The initiative aims to develop cost-competitive solutions for industrial heat with at least 85% lower greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 and is a lynch pin in the Biden Administration’s goal of achieving a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.
The Industrial Heat Shot has three key pathways:
- Electrify heating operations: Electrify equipment, use clean electricity, and improve energy efficiency through technologies such as resistive heating, heat pumps, and microwave systems.
- Integrate low-emissions heat sources: Transition to low-emission heat sources, such as geothermal energy, concentrated solar power, or nuclear energy, and increase thermal storage.
- Innovate low- or no-heat process technologies: Develop new chemistry and emerging biotechnology processes to reduce heat demand such as bio-based manufacturing, electrolysis, ultraviolet curing, and advanced separations.
If this target is achieved, the American industrial sector will be on course to reduce its carbon equivalent emissions by 575m metric tonnes by 2050, roughly equal to the annual emissions generated by all passenger cars currently on the road.
Jennifer M. Granholm, US Secretary of Energy, said, “Today, heavy industries that produce products such as cement and steel account for 30% of carbon polluting emissions. For the sake of our health and the health of the planet, we must slash carbon pollution from the industrial sector.”
In 2020, the industrial sector accounted for 33% of the nation’s primary energy use and 30% of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The industrial sector is difficult to decarbonise, due in part to the diversity of energy sources powering its vast array of industrial processes and operations. Much of that energy demand is used for a variety of thermal operations in manufacturing.
Heat, pervasive in manufacturing, is used to remove moisture, create steam, separate chemicals, treat metals and melt plastics.
Industrial heat accounts for about 9% of the entire US emissions footprint. The Industrial Heat Shot will have the additional impact of reducing air pollution associated with burning fossil fuels that will improve the health of communities living in proximity to manufacturing facilities.
The Industrial Heat Shot will support the overarching strategy detailed in DOE’s Industrial Decarbonisation Roadmap, which emphasises the urgency of deep decarbonisation across the industrial sector, and build upon investments in industrial and manufacturing technology from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act.
The DoE’s Hydrogen Shot initiative aims to reduce the cost of clean hydrogen 80% in 10 years, to $1 per one kilogram, which would bring hydrogen much closer to cost parity with natural gas for most applications.
The DoE will continue to pursue other RD&D work, as outlined in the Roadmap, such as advancing point source carbon capture, switching to cleaner fuels and feedstocks, adopting electric efficiency enhancements.
In the coming months, DOE will issue solicitations for public feedback on the execution of the Industrial Heat Shot. It will also host a webinar to provide more information on opportunities for collaboration and information sharing.
A combination of gas and electric infrastructure will likely be needed to supply many customers through the broader energy transition, according to Mckinsey.
As more customers electrify, infrastructure decisions may benefit from coordination to help ensure that both networks continue to operate safely and reliably. For example, some markets could maintain the gas network as a ’hybrid backup’ to the electric network for the coldest days.
To reach net zero, its analysis shows that at least 60% of the natural gas that’s now being used would need to be replaced by zero-carbon energy sources, primarily in the power, manufacturing, chemicals, and buildings sectors.
By 2030, US output…
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