The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released new Pathways to Commercial Liftoff reports focusing on the opportunities and challenges that lie in achieving industrial decarbonization and implementing virtual power plants (VPPs). The Liftoff series first launched in March 2023 to provide the private sector and other industry partners a resource on how technologies can reach full-scale deployment.
The three Industrial Decarbonization Liftoff reports in this series provide an overview of the pathways to decarbonization across eight industrial sectors of focus: chemicals, refining, iron & steel, food & beverage processing, pulp & paper, cement, aluminum, and glass.
Key findings from the Industrial Decarbonization Liftoff reports include:
- Carbon-intensive industrial sectors are facing a critical inflection point, and society is focused on accelerating deep decarbonization.
- U.S. industrial players are at risk of lagging behind net-zero targets, with a focus on short-term, easy-to-implement solutions; however, momentum is growing for the deployment of industrial decarbonization solutions.
- The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have created unprecedented tools to support industrial decarbonization; customers are demanding low-carbon products (e.g., steel for auto), and early private sector movers are emerging.
- Achieving meaningful reductions could require up to $1,100 billion in capital expenditure and a bold shift in leadership and technology adoption across various sectors.
The DOE released a deep-dive report on Decarbonizing Chemicals & Refining. The 92-page report covers the current state of technologies and markets, the path to net zero, challenges and solutions to decarbonatization and metrics and milestones
