completed a float glass recycling trial at its Chiba Plant in Ichihara City, in what it calls horizontal recycling, feeding…
INEOS Energy has brought the Greensand offshore carbon storage site off Esbjerg into full operation, the European Union’s first full-scale facility, with capacity to store up to 8 million tonnes a year. INEOS Energy, with partners Harbour Energy and Denmark’s Nordsøfonden, has brought the Greensand offshore carbon storage site off…
Sanofi, UCB and Opella Healthcare have joined AstraZeneca as founding members of the Clean Heat Program, targeting industrial heat as the largest remaining source of pharmaceutical manufacturing emissions. Multinational pharmaceutical companies Sanofi, UCB and Opella Healthcare Group have joined AstraZeneca as founding members of the Clean Heat Program, an initiative…
Bulgaria’s glass packaging industry has launched a national Close the Glass Loop platform to raise collection for glass recycling, aiming to help meet the EU’s 90% target by 2030. Bulgaria’s glass packaging value chain has united to launch a new national platform for glass collection and recycling, joining a Europe-wide…
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Calgary-based Cura has closed a $10 million USD funding round to expand its electrochemical low-carbon cement pilot with Grand Forks Concrete, a step toward commercial-scale production in Alberta. Calgary-based cleantech company Cura has closed a $10 million USD ($14 million CAD) funding round on 17 September, its second tranche, to accelerate commercial development of its low-carbon cement technology near Taber, Alberta. The round was led by Zacua Ventures, with Sandpiper Ventures, Vantage Futures, Amplify Capital, the University of Calgary’s UCEED fund, the Mount Rundle Club and Sebastian Becker also participating. Zacua’s Juan Nieto joins Cura’s board of directors. Cement is…
The Hydrogen Council’s latest Hydrogen Compass report puts the global low-carbon hydrogen pipeline at $130 billion and 6.9 million tonnes a year, with ammonia the leading offtake. The Hydrogen Council said in its latest annual Hydrogen Compass report that the global low-carbon hydrogen project pipeline has grown to $130 billion and 6.9 million tonnes a year of capacity across 570 projects, with 90% of that capacity under construction or already operational. The figures mark a maturing pipeline, with a growing share of projects moving past the announcement stage into construction and operation. Ammonia remains the dominant offtake for the pipeline,…
EU member states agreed to expand free ETS allowances for energy-intensive industries from 2026 to 2030, aiming to protect steel, cement and chemicals producers from carbon leakage. EU member states have agreed to expand free ETS allowances for energy-intensive industries between 2026 and 2030, a move the Council of the European Union says will protect steel, cement and chemicals producers from carbon leakage during a sensitive stretch of the transition. Ambassadors representing member states agreed on 16 September to release around 88 million allowances that had been set aside for free allocation to sectors covered by heat and fuel benchmarks…
CAC Engineering’s pilot plant in Freiberg, Germany has produced 300,000 litres of synthetic gasoline, showing its power-to-liquids process can run reliably over a sustained period. A pilot plant in Freiberg, Germany has produced 300,000 litres of synthetic gasoline, a threshold its developer says demonstrates that its power-to-liquids process can run reliably over a sustained period rather than only in short bursts. The facility, run by CAC Engineering at TU Bergakademie Freiberg, uses the company’s METHAFUEL technology to convert e-methanol into synthetic gasoline through the DeCarTrans research programme. Reaching 300,000 litres of cumulative output matters because continuous, reliable operation, rather than…
NEDO and four Japanese partners achieved 85% ammonia co-firing in a full-scale naphtha cracking furnace, a step towards decarbonising petrochemical production without a full plant redesign. A Japanese consortium has achieved an 85% ammonia co-firing rate across a full-scale naphtha cracking furnace, a milestone the group says clears one of the toughest technical barriers to decarbonising petrochemical production. NEDO, Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization, ran the demonstration together with Mitsui Chemicals, Maruzen Petrochemical, Toyo Engineering and Sojitz Machinery, testing a furnace fitted with a newly developed ammonia-fired burner. The 85% figure covers the entire furnace on a…
China’s CESTRI has opened a demonstration plant that turns coal fly ash into fly ash geopolymer concrete, a cement-free binder the institute says cuts emissions and costs against Portland cement. The CHN Energy Science and Technology Research Institute (CESTRI) has opened a demonstration base in China that converts coal fly…
