‘Decarbonising industry’ involves reducing the carbon impact of our sector. There are several crucial steps that we’ll need to take to achieve it.
Carbon-neutral, low carbon, carbon-negative, net-zero… all these new terms refer to one important goal. The global quest to cut down on carbon emissions.
World leaders agree that decarbonisation is essential to our future. In 2015, the EU and 193 countries adopted the Paris Agreement - a pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
That same year, France adopted the Low Carbon National Strategy: Energy Transition Towards Green Growth. In 2019, the country established the French Energy Climate Act, focusing on transition to the net zero target.
What does all this mean for industry? Every day, we burn millions of tonnes of fossil fuels to supply our sector with energy. As part of the international manufacturing industry, we have serious work to do.
Almost everything we use, eat, and wear is a product of industry. That’s why industry is the fourth most polluting activity of our global economies. It comes after transport (1st place), agriculture, forestry and land use (2nd), and construction (3rd).
We’ve reached a point where decarbonisation isn’t an option - it’s a necessity. Why?
Global warming is a serious issue. If our global temperature rises by 2℃, we’ll suffer more flooding, hot days, drought, and forest fires - as well as loss of habitats and extinction of species. It will affect agriculture, making food difficult to grow, causing inflation and economic crisis.
So we’ve got to make a change, but where do we start? Scientists tell us that reducing greenhouse gases is a top priority. Like all the other economic sectors, industry has to play a part in limiting global warming. An industry-wide effort to decarbonise will dramatically reduce CO2 emissions.
France has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990) and achieve net zero by 2050.
How could decarbonisation improve our competitive edge?
If manufacturers can establish greater energy independence (buying our energy locally, from renewable sources), we will increase our resilience and be better equipped to ride out crises. Becoming less dependent on fossil fuels means we’re spared the risks linked to fuel markets, which are influenced by international events like armed conflicts, trade disputes, and political crises.
Decarbonisation could also help us to preserve, and even increase, business competitiveness. How? Firstly, customers have started to demand environmental awareness. Proving that the manufacturing process has been decarbonised is a comparative advantage and selling point. Secondly, a business which isn’t reliant on fossil fuel won’t be affected by the rising price of oil as natural resources dwindle.
In the UK for example, it’s been called the “green industrial revolution” - a movement which will help regional businesses to thrive by attracting investment and future-proofing their systems and procedures.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions happen at many stages of manufacture, but there are two key areas: industry and companies.
They originate from the industrial processes themselves: chemical reactions of this and that mix at the origin of new material (such as cement); metal fusion, etc.
On the other hand, carbonised energy consumption required for industrial processes: electricity, if it is produced by a coal power station to supply a factory; the coke burned in blast furnaces to produce steel; fuel used to supply this or that piece of machinery, etc.
We can classify industry under two broad categories.
Heavy industry urgently needs to be decarbonised. It’s responsible for 75 % of industrial GHG emissions. Three sectors have very heavy outputs. The chemical industry is producing 25% of all industrial emissions, according to the ADEME (French Ecological Transition Agency). The steel industry produces 22 %. The construction industry produces 12% in cement manufacture and 5% in aluminium production.
Light industry produces the other 25% of industrial GHG emissions. In this category are manufacturers of processed foods, cars, textiles, and electronics.
There’s no firm consensus on how to proceed with decarbonising industry.
Some people make the case for clean technology and innovation. Others argue that we should consume and produce less. One thing’s for sure - there are options.
In fact, we have two main options to consider: energy sufficiency and technological innovation.
This means cutting consumption of high-emission materials, especially the ones produced by the chemical, steel and construction industries.
You could think of it as the “less but better” approach. For example, we could swap materials like cement for sustainable alternatives, and downsize machinery and cars.
We could make sure that things are built to last (or be repaired). This means focusing on sustainability as we design new products - and improving service and aftercare.
Improving our existing processes is known as “continuous progress”. We don’t accept the way things are; instead, we find better ways, which help us to move away from fossil fuels.
“Continuous progress” means things like:
Increasing our energy efficiency (by renovating boilers, installing heat pumps, or buying energy-saving equipment);
Swapping to electricity (by replacing an oil-fired machine with an electric-powered one);
Swapping to non-fossil fuels (such as biomass energy or biogas);
Using renewable energies (by installing solar panels or buying wind-powered electricity);
Creating low-carbon mobility plans (encouraging employees to car-share, work from home, or reduce their travel commitments).
Outside the manufacturing plant, scientists are working on ‘disruptive’ technologies. These are ideas which could help us to avoid CO2 emissions - or to capture the CO2 being produced.
In the contest to avoid emissions, ‘low carbon’ hydrogen**, or ‘green’ hydrogen, is currently leading the race! It’s produced from electricity and water, and could become a viable alternative to fossil fuels. From production to use, ‘green’ hydrogen emits very little CO2.
Meanwhile, the current CO2 removal strategy is causing controversy. What's the idea? The carbon emitted by industry is captured and injected into underground cavities, where it is locked away. It’s known as CCUS (carbon capture and storage).
This has NOT won unanimous support. Critics say that it’s just a backup solution: it doesn’t really help to reduce CO2 emissions. It’s also expensive and can be energy-intensive. CO2 ‘removal’ could become an excuse for avoiding the root of the problem: the CO2 you should have avoided producing.
**Note: green hydrogen is obviously low-carbon, but low-carbon hydrogen isn’t necessarily green! For example, hydrogen produced from nuclear-powered electricity is also low-carbon, but it can’t be called green hydrogen. Instead, we’d call that yellow hydrogen.
The EEC wants to speed up the roll-out of effective decarbonisation. So in April 2024, the European Commission established a certification scheme.
It enables businesses to use different ways to reduce carbon emissions. These include permanent carbon storage using industrial technology, carbon storage in long-lasting products, and carbon farming, which reduces emissions from the soil.
Permanent carbon sequestration must have the capacity to store carbon for several centuries to get certification. Other products must help to eliminate carbon from the atmosphere for at least 35 years. Carbon farming activities must last at least 5 years.
In conclusion, there isn’t one simple method to decarbonise industry. The most successful efforts will target all these levers.
The scientific community makes it clear that we should not choose between technological progress and energy sufficiency: sustainable companies will pursue both.
