Industrial heat pumps: electrifying & optimizing industry's process heat supply

Industry accounts for more than 25% of the U.S. energy use and energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions - emissions that must be reduced to achieve climate stabilization goals. Industry has several pathways to step-change GHG reductions including electrification of process heat - which is responsible for 50% of on-site energy use. Industrial heat pumps (IHPs) could provide much of the process heat needed for low-moderate temperature applications, helping to make dramatic cuts in industrial GHG emissions while also aiding beneficial electrification. Our research shows that moderate IHP deployment in industrial groups with high process heating demands (e.g. pulp and paper, chemicals, and food manufacturing) could save up to 30% of the source energy or 221.6 petajoules/year (equivalent energy use/year of 1.5 million U.S. homes). In parallel, IHPs could reduce CO2 emissions up to 18.2 million metric tons/year (equivalent emissions from 4.0 million passenger cars or 1.3% of U.S. industrial CO2 emissions). Expanded adoption of IHPs across all industrial sectors would save even more energy and CO2 emissions.