The ceramic industry has operations that run under high temperature conditions, which is why energy consumption has a relevant expression. Sometimes, the weight of energy costs is higher than personnel costs, which has implications for the competitiveness on this sector. On average, 30 to 40% of production costs refer to energy consumption, where natural gas represents 85% and the remaining 15% refers to electricity, with energy consumption representing 84% of sectorial CO2 emissions.
Green hydrogen is an essential energy vector for reducing emissions in the ceramic sector, as it is free of CO2 emissions and does not compromise industrial performance. Produced from endogenous renewable energy sources and to be consumed locally, it allows the burning process in ovens with the greatest technical potential among green solutions.
In industrial terms, hydrogen is a gas whose use is regulated, and does not differ in this respect from other raw materials used in industry. The impact on competitiveness will result from other factors to be taken into consideration in the future, including the penalty associated with the emission of CO2 which will significantly increase the cost of natural gas consumption in favor of hydrogen.
In Spain, for example, in one of the largest ceramic clusters in Europe, where 95% of the Spanish ceramic industry is concentrated, the ORANGEBAT project was implemented. In an international consortium of 40 organizations, ORANGEBAT's objective is to set the path for the complete decarbonization of an energy-intensive sector by incorporating green hydrogen into the industry.
The project was submitted to the EU Green Deal call for support to overcome the solution's financial gap and enable commercial viability. The start-up is scheduled for early 2024 and the partnership covers the entire value chain, from the generation and storage of hydrogen to its consumption, passing through distribution to the final consumer, including major industrial players, investment companies, research centers, institutional bodies and a wide range of companies that will use the green hydrogen to be produced as fuel.
