CEMEX is introducing hydrogen technology at its San Pedro De Macoris cement plant in the Dominican Republic.
The building materials giant’s CEO Fernando Gonzalez was on hand for the project’s inauguration in the Caribbean nation, which is part of the company’s Future in Action programme that seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
“Through projects like this, we reiterate our commitment to leveraging innovation to meet our ambitious sustainability and CO2 reduction goals,” said Gonzalez. “Hydrogen is a key technology for our Future in Action program, as an accelerator for our efforts to transform waste into energy and as a potential carbon-free fuel source.”
CEMEX’s current leveraging of hydrogen technology includes its injection into kilns to optimise the combustion process and increase the use of alternative fuels. Both are essential levers for the company’s 2030 goal to reduce CO2 emissions in the cement production process by approximately 40%. In the first half of 2022, CEMEX increased its use of alternative fuels by 5 percentage points, reaching an all-time-high 33% substitution rate.
CEMEX says it is a pioneer in the adoption of hydrogen technology in the building materials industry, with successful projects running since 2019. As of 2021, the company used hydrogen in all its European plants and expects to continue scaling its use in other operations worldwide.
CEMEX is also working with several partners on breakthrough technologies for hydrogen to be used as zero-carbon primary fuel source in cement production. Among its major innovation projects is a partnership with Hiiroc, a technology provider for low-cost, zero-emission hydrogen generation. The company also participated in the creation of the first renewable hydrogen industrial plant in Spain in collaboration with Acciona and Enagas.
