Litherm Technologies GmbH

Cement and lime are essential to modern industry — and in many cases, there’s simply no alternative. Cement is the backbone of global construction. Lime plays a critical role in steelmaking, chemicals, and environmental applications. But producing them comes with a cost: it requires extremely high temperatures, traditionally achieved by burning fossil fuels. As a result, cement and lime production together account for nearly 8% of global CO₂ emissions. A large part of these emissions comes from the kilns — traditionally fired with fossil fuels to reach the necessary temperatures. For many years, these systems were so efficient and reliable that there was little incentive to develop climate-friendly alternatives. But the downside is clear: they emit large amounts of CO₂, and the exhaust gas contains the CO₂ in a diluted form — which makes capturing it technically challenging and cost-intensive. Litherm has developed a fully electric kiln that eliminates the need for fuels entirely. It reaches the required high temperatures using climate-neutral electricity — and it does something else that’s just as important: it simplifies how CO₂ is handled. The unavoidable process CO₂ doesn’t get mixed with other gases. Instead, it’s released in a concentrated stream — as a byproduct of the process itself. This makes additional CO₂ separation technology unnecessary. It’s a practical, efficient way to reduce emissions from one of the world’s most carbon-intensive industries — without changing the raw materials manufacturers rely on today.