US Energy Regulator Launches Plan to Deplete Industrial Heating Emissions
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the launch of a new plan to drastically reduce industrial heating emissions by 85 per cent.
The initiative, codenamed “Industrial Heat Shot,” was disclosed in a statement on the website of the DOE.
According to the regulator, the Industrial Heat ShotTM was aimed at reducing cost, energy use and carbon emissions associated with the heat used to produce everything from food to cement and steel.
The statement noted that if the target was achieved, the American industrial sector would be on the path to slashing carbon equivalent emissions by 575 million metric tonnes by 2050; equivalent to the annual emissions generated by passenger cars on American roads.
The US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm 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.
The launch of DOE’s Industrial Heat Shot is an ambitious effort to leverage innovation and U.S. scientific leadership to cut emissions from this sector by 85%—providing cleaner air for Americans, fighting the climate crisis, and pushing forth clean energy breakthroughs.”
American industry accounted for 33% of its primary enrgry use and 30% of CO2 emissions. The sector’s diversity of energy use and heavy demand arising from a vast array of industrial processes and operations make it difficult to decarbonise.
As industrial heat accounts for about 9% of the entire U.S. emissions footprint, the Industrial Heat Shot would 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.
The DOE stated, “The Industrial Heat Shot™ will support the overarching strategy detailed in DOE’s ‘Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap’.
The Roadmap emphasizes the urgency of deep decarbonization across the industrial sector and presents a staged research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) agenda for industry and government that will deliver the technologies needed to dramatically reduce emissions, increase American manufacturing competitiveness, and create high-quality jobs.
“In addition to the Industrial Heat Shot™, 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.
Work in the Industrial Heat Shot™ will leverage investments across multiple DOE offices and build upon the unprecedented investments in industrial and manufacturing technology from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act,” the regulator added.
