Allgemeines Projekt

Strengthening Industrial Heat Pump Innovation: Decarbonizing Industrial Heat

White Paper

Authors: Robert de Boer (TNO), Andrew Marina (TNO), Benjamin Zühlsdorf (DTI), Cordin Arpagaus (NTB), Michael Bantle (Sintef), Veronika Wilk (AIT), Brian Elmegaard (DTU), José Corberán (UPV), Jessica Benson (RISE)

Management Summary

Industrial processes are currently responsible for 20 % of total greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. In order to stay within the 1.5 °C scenario of the Paris Climate Agreement, measures to reduce these greenhouse gas emissions from industry are urgently needed. This paper highlights the role heat pump technologies can fulfil in realizing significant reductions in CO₂ emissions arising from industrial process heating. Industrial heat pumps are a highly energy efficient, crosscutting technology to provide process heat. Driven by electric power, heat pumps are a key electri cation technology which are able to replace a large share of fossil fuelled industrial process heating. The research institutes involved in RD&D of heat pump solutions propose a European industrial heat pump program, designed to accelerate the implementation and further development of this low carbon technology. Unlocking the benefits of heat pump technology requires a set of coherent measures. This includes creating a regulatory framework that facilitates the acceptance of industrial heat pumps, setting up a European information and knowledge base on heat pump technologies and process integration as well as the establishment of an RD&D program that supports the strengthening and growth of industrial heat pump applications.

Download

The white paper is available as a download.

Webinar

On October 29, 2020 the webinar Strengthening Industrial Heat Pump Innovation in Europe took place.
You can watch this webinar on demand via the following link:
https://channel.royalcast.com/webcast/tnowebcasts/20201029_2/

Heat Pumps for Decarbonizing the Industry

Heat pumps are an energy efficient electrification technology which are able to replace a large share of fossil fueled industrial process heating. To accelerate the implementation and further development of industrial heat pumps, several European research institutes have prepared a whitepaper outlining the current status and steps needed to realise the decarbonisation potential of this technology.

Background

With Europe having strong ambitions to move towards a net-zero carbon economy by 2050, radical changes are needed to the current energy supply in the industry. Electrically driven heat pump technology has been proposed for supplying heat and increasing the process efficiency in industry for many decades. With larger shares of renewables in the electricity system, the decarbonization potential of this technology is increasing rapidly.

Despite having high energy and emission saving potential, uptake of heat pumps is currently limited. To improve the prospects for industrial heat pump technology, several European research institutes (TNO, DTI, DTU, Sintef, AIT, UPV, RISE, and NTB) have collaborated on a whitepaper.

The goals of the whitepaper are to simultaneously:

Promote heat pumps as the reference low temperature heating technology in industry
Demonstrate the application and decarbonization potential of industrial heat pumps
Bring industrial heat pumps to the forefront of national and European strategic research and innovation agendas
Stimulate the coordination of research, development and demonstration (RD&D) of industrial heat pumps on a European level

The whitepaper is targeted towards policy and decision makers at both national and European level. It is intended to increase the awareness for the technology by these policy and decision makers and to be used as a basis to establish programs to unlock the decarbonization potential. It is also intended to act as a driver for heat pump manufacturers to develop technology for industrial applications and provide industry with the prospective of the technology.

An industrial heat pump program

The whitepaper demonstrates that implementation of heat pumps have far reaching benefits beyond energy and emission savings. It will also increase the competitiveness of EU industry and drive technical innovations, stimulating job creation and a strong economy. However, to unlock the full potential of the technology, a supporting policy framework is needed. To stimulate industrial heat pump applications the whitepaper proposes that the European Commission implement the following actions:

Create a regulatory framework that facilitates the acceptance of industrial heat pumps
Set up a European information and knowledge base on heat pump technologies and solutions for reliable process integration
Establish a RD&D program that supports the strengthening and growth of industrial heat pump applications.

All research institutes have ambitions to be at the forefront in the rollout of these actions and continue to stimulate industrial heat pump technology and developments within its CO₂ neutral industry roadmap.