Industries
Heavy Industry
The sectors where a share of emissions comes from the chemistry itself, not from the fuel — which changes what a solution has to do.
How molecular energy affects heavy industry
In cement, a majority of emissions come from calcining limestone rather than from burning fuel, so switching fuel cannot solve the problem and capture is unavoidable. In glass, ceramics and aluminium the constraint is high-temperature heat that electrification reaches only partially. Across these sectors the practical answer is usually a combination — electrify what can be electrified, use a molecule for the rest, and capture what remains chemically unavoidable.
Relevant molecules
What competes
- Direct electrification of process heat, where temperature allows
- Hydrogen or biomethane combustion for high-temperature duty
- Carbon capture, which is mandatory for process emissions in cement
- Material substitution and efficiency, reducing demand at source
Where the commercial opportunities are
High-temperature heat supply where electrification cannot reach
Carbon capture on cement and lime, where emissions are process-inherent
Industrial cluster infrastructure serving multiple sites at shared cost
Low-carbon material premiums in construction, driven by public procurement
Project types we see
Categories of project active across the industry — not a list of MolecularX engagements.
Questions
Why can't cement just switch fuel?
Because most of its CO2 comes from the calcination of limestone — a chemical reaction that releases CO2 regardless of how the kiln is heated. Fuel switching addresses the combustion share only, so carbon capture is unavoidable for the process emissions. That makes cement a capture story more than a hydrogen story.
Where does hydrogen genuinely make sense in heavy industry?
In high-temperature duties that electrification cannot reach economically, and where the site has no feasible capture route. It is worth testing electrification first in every case — where it works it is usually cheaper, and a hydrogen case built without that comparison will not survive scrutiny.
How we can help
Technology Assessment
Independent, criteria-driven comparison of the technologies competing for your project.
Read more →Techno-Economic Analysis
Levelised cost modelling with the assumptions exposed and the sensitivities tested.
Read more →Carbon & Lifecycle
What a pathway actually emits, consumes and requires — measured, not asserted.
Read more →Industrial Clusters
Clusters make molecular energy work economically. Getting the sequence right is the hard part.
Read more →Working in heavy industry?
Tell us what you provide or what you are trying to build, and we will tell you whether there is something here worth pursuing.