Switch to climate-friendly process heat could save German industry billions – association
Clean Energy Wire
Germany's industry could save up to 21 billion euros in energy costs annually if it generated heat more efficiently for the manufacture of products, according to a report commissioned by the industry energy efficiency alliance DENEFF. Industry could almost halve the energy requirement of process heat by implementing measures such as heat recovery, electrifying processes still powered by fossil fuels and waste heat utilisation. This would increase competitiveness and enable sustainable growth, the authors wrote. However, savings depend on the specific sector, required temperature levels and efficiency measures already implemented, they added.
"In Germany, the same amount of energy is consumed for industrial heating applications as for heating buildings - and most of it still comes from fossil fuels," DENEFF head Christian Noll said. The association thus called on the government to draw up a strategy for the energy-efficient decarbonisation of process heat. Process heat refers to the various types of heat transfer techniques used in industrial production, where for example steel, cement and chemicals are manufactured at high temperatures.
Reducing emissions in industry is a major challenge on the way to greenhouse gas neutrality in Germany by 2045. Processes that need especially high temperatures so far largely require burning fossil fuels like gas or coal, which releases climate-harmful carbon dioxide. Because these processes often can't be electrified directly, decarbonisation plans often include the use of green hydrogen made with renewable electricity in the future to replace fossil fuels.
