Decarbonisation strategies in industry: going beyond clusters

Abstract

An effective and just industrial transition is necessary both to mitigate climate change and protect jobs, and as a precursor to enable other sectors to decarbonise. Activity is at an early stage and examples of successful sector-wide interventions to decarbonise industry do not yet exist. Governments of industrialised countries are beginning to develop policy and provide funding to support deployment of carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen infrastructures into high-emitting industrial clusters, but options for sites outside of clusters, denoted here as ‘dispersed sites’, are also required. This paper takes a mixed methods approach to provide the first analysis of the issues facing dispersed industrial sites on their route to decarbonisation and to suggest solutions to the challenges they face. Using the UK as a case study, it first characterises dispersed sites in terms of location, emissions released, sectors involved, and size of companies affected. It then shows how these features mean that simply expanding the geographical scope of the present UK decarbonisation strategy, which focuses on the provision of carbon capture and low-carbon hydrogen, would face a number of challenges and so will need to be broadened to include a wider range of abatement options and other considerations to meet the needs of dispersed sites. While the solutions for each place will be different, these are likely to include some combination of the expansion of shared infrastructure, the development of local zero-carbon hubs, research into a wider range of novel abatement technologies and facilitating local participation in energy planning. The paper concludes with a discussion of remaining knowledge gaps before outlining how its findings might apply to industrial decarbonisation strategies in other countries.

Blockchain Traceability Adoption in Low-Carbon Supply Chains: An Evolutionary Game Analysis

“…For the manufacturer, the government should develop policies to shape markets with low-carbon preferences and provide funding to install carbon capture and other infrastructure in high-carbon industrial clusters to track indirect emissions and ensure the integrity of carbon traceability. The government should provide consulting services to deliver blockchain solutions through blockchain technology incubation centers [60]. The above initiatives will encourage stakeholders in the low-carbon supply chain to actively participate in the blockchain traceability of carbon emissions, improving the transparency and traceability of their carbon footprints.…”

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“…The need for decarbonization is emphasized in the context of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and controlling global warming within acceptable parameters (Elkerbout et al, 2020;Ingeborgrud et al, 2020). It is noted that developing countries, in particular, require assistance due to a shortage of capital to carry out decarbonization strategies (Hammond, 2022;Rattle et al, 2023). The abstracts also discuss the importance of renewable energy in decarbonizing electricity systems, with a focus on Indonesia (Khatiwada et al, 2022).…”

Decarbonisation: A Case Study of Malaysia

“…The need for decarbonization is emphasized in the context of achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and controlling global warming within acceptable parameters (Elkerbout et al, 2020;Ingeborgrud et al, 2020). It is noted that developing countries, in particular, require assistance due to a shortage of capital to carry out decarbonization strategies (Hammond, 2022;Rattle et al, 2023). The abstracts also discuss the importance of renewable energy in decarbonizing electricity systems, with a focus on Indonesia (Khatiwada et al, 2022).…”