New Roadmap Shows How to Cut a Surprisingly Big Source of Emissions
Electricity can replace natural gas to provide the low- and medium-grade heat needed to make food, paper and chemicals.
Machined steel for an industrial steam heat pump boiler.
Photographer: Benjamin Rasmussen for Bloomberg GreenThe 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.
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.