A recent report from the LDES Council and Roland Berger states that the presently available technologies for long-duration energy storage, LDES, have the potential to lessen industrial emissions by around 65%.
Notably, industrial carbon dioxide emissions contribute almost 25% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The annual growth rate of such industrial emissions goes beyond 2%, posing a significant issue when it comes to reaching worldwide net-zero emissions objectives.
The report, Driving to Net Zero Industry Through Long-Duration Energy Storage, went on to infer that the 4 categories of LDES technology – electrochemical, thermal, mechanical, as well as chemical, all happen to be viable, cost-effective, as well as readily applicable choices in the case of industrial decarbonization when teamed with renewable energy.
Long-duration energy storage happens to be offering a reliable source of power for off-grid applications and can go on to provide consistent heat as well as power for grid-connected industrial applications. By storing energy in the times when costs happen to be at their lowest end or when production exceeds consumption, this gets accomplished.
CEO of the LDES Council, Julia Souder, stressed on the fact that decarbonizing the industry is a prominent challenge that one has to overcome so as to reach their target of achieving net zero emissions. This report concludes that it is indeed imperative to act promptly, and there is no justification for any sort of delay. LDES and renewables play the exact right role in effectively reducing emissions across crucial industrial sectors in the short, medium, as well as long term.
Corporate setups like Tata Steel, Microsoft, as well as BHP have made major investments when it comes to tech and have initiated projects already to showcase how LDES technologies can slash the carbon emissions in their functions quite impactfully.
LDES can be applied across off-grid facilities as a substitute for costly diesel fuel with affordable renewable electricity. This helps industrial customers have a consistent and reliable power supply across day and night.
Extending energy storage capacities to 10 hours and more can facilitate the continuous operation of mines, data centers, as well as other off-grid industrial operations that are remote by utilizing carbon-free power at each time.
LDES also happens to offer support for the decarbonization of high-temperature industrial manufacturing processes that currently depend on a mix of fossil fuels for heat generation.
The demand in terms of industrial heat is expected to surge by 34% till 2040, with low -medium temperature heat segments witnessing biggest rates of growth.
LDES has the capacity to decrease emissions in food processing as well as in chemical facilities that have heat requirements of less than 500°C. The food and chemical industries collectively spread out more than 20% of industrial emissions. Offering thermal energy storage solutions that are powered by electricity from the grid can make a major contribution when it comes to reducing global emissions.
To achieve these objectives, it may be essential to execute new policy mechanisms that can help bridge the present cost gaps. Industrial decarbonization can be quickened by way of long-term market signals, secure revenue mechanisms, as well as technology support.
Souder further went on to state that many large companies around the world are now adopting long-term energy storage technologies so as to facilitate their industrial operations. That said, it is necessary for policymakers to come up with appropriate market mechanisms and also offer effective support so as to greatly enhance these solutions’ success.
