Electrified Thermal Solutions CEO Dan Stack spoke with Global Cement Magazine about how the Joule Hive thermal battery is opening a viable path to decarbonization for cement producers.
In the interview, Stack explains how the Joule Hive’s E-Brick technology — electrically conductive aluminium and chromium oxide bricks that heat to 1,800°C — can be deployed in arrays to deliver high-temperature heat directly to a cement plant’s calciner, preheater tower, and rotary kiln, partially or fully replacing fossil fuel combustion.
Stack highlights the Joule Hive’s key advantages over competing thermal storage systems: E-Bricks never oxidize, giving them a lifespan measured in decades rather than years, and the system operates at high voltages (10kV–100kV), eliminating costly electrical infrastructure at the customer site.
He also outlines a longer-term vision for cement specifically — using CO2 as the heat transfer fluid rather than air, creating a closed loop that both eliminates fossil fuels and simplifies carbon capture. As Stack puts it: “That kills two birds with one stone — remove fossil fuels, with all of their impurities — and make it easy to capture the CO2. That’s the dream.”
The interview follows the January 2026 commissioning of the first commercial Joule Hive at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, Texas, which can store 20MWh of heat at peak temperatures of 1,800°C.
Read the full interview here.
