The 2035 Initiative Launches Research Project on Industrial Decarbonization

The U.S. industrial sector is responsible for nearly a quarter of the nation’s climate pollution and has largely been left out of existing climate legislation. To meet climate goals, we need to tackle this policy gap and rapidly accelerate decarbonization in the industrial sector. The good news is that we already have a lot of technology that is ready to deploy and cut pollution in this sector. From increasing efficiency, to replacing fossil fuels with hydrogen, to electrifying industrial processes, there are a lot of solutions out there. This is especially true for industrial processes using low to medium temperature heat, where technologies such as electric boilers and heat pumps can be used, or geothermal energy can potentially be tapped, to provide cleaner sources of heat. How then, can we spur the adoption of these electrification technologies? Where are the easiest areas to target and what policies can promote industrial electrification?

A major barrier to near-term action on industrial electrification comes from a lack of data on industrial processes and electrification technologies. Policymakers, industry leaders, and advocates need greater visibility into the specific industries, plant-level processes, electrification technologies, plant locations, and potential barriers that should be targeted for maximal effectiveness. This is where The 2035 Initiative’s newly launched project on industrial decarbonization comes in. We are developing engineering process systems archetypes to better understand industrial processes in the pulp and paper, food and beverage, and chemicals sectors. These archetypes will provide valuable information by highlighting electrification potential in these industrial sectors. We will translate these technical results into publicly available datasets and webtools for use by industry and policymaking stakeholders. Building off of this technical analysis, we will also develop a policy roadmap to accelerate industrial decarbonization in the next 10 years. Complementing this work, we will also produce analysis and recommendations for using geothermal to decarbonize industrial heat applications. 

This project is funded by Climate Imperative, the U.S. Energy Foundation, and Project Innerspace.