For Immediate Release
July 24, 2023 9:00 am ET
New Members, New Research, Pioneering Projects
Washington, D.C. – The Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC), the only global coalition focused exclusively on the decarbonization of thermal energy with renewable solutions, today shared its first Quarterly Update on Industrial Decarbonization (QUID). Highlights of the second quarter include four new members and sponsors joining the collaborative, three new research publications and events, and three pioneering new projects by members and sponsors. These highlights represent some, but not all, of the progress being made towards the RTC objective of accelerating the pace of industrial decarbonization to meet critical climate targets.
“With our focus on bringing thermal energy users and innovative solution providers together, the RTC is uniquely positioned to help accelerate the adoption and deployment of industrial decarbonization technologies,” noted Blaine Collison, RTC Executive Director. “The second quarter activities we are highlighting are encouraging because they demonstrate continued strong corporate commitment to overcoming the barriers to adoption of renewable heating and cooling to reach decarbonization goals.”
Highlights of this quarter include the following updates:
1) Four New Members and Sponsors
With the addition of the following companies this quarter, the RTC includes 34 member companies and 40 sponsors in the US and around the world. Members include global industrial and institutional energy buyers representing approximately $3 trillion in market capitalization across a diverse range of industries, including chemical, food and beverage, and pharmaceutical. Sponsors are technology and solutions providers, advisors, developers and NGOs working to accelerate the renewable thermal market.
Eastman, a global specialty materials company, makes materials we use every day with manufacturing operations spanning additives and functional products, advanced materials, chemical intermediates, and fibers. Their sustainability strategy focuses on circularity and recycling and includes a commitment to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions one third by 2030 compared to 2017 levels and reach climate neutrality by 2050.
STX Commodities provides market access and help creating liquidity in the environmental commodities markets. They consult on the dynamics of both local and macro-European and global systems and markets for clients including renewable generators and industrials, utilities, and corporations.
StormFisher Hydrogen develops and operates facilities that recycle energy and water in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner, offering decarbonization solutions including low-carbon fuels like hydrogen, renewable natural gas (RNG), and environmental attributes such as renewable thermal credits (RTCs).
Thermon provides safe, reliable, and innovative mission-critical industrial process heating solutions for its customers. They have sales, engineering, and operations on four continents with products in 85+ countries, including direct electrification, electric boilers, and retrofits of carbon-intensive process equipment.
2) Three New Publications and Events
The RTC collaborates with its members and sponsors to actively evaluate technologies and advocate for policies that can help accelerate significant decarbonization. The RTC focuses on the full-range of renewable energy technologies across all industrial, commercial and institutional applications. Three new publications and events were released in the second quarter:
Case Study: Solar Thermal at Colgate-Palmolive Factory: To advance their decarbonization goals, RTC member Colgate-Palmolive installed a solar thermal system, built by RTC sponsor Absolicon, on the roof of a home goods manufacturing facility in Athens, Greece. The project shows how renewable thermal installations can be a win for both decarbonization and financial objectives.
Green Hydrogen Technology Assessment: Deloitte and the World Wildlife Fund co-authored this paper on behalf of the RTC. The primary goal was to better understand the potential for and barriers to the use of green hydrogen for industrial heat applications, and to identify stakeholder priorities for acting on green hydrogen’s potential to decarbonize industrial heat use.
Expert Webinar: Leveraging Thermal Efficiency and Heat Recovery to Accelerate Industrial Decarbonization: The RTC held an expert panel discussion featuring RTC members Proctor & Gamble and PepsiCo alongside RTC sponsors Armstrong International and Thermal Energy International. The experts shared their insights on the economic and greenhouse gas impacts of thermal energy efficiency and waste heat recovery, financial considerations for these types of projects, and how to address implementation hurdles to successfully deploy projects.
3) Pioneering Member & Sponsor Projects
The RTC is the only place where large thermal energy users come together collaboratively with innovative solutions providers to understand the problems in the market, learn from each other, and overcome the barriers to renewable heating and cooling. The following three projects by RTC members and sponsors further demonstrate continued engagement in expanding industrial decarbonization projects and programs:
AtmosZero: RTC sponsor AtmosZero’s modular electrified boiler offers a cost-effective, scalable and secure drop-in replacement for fossil-fueled industrial boiler systems. Using as little as one-half of the electricity as traditional boilers, AtmosZero’s technology will help decarbonize multiple industries including food and beverage and chemical manufacturing.
- AtmosZero Partners with Danfoss for First Pilot with New Belgium Brewing: For its first pilot project, the company will partner with manufacturing leader Danfoss and New Belgium Brewing to deploy a 650-kW thermal electrified boiler at New Belgium’s headquarters in Fort Collins, CO in 2024. Through the project, AtmosZero and New Belgium will work with Fort Collins Utilities, which plans to deliver 100% renewable electricity to the brewery by 2030.
AstraZeneca & Vanguard Renewables: RTC member AstraZeneca has partnered with RTC sponsor Vanguard Renewables to supply all of AstraZeneca’s US facilities with renewable natural gas (RNG) by the end of 2026. This first-of-its kind collaboration marks a significant step towards decarbonizing the pharmaceutical industry and scaling RNG production.
- AstraZeneca to Power U.S. Facilities with RNG from Vanguard Renewables: The RNG will be produced by Vanguard from methane captured from dairy operations. By 2026, this collaboration will deliver as much as 650,000 MMBtu, or 190,500 MWh per year, worth of RNG to AstraZeneca’s sites across the country. The partnership will help AstraZeneca meet its net-zero target by 2045, while also supporting rural communities and reducing pollution from the farming sector.
Rondo Energy: RTC sponsor Rondo Energy, a developer of thermal energy storage (TES) systems, and Siam Cement Group plan to expand manufacturing capacity for Rondo Heat Batteries, a breakthrough technology that uses electricity to create and store high-temperature heat in refractory brick. This announcement paves the way for the deployment of thermal storage technology to help decarbonize even the most energy-intensive sectors.
- Rondo Energy and Siam Cement Group Plan 90GWh Battery Factory, World’s Largest: The facility will produce 90 GWh of thermal storage capacity a year, making it the world’s largest such facility.
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About the Renewable Thermal Collaborative
The Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) is a global coalition of companies, institutions and governments committed to decarbonizing their operations by scaling up renewable heating and cooling technologies at their facilities. The RTC collaborates with its members and sponsors to accelerate industrial decarbonization by addressing and identifying ways to overcome the technology, policy and market challenges that large thermal energy users face. Learn more at www.renewablethermal.org.
