About the KEI
Since 2019, Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG) gGmbH has operated the Competence Centre on Climate Change Mitigation in Energy-Intensive Industries (KEI) in Cottbus (some 100 km south of Berlin) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). The KEI provides support and funding for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to energy-intensive industries in Germany. The competence centre’s work focuses on producers of basic materials such as steel, chemicals, cement, lime and non-ferrous metals, as well as other relevant parts of energy-intensive industries with process-related emissions.
The Climate Change Act from the Federal Government sets a clear target: greenhouse gas neutrality by 2045. For energy-intensive industries in particular, this is a complex challenge that involves investments amounting to several billions of euros. The competence centre’s work provides climate change mitigation support to industrial businesses in Germany, ensuring that highly skilled jobs are retained into the future.
Funding programme for innovative mitigation technologies
The KEI supports the Decarbonisation of Industry funding programme from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. As project sponsor, the competence centre supports the development and rollout of mature technologies for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to German industries.
Think tank
Copyright: Erik Krüger
The transformation of energy-intensive industries is a huge and complex challenge whose knock-on effects along the value chain are felt in many other areas of the economy. Therefore, alongside its focus on the manufacturing sector, the Competence Centre also works with government and research, as well as the general public. For this group of actors, the KEI offers a platform for interdisciplinary, industry-wide dialogue. This helps to consolidate and transfer the knowledge needed for decarbonisation so as to accelerate innovation.
Cluster Decarbonisation in Industries (CDI)
The KEI also works together with other institutions in the Cluster Decarbonisation in Industries with the aim of contributing solutions to achieve net-zero manufacturing. The initiators are the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU), the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Energy Infrastructures and Geothermal Systems IEG, the Institute of Low-Carbon Industrial Processes at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the KEI. The KEI also operates the CDI Coordination Office in Cottbus.