Project details
Start date:
2025
Client:
Ferroglobe
Sector:
Industry
Typology:
R LCA
Driving Sustainable Production Silicon: Our collaboration with Ferroglobe for an emissions-free industry
Silicon is the invisible engine of our era. It is present in the solar panels that generate clean energy, in the microchips of our devices, and in the advanced alloys that allow for lighter and more efficient mobility. However, the great challenge today is to produce this critical material in the most sustainable way possible. With this objective, Solid Forest is collaborating with Ferroglobe, a world leader in the sector, on an ambitious decarbonization project at its Sabón plant.
This initiative is being developed under the framework of the PERTE for Industrial Decarbonization (PERTEDI), forming part of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism and the Next Generation EU funds, and seeks to validate a new form of production that replaces materials of fossil origin, necessary until now, with natural materials of 100% renewable origin.
Our work in this project consists of providing the necessary scientific rigor to validate the change in production model. While Ferroglobe provides the real operational data, at Solid Forest we are responsible for measuring and calculating the environmental impacts through the entire life cycle using our Air.e LCA software.
Strategic objectives of the project
The core of our collaboration is to precisely quantify the energy transition through three fundamental milestones:
Assessment of the current Environmental Footprint: Comprehensive measurement of the metallurgical silicon production process today in Sabón.
Analysis of Biochar: Detailed report of the environmental impact of the production and use of this new sustainable raw material.
Validation of “Sustainable Production Silicon”: Final calculation of the reduction in emissions achieved by replacing coal (fossil) with biochar as a reducing agent.
At Solid Forest, we believe that real sustainability is not built with grand promises, but with precise data and courageous technical decisions. By optimizing the processes of an industry as fundamental as silicon, we demonstrate that industrial transformation is possible. It is these strategic steps that, added together, allow us to build a more conscious production model and an industrial future with guarantees.
More information on Ferroblobe Silicon:
Project financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU and the Ministry of Industry and Tourism within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.
