Practical experiences from the industry in their way to decarbonization
The energy transition in industry should be viewed in the context of global trends that will impact the demand for and preferred production routes of industrial products. There is an expected growth in resource demand, driven by an increase in middle class consumers of ~3 billion in the coming 20 years, as well as rapid urbanization. This coincides with growing constraints on key resources, such as copper and zinc, and environmental degradation, for instance from air pollution. On top of that, there are technological breakthroughs. Rapid cost reduction in renewable power generation is driving further electrification. New digital technologies are improving productivity. In the light of these demographic, resource, and technological developments, industrial players should reconsider their strategies.
Decarbonization of industry is technically possible through a combination of technical solutions, the optimum mix of which will vary widely between sectors and regions. It also shows that in many cases, decarbonized production processes are currently not cost competitive with conventional production technology. In cases such as these, where there is currently an absence of an economic driver, decarbonization would require technological breakthroughs, a further lowering of zero-carbon energy prices, changing customer preferences (willingness to pay) and/or a regulatory push.
Moderator
Elvira Carles / Empresa y Clima Foundation
Speakers
- Ahmed Hababou/ Air Products
- Flavia Malet / Fluidra, S.A.
- Izaskun Gorostiaga / Nortegas
- Javier Mejía / AENOR International, S.A.
- Mike Cuingnet / Tennders Europe, S.L.
- Nieves Cifuentes / Naturgy
- Juanjo Martín / Eurecat
- Alberto Fernández / Normmal
- Oriol Vilaseca / Vilaseca Consultors, S.L.P
- Juliana Mutis / Minkadev