The Contribution of Renewable Energy Technologies in Industrial Decarbonization

The necessity to mitigate climate change requires the substitution of fossil fuels with carbon-free energy sources and fuels. The industrial sector has significant contribution in global GHG emissions and its decarbonization is necessary for the achievement of the global climate targets. The possibility of using various sustainable energy technologies in industries reducing their carbon footprint has been explored and the challenges hindering their adoption have been highlighted. The sustainable energy technologies and fuels studied include solar photovoltaic systems, wind turbines, solar thermal heating and cooling systems, solid biomass and biogas, energy storage and green hydrogen. Although most of the abovementioned benign energy systems are mature, reliable and cost-efficient several challenges prevent their broad use in industries. Our work indicates that several existing sustainable energy technologies can be used in industries providing heat, cooling and electricity reducing or completely eliminating their carbon emissions. Industries can overcome the challenges and use one or more of these benign energy technologies reducing their carbon emissions. The current study could be useful to policy makers for developing appropriate policies promoting industrial decarbonization and to industries which can reduce their carbon footprint using the abovementioned sustainable energy technologies.