Because of its energy-intensive, large-scale activities, the industrial sector is challenging to decarbonize and is responsible for around 25% of all emissions in the US.
The Biden administration will support projects to decarbonize the industrial sector with $6 billion, the largest-ever commitment from the United States in this area. Facilities producing iron, steel, aluminum, food and drink, concrete, and cement are among the 33 demonstration projects spread throughout more than 20 states that make up the effort. The budget, which originates from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, aims to reduce pollution by 14 million metric tons annually, the same as removing three million vehicles off the road.
Constellium of Ravenswood, West Virginia, is one of the projects that will run on clean fuels like hydrogen and run a zero-carbon aluminum casting factory. They will also build low-emission furnaces. Decarbonizing food manufacturing at ten sites, including one in Holland, Michigan, will be accomplished by Kraft Heinz by installing heat pumps, electric heaters, and electric boilers. Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation, located in Middletown, Ohio, is the biggest steel supplier to the U.S. car industry. It will employ hydrogen technology to make iron, retire one blast furnace, and build two electric furnaces. This will result in an annual elimination of one million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. To keep 2 million tons of carbon dioxide out of the air annually, Heidelberg Materials US, Inc. will construct a system to store carbon underground at its cement factory in Mitchell, Indiana. The goal is to collect 95% of the carbon dioxide that the facility releases.
Developing nations in the Global South may create better roads and buildings with less environmental impact by adopting the revolutionary concrete and cement technology that the United States is scaling up. The climate discourse has revolved around decarbonizing the power and transportation sectors, with the federal government offering substantial subsidies for alternatives like electric cars and renewable energy for power production. Heavy businesses, which generate the enormous heat and chemical processes required for their operations by burning fossil fuels, make it more difficult to reduce emissions.
Switching to produce new aluminum using only sustainable energy would have environmental benefits, industrial stability, and job creation.
