The European Cement Research Academy was founded in 2003 as a platform to enable the European cement industry to support and undertake research activities within the context of the production of cement and its application in concrete. ECRA's mission is to advance innovation in the field of sustainable development and to communicate the latest knowledge and research findings in cement and concrete technology.

With a membership of over 45 leading cement producers and technology providers worldwide, ECRA is regarded as a research body with a high level of competence and has been researching in the field of carbon capture since 2007,with a strong focus on oxyfuel technology.

ECRA lays great emphasis on the global perspective of its research and on sustainability. This implies that not only CO₂ emissions as such, but also the huge energy demands for operating CCS plants are taken into account. It is already clear that capturing CO₂ in cement plants is technically feasible. The question of what to do with the captured CO₂, however, remains. ECRA’s current main research focus is therefore to highlight the topic of CO₂ infrastructure, which is fundamental in order to enable captured CO₂ to be safely transported from its source to suitable storage sites or utilisation plants.

GRTgaz is a European leader in the transportation of gas and a world expert in gas systems. In France, the company operates over 32,000 km of underground pipelines to transport gas from suppliers to the consumers connected to its network (including public distribution operators who serve municipalities, power plants and over 700 industrial sites).

GRTgaz performs public service missions aimed at guaranteeing the continuity of supply and offers its customers access to the network, and to improved energy performance. With its subsidiaries Elengy, a leader in LNG terminal services in Europe, and GRTgaz Deutschland, an operator of the MEGAL transport network in Germany, GRTgaz plays a key role on the European gas infrastructure scene. It exports its know-how internationally, thanks in large part to the services developed by its research center, RICE (Research and Innovation Center for Energy).

As an actor in energy transition, GRTgaz is investing in innovative solutions to accommodate a maximum amount of renewable gases, including hydrogen, on its network, thereby supporting these new sectors and contributing to achieving carbon neutrality. Follow on Twitter @GRTgaz, Instagram and Facebook.