On September 7, the U.S. Department of Energy released its “Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap,” which identifies four pathways to reduce industrial emissions from five manufacturing industries: chemical, petroleum refining, iron and steel, food and beverage, and cement. The four pathways include: energy efficiency; industrial electrification; low-carbon fuels, feedstocks and energy sources (LCFFES); and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). 

Within the four pillars the roadmap provides several recommendations to achieve the goals, including through process heating, stating that most industrial emissions are from fuel combustion for heat. For the chemical manufacturing sector, the DOE says that to help achieve net-zero goals, companies can “develop low thermal budget process heating solutions.”

For food and beverage manufacturers, the department suggested the electrification of process heating. Under the energy-efficiency strategy, the DOE recommends systems management and optimization of thermal heat from manufacturing process heating, boiler, and combined heat and power (CHP) sources, and also electrification of process heat using induction, radiative heating or advanced heat pumps under industrial electrification.

The DOE also announced a $104 million funding opportunity to advance industrial decarbonization technologies. The industry should take note and remain aware of further developments.