Rohrdorfer has co-fired hydrogen on the clinker kiln at its Gmunden works in Austria, the first trial of its kind at an Austrian cement plant, though the producer says the fuel still costs far too much. Austrian cement producer Rohrdorfer has run the first large-scale hydrogen combustion test at an…
Holcim Germany has commissioned a membrane-based carbon capture demonstration at its Höver cement plant in Lower Saxony, capturing up to 10,000 tonnes a year and targeting 90% of site emissions after expansion. Holcim Germany has commissioned a membrane-based carbon dioxide capture demonstration plant at its Höver cement works in Lower…
Aircapture and NGK have commissioned a direct air capture unit at AIZAWA Concrete’s Fukushima site, testing NGK ceramic substrates in commercial conditions and looking at concrete mineralisation as an outlet for the captured gas. Aircapture and NGK Corporation have started a joint direct air capture demonstration at AIZAWA Concrete Corporation’s…
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BMW’s Car2Car consortium has shown that additional sorting can strip copper from end-of-life vehicle scrap well enough to make flat steel for cars, with more than 100,000 series parts already built and installed. High-quality material loops are technically feasible in the automotive industry, and copper-bearing impurities in steel scrap can be reduced notably, BMW said after completing its Car2Car research project with partners, EUROMETAL reported on 27 August. The project focused on steel, aluminium and copper, and also considered other materials including glass. BMW’s consortium included Scholz Recycling, thyssenkrupp Steel Europe and Salzgitter Mannesmann Forschung, alongside academic partners such as…
UNEP says copper demand will rise more than 40% by 2040 while mined output peaks around 2030, leaving a projected shortfall of 6.5 million tonnes within the next five years. Demand for copper will rise more than 40% by 2040 while mined production is expected to peak around 2030 and then flatten or decline, according to the United Nations Environment Programme. The projection appears in a UNEP article published on 27 August on securing the materials the energy transition needs. Copper carries electrification. Electric vehicles use up to four times as much of it as traditional combustion engines, and it…
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A novel method called pressure-induced carbon capture (PICC) promises a cheaper, more efficient way to reduce CO2 emissions from heavy industry, potentially transforming the landscape of industrial decarbonisation. A promising new technology, known as pressure-induced carbon capture (PICC), offers a simpler and significantly more cost-effective solution for capturing carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources such as power plants, hydrogen facilities, cement kilns, and steel blast furnaces. Developed by Dr Mark Holtzapple, professor of chemical engineering at Texas A&M University, and Jonathan Feinstein of ExcelThermic Enterprises, this method harnesses a basic physical principle familiar to many , the way carbon dioxide…
The suspension of Heidelberg Materials’ major CCS initiative at the Slite cement plant in Sweden highlights the hurdles faced by the cement sector in meeting climate targets amidst political funding challenges, threatening progress on industrial decarbonisation across Europe. Heidelberg Materials has announced a pause to its ambitious carbon capture and storage (CCS) project at the Slite cement plant on Gotland, Sweden, following the Swedish Energy Agency’s rejection of the company’s co-financing application under the Industriklivet program. This decision disrupts what had been considered one of the most significant climate investments in Swedish industrial history, with the project initially expected to…
With a $2.5 trillion financing gap by 2030, Africa’s shift towards sustainable industries depends on innovative blended funding, policy reform, and private-sector commitment to turn climate vulnerability into economic opportunity. In the ongoing global climate dialogue, Africa stands at a pivotal intersection of vulnerability and opportunity. The continent, home to nearly one-fifth of the world’s population but contributing less than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions, faces severe climate risks while holding immense potential for a low-carbon transformation. This dichotomy underscores the urgent need for innovative financial solutions tailored to Africa’s unique circumstances, chief among them being transition finance. Transition…
