By: Nour Attalla
What’s the scoop?
Heavy industry is one of the biggest users of energy in the world. Previously, fossil fuels, like coal and natural gas, have been used to generate the immense heat needed to make steel and brew beer.
Now, new start-up’s like Atmoszero, are creating electric technologies that can replace this process, and decarbonise factories. Simply put, their idea is to magnify the heating process used in electric kettles and lighters to the scale needed for industrial processes..
This is hugely important for our journey towards net-zero emissions, as big industry accounts for about a quarter of all CO2 emissions from energy generation globally.
The Economist showed that the one economic sector in which emissions were forecast to grow in the coming decades is heavy industry, as emissions shrink across other sectors.
However, with investment in new electric innovations, this trend may actually be changing. Even with current technologies, up to 50% of heavy industry may be electrified. And this number will only increase as electrical equipment becomes more efficient and more widely available.
Technological change won’t beat global warming alone. We will also need changes in our economic and political systems and ways of life to achieve our climate goals. Still, the creation of more sustainable technologies, like electric industrial equipment, pushes us one step closer to enabling a high quality of life within our planetary boundaries.
What is our role in this change?
Not only is this a victory for the climate and industry, as studies show that we, as the democratic public, are in large part responsible for creating this change. Public and media pressure are key factors pushing new climate-change legislation. And ultimately, legislation is what forces unlikely companies like Shell to invest in clean energy production.
So, for those of us who feel like they don’t have a voice in creating climate action, this little victory is a reminder that our voices collectively are our strongest tool in creating change.
