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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Research from Heriot-Watt University highlights the urgent need for coordinated policies and investments to address distribution challenges that could undermine billions of pounds in clean-energy investment, even as hydrogen production technologies surge forward. Research from Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh Business School warns that a shortfall in hydrogen transport infrastructure risks undermining billions of pounds of clean‑energy investment, even as production and end‑use technologies advance rapidly. According to the study, published in the journal Sustainable Futures, hydrogen production, storage and fuel‑cell technologies are accelerating at roughly twice the rate of distribution infrastructure. The researchers analysed 777,000 patents and 1.3 million citations spanning…
Advances in stainless steels and nickel alloys, coupled with supportive policies and innovative drilling techniques, are driving geothermal energy’s rapid expansion into decarbonising heat and power sectors, highlighting the critical role of material choice in project longevity and cost-effectiveness. Stainless steels and corrosion-resistant alloys are becoming a quiet enabler of geothermal’s accelerating commercialisation, underpinning projects from low‑temperature district heating schemes to nascent superhot‑rock developments. As operators push into more chemically aggressive brines, deeper reservoirs and engineered systems, material selection is emerging as a deciding factor in plant longevity, maintenance costs and bankability. The challenge is familiar to industry engineers: geothermal…
Researchers at MIT have created a novel concrete mix, ec³, capable of storing electricity, promising scalable, low-cost energy reservoirs integrated into buildings and urban surfaces, with potential to transform decarbonisation efforts. Researchers at MIT have taken a familiar structural material and given it a new role: storing electricity. Building on earlier work to make cement electrically active, the team’s electron‑conducting carbon concrete, known as ec³, is being developed so walls, floors and foundations can act as integrated energy reservoirs for buildings and infrastructure. According to MIT researchers, the material is a blend of cement, water, ultra‑fine carbon black and an…
The European Commission is preparing a groundbreaking proposal to mandate that key clean energy technologies be manufactured within the EU, aiming to strengthen local industry, reduce dependency on China, and reshape the continent’s industrial landscape amid rising competition and supply chain vulnerabilities. The European Commission is preparing a proposal to require that key green technologies bought through public procurement be manufactured in the European Union, a measure aimed at strengthening local industry and cutting reliance on Chinese imports, according to a report by Newsbytes. The draft would initially require battery systems purchased by governments to be assembled within the EU…
Cities facing soaring peak demand from electrified transport, heating and digital services must navigate complex, costly upgrades and regulatory reforms to ensure resilient, sustainable urban energy systems by 2045. The transformation of urban electricity systems is rapidly moving from projection to policy imperative. Cities already account for roughly 60-70% of global economic output and 55-60% of the world’s population, and the concurrent electrification of transport, heating and digital services is reshaping both the magnitude and the temporal profile of electricity demand. According to the analysis published by Power Info Today, urban systems built to serve peak loads of 1,000–2,000 MW…
China’s electricity demand hit a historic high in 2025, driven by rising consumption and unprecedented expansion in clean energy capacity, marking a pivotal moment in its transition towards a low-carbon power system amid ongoing industrial and infrastructural developments. China’s electricity system reached a landmark scale in 2025, as demand and clean‑energy buildout together reshaped the nation’s generation mix and grid operations. Annual consumption hit 10,368.2 TWh in 2025, a 5% year‑on‑year rise that, according to the National Energy Administration, makes China the first single country to exceed 10,000 TWh of annual power use. The NEA said the services sector and…
India’s cement industry is recognising the crucial role of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) in balancing sector growth with its net-zero ambitions, amid policy, infrastructure, and economic challenges shaping its pathway. Cement’s path to deep decarbonisation in India is increasingly framed as a problem of scale, policy and shared infrastructure rather than of technology alone. The industry has made measurable gains through energy efficiency, alternative fuels and clinker substitution, but those levers are constrained: process emissions from limestone calcination account for roughly 60–65% of sectoral CO2 and cannot be eliminated by fuel switching or renewable energy. According to industry…
Innovative thermal storage technologies and integrated system architectures are key to overcoming temporal mismatches in renewable energy deployment, enabling significant progress towards net zero emissions in heating and industrial processes. The decarbonisation of thermal energy systems, covering domestic hot water, building space conditioning and industrial process heat, has emerged as one of the most urgent and complex challenges in the transition to net zero. Thermal end‑uses account for roughly half of global final energy demand and include both continuous loads that cannot tolerate interruption and temporally flexible loads that can be shifted by hours or days. According to the analysis…
As India scales AI across sectors, researchers warn of significant environmental impacts due to energy use, water consumption, and e-waste, urging policy measures to align digital growth with ecological sustainability. India’s push to scale artificial intelligence across health care, agriculture and industry is reshaping productivity, but it also carries a growing and under‑recognised environmental bill that threatens climate and resource goals unless checked now. The lead analysis by ForumIAS warns that rapid AI adoption expands energy demand, water use, electronic waste and raw‑material extraction, while related studies and policy reviews make clear these impacts are large, poorly measured and likely…
China’s innovative Modernization Loop , a cycle of exporting advanced industrial and clean-energy systems , is reshaping global industrial trajectories, offering new decarbonisation opportunities for the Global South amid geopolitics and supply chain shifts. China’s so-called Modernization Loop , a cycle in which export surpluses are ploughed into advanced industrial and clean-energy systems that themselves become exportable products , is consolidating into a tangible economic operating system that is reshaping industrialisation trajectories across the Global South. The scale of the shift is now measurable. According to reporting by The Washington Post, China’s trade surplus in 2025 approached a record nearly…
