Defossilising non-metallic mineral industries: developments in high-temperature heat, hard-to-abate emissions, and policy implications

The non-metallic mineral industries, specifically glass and cement, are among the most challenging sectors to defossilise due to high-temperature heat demands, process-related emissions, and infrastructure constraints. This study investigates defossilisation pathways by combining insights from expert interviews with a targeted literature comparison. The empirical core focuses on the glass industry, drawing on semi-structured interviews, while the cement sector is addressed through additional exploratory expert interviews and literature insights; ceramics are briefly included for contextual comparison.The findings highlight diverging views between industry experts, as well as scientific and technical literature, particularly regarding best available technologies, capital costs of full-electric glass melting tanks, and fuel-switching feasibility. Across industries, insufficient power grid capacity, renewable fuel availability, missing green hydrogen and carbon dioxide infrastructure, and uncertain market acceptance further complicate emission reduction efforts. Based on expert-literature alignment, the study derives policy recommendations focusing on financial support, regulatory simplifications, targeted cross-industry infrastructure investment, strategic fuel planning and the implementation of green lead markets to create business cases for green products. This research closes a critical knowledge gap by combining applied industry expertise with theoretical insights into policy-relevant conclusions for industrial defossilisation pathways.