Decarbonising industry aims to reduce an economic activity's carbon impact. There are multiple levers we can use to achieve this...
Carbon-neutral, low carbon, carbon-negative, net-zero… New, complicated vocabulary has enhanced our lexicon in just a few years. These words and expressions cover clearly distinct realities but are part of the same challenge: greatly cutting down on carbon dioxide.
One word, in particular, is being used by governments, scientists and companies and today encapsulates this vital process: Decarbonising industry: The word "Decarbonisation" is also relatively newish since it was only added to the dictionary (in France) in… 2012 ! This term means "the process of reducing and removing carbon dioxide output from a country's economy" (Collins English Dictionary).
Decarbonisation has also been enshrined in laws. France adopted, in 2015, the Low Carbon National Strategy as part of the law, adopted in France, and entitled Energy Transition towards Green Growth. It also features in the French Energy-Climate law of the 8th November 2019.
One economic sector we are particularly interested in here, industry, has a huge task on its hands. With millions of tons of raw materials and fossil fuels guzzled up every day, it will have a vast amount to do…
As the beating heart of the manufacturing system, industry is also (around the world) the fourth most polluting activity of our economies, behind transport (1st place), agriculture, forestry and land use (2nd), and construction (3rd), Decarbonisation is, therefore, a necessity. And there numerous reasons for doing so:
Scientists are telling us that in the fight against global warming, reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by human activities is an absolute priority. Therefore, decarbonising industry is, first of all, a climate issue.
The global objective is by the way quantified: France has committed to reducing its GHG emissions by 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990) and achieving net zero by 2050. Like all other economic sectors, industry subsequently has to play its part. Only the joint efforts of all economic players will make it possible to limit global warming and its consequences (lower agricultural yields, food inflation, climate-induced migration, economic crises…).
Apart from the environmental benefits, decarbonisation has other advantages for industry. It helps to first increase its resilience (its capacity to overcome crises) in the face of energy shocks, especially through greater energy independence.By being less dependent on fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal, etc.), manufacturers are spared the risks and uncertainty linked to raw material markets, which are highly sensitive to international events (armed conflicts, trade disputes, political crises, etc.).
Decarbonisation also helps manufacturers to preserve, even increase, their competitiveness. First, because demand (society, consumers, companies, etc.) is factoring in environmental criteria: Proving manufacturing is decarbonised has become a comparative advantage and a selling point.An argument that several companies will not pass up! Afterwards, because the price of oil, of which the resources are diminishing, will mechanically go up.
Lastly, as economists point out, decarbonising industry is synonymous with job creation and regional revitalisation.
We must identify and distinguish the two principal sources of CO2 emissions emitted by 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 also need to distinguish between the two main types of industry.
There is heavy industry. It is, most obviously, the one that urgently needs to be decarbonised. Heavy industry accounts for 75 % of overall industrial GHG emissions. Three areas, in particular, emit a lot: the chemical industry (25 % of overall emissions for industry, according to the ADEME (French Ecological Transition Agency)), the steel industry (22 %), and construction materials, such as cement (12 %), aluminium (5 %), or even, glass, bricks and whitewash.
Then, there is the light industry, representing 25 % of total industrial GHG emissions.Here, we find food-processing companies, car manufacturers, textile manufacturers, and the electronics sector.
Let's start with a clarification: there is currently no firm consensus on how to exactly proceed with decarbonising industry and the economy in general Some want to bank on technological innovation, while others consider we have to consume and produce less. One thing is for sure, and it is good news, there are multiple options. There are two main avenues worth retaining: energy sufficiency and technological development.
And limit, as much as possible, the consumption of materials produced by the three sectors with the most emissions: the chemical industry, steel industry and construction materials industry. In particular, it means building less but better (by refraining where possible from using cement, which is highly polluting), manufacturing smaller (cars, for example), and more sustainable.
Projects linked to repairability, work done on product sustainability, and product-service systems are practices that are beginning to form part of this “less but better” approach.
Specialists refer to the measures making existing practices and processes more virtuous as "continuous progress". This is, above all, about accelerating the move away from fossil fuels.
At the heart of this continuous progress is:
. Improvements made to energy efficiency (through renovation of boilers, the use of heat pumps, or investment in less energy-intensive equipment);
. The electrification of industrial processes by replacing, for example, a machine fired by heating oil with one operating with electricity);
. The transition towards non-fossil fuels (such as biomass energy or biogas);
. The recourse to renewable energies (thanks to the installation of solar panels or buying wind-powered electricity);
. Or even adopting low-carbon mobility plans (encouraging employees to carshare, working from home, energy-efficient driving and reduced travel).
There are two distinguishable fields of application: technologies as a means of avoiding CO2 emissions coming from industrial processes themselves; and technologies as a means of capturing the CO2 produced by industry.
The emissions avoidance strategy is currently embodied by one technology in particular:low carbon" hydrogen**, also called "green" hydrogen. This gas, produced from electricity and water, is presented as an alternative to fossil fuels. The principal argument: its production and use emit little CO2.
The CO2 removal strategy is known under the acronym "CCUS" for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage. What's the idea? So carbon emitted by industry does not escape and warm up the atmosphere, it is captured thanks to cutting-edge technologies and then stored in the ground by injecting it into underground cavities. In essence, it is locked in underground. Three CO2 removal techniques are currently under study (pre-combustion, oxy-combustion and post-combustion).
This disruptive technology has, however, failed to win unanimous support. Firstly, because, today, it is only a backup solution: it does not help to massively reduce CO2 emissions. Secondly, because it is expensive and, sometimes, highly energy-intensive. And, lastly, because it risks being an excuse or an incentive not to tackle the root of the problem: the CO2 you must first avoid producing.
**Note: green hydrogen is obviously low-carbon, but the opposite is not true. For example, hydrogen from nuclear-powered electricity will be more low carbon than hydrogen from renewables, such as solar and wind power, but cannot be considered as green hydrogen. In this case, it is referred to as yellow hydrogen.
To encourage and accelerate the roll-out of effective, high-quality carbon removal activities in the EU, the European Commission proposed in November 2022 to establish an EU-wide certification scheme. The European Parliament approved it in April 2024.
The law covers different means of reducing carbon: permanent carbon storage thanks to industrial technologies, carbon storage in long-lasting products, and carbon farming, which includes reducing emissions from the soil.
Permanent carbon sequestration must be able to store carbon for several centuries to get certification. Products must help to eliminate carbon from the atmosphere for at least 35 years. Carbon farming activities must last at least 5 years.
In reality, decarbonising industry involves, undoubtedly being the crux of the issue, simultaneously activating all these levers. In short, the scientific community considers there is no need to choose between technological progress and energy sufficiency: companies should do both.
