Low-carbon transition technology path: fuel substitution

Holcim is also working on hydrogen as an alternative fuel.

5. Electricity, solar energy and other new energy heating

For cement production, the use of electric heating is not very feasible from the technical requirements (requiring higher temperature and power), equipment transformation or operational economics, and may not become an important means of emission reduction in the future, but it does not rule out its potential. Solar heating methods are also currently being researched and piloted. Cemex and Synhelion use solar energy to heat a mixture of CO2 - and water vapor to calcinate the clinker; The Cemzero project in Sweden and a project in Norway in 2018 demonstrated the combination of cement production and electric heating.

China Building Materials (Stock code: 03323) : Increase the use of solar, wind and other new energy. For example, Ningxia Building Materials proposed the concept of "zero purchased power factory" through "photovoltaic + wind power + energy storage + waste heat power generation" and built a cadmium telluride photovoltaic power generation system in southwest Lijiang. The Group also promotes the use of renewable energy, using approximately 404,716 MWH of renewable energy during the 2021 reporting period.

China Resources Cement (stock code: 01313) : The Group plans to promote the pilot of distributed PV projects in Guangdong Fengkai and Luoding, Guangxi Wuxuan, Tianyang, Luchuan, Pingnan and other cement production bases, as well as some aggregates, prefabricated construction plants and other suitable locations, and gradually expand to other production bases.

Conch Cement (Stock code: 600585,00914) : In 2021, the Group upgraded the wind power generation system, completed the strategic acquisition of Conch New Energy, and expanded the technology development of energy storage systems and new energy plate business such as photovoltaic power generation, increased the proportion of clean energy use in the process of cement production, further strengthened clean production, and reduced the carbon footprint of products. By the end of the reporting period, the Group had completed 19 photovoltaic power generation projects with a total of 200MW, with an annual cumulative power generation of 164 million KWH.

Heidelberg Cement: Since the beginning of 2021, Heidelberg Cement has signed agreements with pilot projects on various continents to add 150 MW of renewable energy generation from wind and solar, with an expected total capacity of 350 GWH per year. Some of these projects will produce green electricity for Heidelberg Cement from as early as 2022.

Cemex: In 2021, Cemex managed nearly 23 million tons of waste and non-recyclable by-products, nearly 57 times the amount of waste sent to landfills. Co-processing waste in cement kilns as an alternative fuel is a more efficient waste management solution for society than landfill or incineration. Cemex continues to lead the industry in clean power in 2021, with its cement plants consuming close to 30% clean power.

In 2020, thanks to an agreement with PGE Obrot, Cemex's operations in Poland achieved 100% renewable energy supply. In addition, Cemex has extended its agreement with Engie for three years to power its operations in the UK with 100% renewable energy. In cooperation with Synhelion, a Swiss photothermal technology company, Cemex successfully combined the cement clinker production process with Synhelion's concentrator heat utilization system for the first time in 2022. Synhelion is a global pioneer in sustainable solar fuels with a unique technology that converts concentrated solar thermal energy into the hottest heat treatment processes available on the market.

In the future, the development of alternative fuels in China's cement industry will be affected by the price changes of coal and petroleum coke, the gradual popularization of garbage classification, and the improvement of related technologies such as pretreatment technology. If accompanied by the correct guidance of policies, I believe that the fuel replacement of the cement industry will go further and further, and the low-carbon road of cement will also be doubled.