CO2-neutral process heat generation – a study for the Federal Environment Agency of Germany (Umweltbundesamt)

The advancing climate crisis requires a CO2-neutral generation of process heat, especially in countries like Germany, which pursue ambitious defossilization goals and are home to energy-intensive industrial sites. This article presents an excerpt from the results of a comprehensive study conducted on behalf of the German Environment Agency by Fraunhofer ISI in collaboration with the Department for Industrial Furnaces and Heat Engineering at RWTH Aachen University. This study delves into the current use of fossil fuels for providing process heat in various energy-intensive industries in Germany and particularly demonstrates the technical potential for future CO2-neutral process heat generation. To achieve this, the current state of the art of process heat generation in the metal and mineral industries as well as steam generation was analyzed, and approaches for CO2-neutral transformation pathways for the industry were developed.