Negative emissions despite enormous energy input

Carbon and hydrogen from methane: Researchers at Empa are working on a pyrolysis process that is to be used in a demonstration plant in the Tech Cluster Zug. Image: Empa From the desert to Swiss industry: As part of the new Mining the Atmosphere initiative, researchers are pursuing the goal of harvesting renewable energy in the Earth's sun belt, converting it several times and transporting it over long distances to where it is needed. A look at the energy and greenhouse gas balances shows: Although the concept requires a lot of energy, it can lead to negative CO₂ emissions overall. Industry is Switzerland's third-largest energy consumer, alongside buildings and mobility. In particular, high-temperature processes in metal processing and the chemical industry, which are often operated with natural gas, lead to an overall energy consumption in this sector of around 22 terawatt hours per year. Together with the Tech Cluster Zug, the Canton of Zug and over a dozen additional partners, Empa has joined forces in 2022 to form the Association for the Decarbonization of Industry (AfDI). Within this framework, researchers want to contribute to the decarbonization of high-temperature process heat.