Committee on Climate Change

Our previous analysis suggests that there is scope for a 16% cut (12 MtCO₂) in industry emissions by 2020, primarily through energy efficiency improvement and increased deployment of renewable heat.

Emissions in 2020 under this scenario are around 157 MtCO₂ (i.e. 30% of total UK GHG emissions), with energy intensive industries accounting for around 50% of this total. 


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The 2020s

Beyond 2020, it is important that industrial emissions are further reduced, otherwise they could account for almost all the total allowed UK emissions in 2050.

Our analysis on reducing emissions in the 2020s looks at four promising but uncertain options:

• Use of biomass and biogas; could meet 55% and 20% respectively of industrial heat demand in 2030, with biomass achieving carbon savings of around 13 MtCO₂ in 2030,
• Conbined Heat and Power (CHP): use is constrained by the costs of biomass CHP being relatively higher than biomass boilers, although there may be potential for use of heat networks to supply industrial heat demand particularly where demand is co-located near a heat source.
• Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS): could be widely applicable in energy intensive industries with emissions reductions of 5 MtCO₂ in 2030, although this is highly uncertain due to the current state of technology development.  

Further options with carbon intensive industries: covers a wide range of technologies across the six most carbon intensive industries in the UK, such as recycling of steel in the iron and steel industry and clinker substitution in cement production.

Our analysis suggests that these options could collectively offer potential emissions reductions of 31 MtCO₂ by 2030. This reduction is consistent with a level of uptake that is cost-effective relative to a carbon price projection of £70 per tonne of carbon abated.
 

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