The European Union’s significant reforms in 2025 streamline sustainability reporting and due diligence, targeting larger firms while easing compliance for smaller companies, reshaping how businesses approach ESG obligations and competitiveness. In 2025, the European Union is set to enact significant reforms to its sustainability reporting and due diligence regulations, marking a recalibration aimed at simplifying compliance while maintaining core accountability standards. These legislative updates, following extensive negotiations among EU institutions, represent a strategic effort to balance environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transparency with the operational realities faced by businesses in a competitive global market. The European Parliament’s vote on 13…
German data company Made2Flow has won the 2025 Just Style Excellence Award for its pioneering platform that unites stakeholders and leverages AI to enable effective greenhouse gas reduction across complex fashion supply chains, supporting brands and suppliers in achieving their sustainability targets. Made2Flow, a German-based data company, has received the Environmental award at the 2025 Just Style Excellence Awards for its pioneering platform that assists Consumer Goods industry brands, particularly in fashion, to effectively decarbonize their supply chains. The platform is recognised for uniting a diverse range of stakeholders, brands, suppliers, implementation partners, verifiers, and financial institutions, into a cohesive…
Shifting freight from air and road to rail and ocean shipping presents a high-impact strategy for reducing corporate Scope 3 emissions, but requires careful analysis and organisational alignment to overcome infrastructure and operational barriers. Transportation emissions represent a dominant share of corporate carbon footprints, particularly through freight logistics, which is a major driver of Scope 3 emissions for many enterprises. While incremental efficiency improvements in vehicles and operations contribute to emissions reductions, one of the most impactful decarbonization strategies lies in strategic modal shifts, transitioning freight from carbon-intensive air and road transport towards more sustainable rail and ocean shipping alternatives.…
Air Liquide has launched the world’s first industrial-scale ammonia cracking pilot unit at Antwerp, aiming to revolutionise hydrogen transport with breakthrough technology supported by European funding and government backing. Air Liquide S.A. has announced a significant breakthrough with the successful startup of the world’s first industrial-scale ammonia cracking pilot unit at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Belgium. This pioneering facility operates with a conversion capacity of 30 tonnes per day of ammonia into hydrogen, marking a crucial development in overcoming one of the hydrogen economy’s long-standing challenges: the efficient transport of hydrogen across long distances. Hydrogen is widely regarded as a…
Global utilities have committed US$148 billion annually to upgrade power grids and expand energy storage, aiming to mobilise over US$1 trillion by 2030 to accelerate the energy transition and meet climate goals. Global utilities have significantly increased their annual investment commitments towards the clean energy transition, raising the figure to US$148 billion per year, up from the previous target of US$117 billion. This updated commitment was announced by members of the Utilities for Net Zero Alliance (UNEZA) during COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Collectively, the alliance aims to mobilise over US$1 trillion in energy transition investments by 2030, marking a substantial…
German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd is investing heavily in modernising its fleet with 22 new Panamax ships and 24 large vessels from China, backed by green financing and fuel partnerships, to reach net-zero emissions by 2045. German ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd is embarking on a transformative fleet renewal strategy, with significant investments aimed at reducing emissions and advancing sustainability across its container shipping operations. Central to this plan is the acquisition of 22 new Panamax class container ships, vessels with capacities of fewer than 5,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU), which will be supplemented by a broader order of 24 larger container ships…
With the construction industry accounting for over 40% of global greenhouse gases, industrial hemp offers a promising, carbon-negative alternative that could redefine sustainable building practices and accelerate climate goals. The construction industry is confronting a critical inflection point as it grapples with the immense environmental footprint it generates. Responsible for approximately 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, a figure surpassing that of transportation and agriculture combined, the sector faces escalating pressure from regulators, investors, and customers to pivot towards sustainable and circular building materials. Amid this imperative shift, industrial hemp is emerging as a standout solution with remarkable potential to…
