News
Promoted by Iberdrola España, the Q-Zero Alliance is presented in Castellón to promote industry decarbonisation and competitiveness in the Valencian Community
- Q-Zero Alliance, the Ceramics Technology Institute (ITC) and the Jaume I University (UJI) organise a conference to analyse strategies and prospects for industry electrification
- The event, which will be opened by the rector Eva Alcón and the Secretary of State for Industry, Rebeca Torró, will be held on 11 June in the Assembly Hall of the UJI’s Health Sciences School
- The ITC will present the conclusions of a study on the electrical needs of the ceramics industry in the province, with the participation of representatives from different companies and industries
The Q-Zero Alliance – promoted by Iberdrola España, the Jaume I University of Castellón (UJI) and the Ceramics Technology Institute (ITC) – has organised for next Wednesday (11 June), in the Assembly Hall of the UJI’s Health Sciences School, an event entitled 'Towards a Decarbonised and Competitive Industry: Strategies and Opportunities for the Valencian Community. Case study: the Ceramics Industry in Castellón', addresses the challenges to reach a decarbonised and competitive industry in the region.
This meeting will analyse the Spanish and European framework, present key technologies and discuss the specific case of the ceramics industry in Castellón.
Decarbonisation in industry, especially of thermal demand, is an industrial revolution and a unique opportunity in economic terms and in terms of quality jobs for Spain, as it is the way to lead the economy of the future based on the country's excellent renewable resources.
This is one of the great challenges facing industries: producing reducing greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere as much as possible and to avoid other air pollutants.
Towards a decarbonised industry in Castellón
This event, which is scheduled to be opened by the rector of the Jaume I University, Eva Alcón, will include a speech by the Secretary of State for Industry, Rebeca Torró, who will introduce the European and Spanish framework for the competitiveness of decarbonised industry.
Felipe Carrasco, Regional Secretary for Industry, Trade and Consumer Affairs, and Jorge Blanco Coll, Director General for Environmental Quality and Education, will also take part on behalf of the Government of Catalonia. Other speakers include Javier Mazorra, professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid and coordinator of the Q-Zero Alliance, and Juan Vicente Bono, president of the Ceramic Industries Research Association (AICE).
Together with representatives of companies and business associations, there will be two round tables: the first, entitled ‘Technological Panorama of Industrial Decarbonisation’, will be attended by representatives of companies from various industrial production sectors such as the cement, agri-food and automotive.
In the second round table, with the title ‘Case Study: the Decarbonisation of the Ceramics Industry in Castellón’, the ITC’s Sustainability Area researcher, Salvador Ferrer, will present the study 'Estimate of the Electricity Needs of the Ceramics Industry in Castellón', which shows electrification as the best and most efficient technology for decarbonisation at competitive prices, despite the fact that until now it was considered a difficult sector to electrify due to the high temperatures required.
After which, several companies from the ceramics sector, which is concentrated in Castellón and its province, will discuss their conclusions from the report and the industrial opportunities to manufacture electric furnaces in the province and the future creation of high-skilled jobs. Finally, organisations and associations linked to energy will explain how this sector must adapt generation with renewables and grids to be able to supply the electricity required.
This is a very interesting opportunity to understand the present and future of industrial decarbonisation in Castellón, to be able to share experiences, analyse barriers, identify perspectives and learn, as industry, administration and academia, to work hand in hand to achieve these ambitious objectives and take advantage of all the opportunities that arise.
Energy transition opportunity
The Q-Zero Alliance is conceived of as a shared place open to all actors where all organisations come together, discuss the current situation, show their achievements, identify bottlenecks and develop proposals and activities to accelerate the decarbonisation of heat in different industries, maintaining competitiveness and taking advantage of and contributing to realising the opportunities of the energy transition.
The Clean Industrial Deal presented by the European Union is the answer to these questions, the aim of which is to increase the competitiveness of the European economy by deepening the decarbonisation of the industrial sector through electrification, as this is the fastest and most efficient way to achieve it.
Decarbonising heat is necessary to protect the environment, but also to increase energy autonomy and reduce fossil fuel imports. It is also an opportunity to lead the industry of the future and to attract new business along the entire value chain of these solutions.
