CO2 FREE PRODUCTION OF CRITICAL RAW MATERIALS USING HYDROGEN

Several materials are produced by carbothermic reduction, using fossil carbon as a raw material and with CO2 as an unavoidable by-product. Since the use of hydrogen does not generate CO2 emissions, hydrogen can be a solution for decarbonising these otherwise hard-to-abate industries. In-fact, hydrogen from renewable energy sources is expected to contribute to decarbonise a large part of the EU's metallurgical industry by 2050. However, since it is not as strong a reducing agent as carbon, there are several metals that cannot be produced directly with hydrogen. Some of these, such as silicon (Si) and manganese (Mn), are crucial for successfully building Europe’s clean technology value chains and meeting the EU’s 2050 climate neutrality goal. In fact, Si and Mn are both defined as Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) and Strategic Raw Materials (SRMs). The European Commission has proposed a regulation on that aims to strengthen the EU’s capacities and resilience along the CRM and SRM value chains. This cannot be done in a sustainable way unless production of CRMs and SRMs can be performed without CO2 emissions.The overall ambition of MECALO is to develop an innovative CO2-free production concept for CRMS where renewable hydrogen is used to eliminate the need for fossil carbon . Our goals are:-To target 95% reduction of CO2-emissions from Si and Mn production-To replace 9 million tonnes of annual coal imports by 15 billion Nm3 of H2 in 2050-To save 33 million tonnes of annual CO2 emissions in 2050Our concept will be applicable to all carbon reduction processes without any need for completely new, low TRL production technology. Therefore, MECALO will strengthen the EU’s capacities and resilience for a secured and sustainable supply of these CRMs. MECALO is gathering EU leading RTO and industries along the CRM value chain, including two major players in the field of Si and Mn production.