New Roadmap Shows How to Cut a Surprisingly Big Source of Emissions
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Electricity can replace natural gas to provide the low- and medium-grade heat needed to make food, paper and chemicals.Author of the article:You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.(Bloomberg) — The industrial sector is the third-biggest source of carbon pollution in the US. While the need to cut emissions from steel and cement receives the most attention, a new report makes it clear that dozens of industries, from ethanol to toilet paper and breakfast cereal, share a ready-made climate solution: electrification. Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Electrifying these overlooked sources of CO2 has the potential to cut their emissions 26% by 2050, a reduction of about 1 billion tons, below a 2023 baseline, according to an 18-month analysis conducted by researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “We’re shining a light on what the opportunity space looks like for near-term action,” said Eric Masanet, a UCSB professor specializing in industrial innovation and a coauthor of the new study. Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againInterested in more newsletters? Browse here.These sectors rely on low- and medium-grade heat — that is, temperatures of up to 300C (572F) — and are responsible for about 40% of all US industrial emissions. There are emissions-reducing solutions available today for many lower-heat industries. They include swapping out natural gas for electric boilers or heat pumps, as well as improving efficiency. Some states, such as New York and Washington, have power prices low enough that electrified heating may already be cost-effective. Their relatively clean power grids also ensure that switching to electricity doesn’t just replace onsite fossil-fuel use with offsite fossil-fuel power production. There are also state incentive programs to help low- and medium-temperature industries clean up their operations. For instance, a 2023 Colorado law made $168 million in funding available for manufacturers to replace fossil-fuel equipment with electric alternatives. California now uses some revenue from its statewide carbon-cutting program to incentivize industrial heat programs. Federal and state dollars also support work in Pennsylvania and Minnesota, said Leah Stokes, a UCSB professor of environmental politics and a coauthor of the study.
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Martin Heinrich, Democrats from Rhode Island and New Mexico respectively, have co-sponsored and supported legislation that promotes electrification in high-emissions sectors, including industrial facilities, and were set to speak on the UCSB report launch webinar Tuesday.Industries that spend less on energy are also well-placed to decarbonize without added costs to end users. Doubling the energy costs of milk production might result in pass-through costs of one cent, according to the report. While the Trump administration has reversed many climate policies and practices of the Biden administration, one element of President Donald Trump’s signature law may help make investments less expensive. Included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a measure to reduce companies’ tax burden when they invest in manufacturing infrastructure and equipment. For the sectors analyzed in the report, this favorable tax treatment, called accelerated depreciation, “could have profound impacts on owners’ decisions to upgrade to clean technologies,” the Santa Barbara team wrote. “Trump is president,” said Stokes. “That doesn’t mean a corporation can’t decide to install a heat pump tomorrow.”But a key barrier to cleaning up low- and medium-temperature industries is that electric heating remains more expensive than natural gas in many locations — a difference the authors call the “spark gap.” More complicated operations may also require more bespoke solutions.There are also few incentives for industries to reduce emissions since factories aren’t required to pay for their carbon pollution, said Sonali Deshpande, a policy analyst at think tank Energy Innovation who reviewed the study but was not a contributor.“The only decarbonization effort that makes economic sense for firms to take are the ones that save them money,” said Deshpande.Stokes said that the country’s rapid buildout of data centers will also likely compete with factories for power supplies in some places. But despite these potential hurdles for industrial electrification, “we need to put it on the agenda,” she said. A wider adoption of electrification has to go hand in hand with improving energy efficiency, Stokes added. Otherwise, the new power loads risk sending utility bills sky-high.The report authors published an accompanying online tool that shows how much electrification costs around the country, its effects on pollution and how policies could help. The research is designed to help translate technical material into a format for policymakers. Facility-level data for the study came from the US Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, a public database for polluters’ emissions. Trump’s move to end the program could cut off data for this kind of analysis just as it’s getting started.“We’ll have far less transparency on the emissions coming from the industrial sector” if the program ends, said Masanet. “That’s really the one comprehensive database where anyone can go to find out how much emissions are coming from the plant down the street.”Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.