Leading TH₂e WAY.
Janinhoff is set to Become Germany's first fully hydrogen-based brickworks
We have been producing clinker bricks for over 100 years – with fire, clay and resolve. Now we are bold enough to take the next step, perhaps the biggest one in our history by completely switching our clinker production over to hydrogen. A radical change, and one that has been chosen consciously. Not just with one product line. Not as a trial run. But completely. Step by step, with the necessary resolve.
We are changing what is necessary:
Hydrogen will replace natural gas
With temperatures exceeding 1,100 °C, the firing process in clinker production is extremely energy-intensive. Producing one ton of clinker requires around 1.7 megawatt-hours of energy. Until now, natural gas has been the primary energy source in the German brick industry, which results in roughly 1.74 million tons of CO₂ emissions annually.
This switch is not a symbolic act, but a profound change. To accomplish it, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has awarded us up to 60.2 million euros in the context of a Carbon Contract for Change. This is not a gift, but a guarantee, because the transformation – and the risks, the burden and the courage it requires – are ours alone to bear.
Our goal:
Transformation without standstill:
Open-heart surgery
What often ends with pilot plants in the industry as a whole is what we will be transforming into reality in the future. The challenge is that part of this transformation will take place while production is ongoing. We will be changing our firing parameters, temperature profiles and the entire production. However, as before quality will remain our guiding principle even under these new conditions. This is why we will be transforming the brickworks step by step, uninterruptedly as follows:
Every Kilowatt hour counts:
Our energy basis for change
This shift to hydrogen-based production does not stand in isolation. Every kilowatt hour counts. For instance, we systematically reduced our carbon footprint ahead of the Carbon Contract for Change and made the conventional processes more efficient:
A project for today.
With effects for tomorrow.
The entire project is a commitment. To our children. To the city. To the industry and to our customers. Which is why we are not merely transforming one production line, but the entire company. Stay informed about what we are doing: you can find more insights, background information and progress in our blog.
Janinhoff Klinkermanufaktur
Thierstraße 130
48163 Münster-Hiltrup
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