Green hydrogen, produced using electrolysis and renewable electricity, can play a unique and critical role in decarbonizing high-heat industrial processes, such as manufacturing steel, chemicals, and cement. According to the Renewable Thermal Vision Report published by the Renewable Thermal Collaborative, blue and green hydrogen can supply approximately 13% of U.S. industrial process heat by 2050. In the United States, recent […]
Meeting the United States’ goals of reducing carbon emissions 50-52% by 2035 requires a concentrated effort to develop and deploy clean technologies across sectors. The country’s industrial sector poses a serious challenge: while the share of renewable energy used to generate electricity continues to grow, so does the use of thermal energy to produce heat. Previous analyses, including the Renewable […]
Meeting the United States’ goals of reducing carbon emissions 50-52% by 2035 requires a concentrated effort to develop and deploy clean technologies across sectors. The country’s industrial sector poses a serious challenge: while the share of renewable energy used to generate electricity continues to grow, so does the use of thermal energy to produce heat. Previous analyses, including the Renewable […]
Many analyses, including the Renewable Thermal Vision Report, identify electric heat pumps as a critical opportunity to decarbonize low-temperature industrial heat generation, which accounts for 43% of total U.S. industrial thermal emissions. Heat pumps have garnered attention for their ability to utilize heat from ambient (air, water, ground) or waste heat sources, allowing companies to eliminate pollution from fossil fuel […]
Since the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act in August 2022, the Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) policy team has submitted several comments to the U.S. Department of Treasury regarding the Act’s implementation. The issues on which the RTC has commented include: The qualification of facility retrofits for the Sec. 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Credit The treatment of thermal storage and […]
The US industrial sector produces 24% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, over half of which come from thermal energy use to create the products we use and the food we eat. Until recently, this was the forgotten wedge of US climate emissions. To decarbonize industrial heat at the scale and speed needed to put the United […]
The University of California, Davis constructed a new hot water heating system powered by electricity to replace old, natural gas-powered steam equipment. The project, named the Big Shift, will reduce UC Davis’ overall carbon emissions by at least 40% and enable the University to achieve Scope 1 and Scope 2 decarbonization by 2025.
This roadmap is designed to help thermal energy users identify, analyze, and execute electrification projects. It categorizes what companies need to consider and the questions they need to ask while exploring electrification options.
Together with direct electrification, energy efficiency, and renewable electricity projects, the University of California1 (the University or UC) is procuring biomethane to replace 40% of its natural gas needs. This biomethane procurement strategy is an integral part of the University of California’s plan to reach net zero Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 2025.
To help energy users and policymakers better understand this rapidly evolving technology, this primer focuses on the application of green hydrogen for industrial process heat and provides a high-level analysis of both the potential and challenges of this technology. It is intended to enhance the knowledge of energy buyers, policymakers, and other key stakeholders and inspire deeper multistakeholder discussion and collaboration to ensure that green hydrogen plays an appropriate role.