Decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors: A hybrid electrification approach for low-carbon cement production

Abstract

The decarbonization of energy-intensive industries, particularly the cement sector, is critical to achieving global climate targets. Cement production contributes approximately 7% of global CO₂ emissions, largely due to fossil fuel-powered clinker formation at around 1450 °C. Key challenges include heavy reliance on fossil-derived thermal energy, inefficient thermal energy utilization, and process emissions from calcination reactions. This research proposes an integrated decarbonization framework by electrification of the cement-making process and by incorporating green e-hydrogen, on-site wind and solar photovoltaic power generation, and a hybrid energy storage system comprising sodium-ion batteries and a molten carbonate fuel cell. Case studies across three European locations, with diverse renewable energy resources and climatic conditions demonstrate the broad applicability and effectiveness of the proposed system. The results show that a hybrid wind–solar setup could achieve up to a 45% emission reduction compared to the state-of-the-art, showing the system’s significant CO₂ mitigation potential. The technologies are scalable and adaptable beyond the case study locations offering a general solution to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions from cement production. Energy system costs of $252–285/MWh for wind-based systems, $247–272/MWh for hybrid solar–wind configurations, and $249–277/MWh for solar-based systems were achieved by electrifying the cement-making process.