The U.S. Department of Energy awarded $3.2 million to Solar MEAD, a joint project headed by Sandia National Laboratories, CEMEX and Synhelion, which aims to decarbonize cement production by replacing fossil fuels with concentrated solar thermal technology.

The project, known formally as Solar-Thermal Mixed-Media Enhancement and Decarbonization of Clinker Formation, would use concentrated solar thermal energy in clinker production, a key component in cement.

CEMEX and Synhelion have worked to introduce CST in the cement production process, achieving a successful laboratory-scale pilot in 2022. Sandia Laboratories will contribute research facilities as part of the