Light Industry

Countries and regions making notable progress in decarbonising light industry include: 

• The European Union launched a strong push on the transition for the industry sector through the release of its Green Deal Industrial Plan in February 2023, with a particular focus on energy efficiency, including in industry, and investments favouring heat pump deployment.  
• The United States announced important new funding in 2022 under the Inflation Reduction Act, which is expected to substantially boost investments for energy efficiency in industries.  
• New Zealand banned in 2021 the installation of new low- and medium-temperature coal boilers to encourage cleaner alternatives for industries.
  

Emissions from light industry rose in the early 2000s due to growth in output, especially in China. Between 2010 and 2020 emissions declined by about 1.8% per year on average, while total output continued to grow. This was attributable to improvements in energy efficiency, particularly from the adoption of best available technologies in China, as well as producers moving towards electrification. However, in 2021, emissions rose by more than 2% due to an increase in activity across several light industries but went back to their 2020 level the following year.  

Progress is not at the rate needed to be in step with the NZE Scenario – emission reductions must accelerate to about 6% per year on average to 2030 to get on track.

Energy is used for a wide array of purposes in light industry, and its application varies widely according to the sector in question. Overall, the largest consumer of energy in light industry is process heat for applications such as drying, metal melting and food preparation. The majority of the fossil fuels used in light industry are for generating process heat, while electricity is used primarily to power motor-driven systems as well for process heat, cooling and lighting.  

Fossil fuels made up 38% of the final energy used in light industry in 2022. Their share is on the decline – in 2005 they accounted for about 52% of final energy use. The main contributor to this decline is electricity, which grew as a proportion of total final energy by about 2% per year between 2010 and 2022. More than 70% of the additional energy used in 2021 compared to the previous year was electricity, showing that electrification continued even in a year where emissions increased.

In the NZE Scenario, the share of electricity increases at an even faster rate – about 3% per year – to make up around 55% of energy consumption by 2030, alongside continued growth in bioenergy use, and a very large proportional (but relatively small absolute) increase in the use of emerging near zero technologies like solar thermal, geothermal energy and hydrogen. The result is that fossil fuel use declines to less than a quarter of total energy in 2030.

Unlike in many other industries, most of the technologies needed for net zero emissions in light industry are already on the market. Since more than 90% of total heat demand is low or medium temperature (below 400 °C), there is wide scope for electrification.  

Heat pump units – which commonly run on electricity – able to provide heat above 100 °C are now entering the market, with some reaching 200 °C. The NZE Scenario sees them supplying about 7% of light-industry heat by 2030.  

Many other forms of electric heating exist, such as electric boilers and induction heaters. Hydrogen produced from electrolysis could also be used as an indirect form of electric heating; however, since the cost is expected to stay higher than direct electrification, it is most suited for higher temperatures for which direct electrification is not available. In the NZE Scenario, 40% of the heat required is provided directly or indirectly by electricity by 2030, compared with 24% today. 

Additional low-emission heat can be provided using biomass or by recovering the waste heat from other nearby industries, or – where the geography allows – through solar water heaters, concentrating solar thermal systems or geothermal heat.  

On the mechanical energy front, good progress is being made on electric motors, as global production is increasingly reliant on more efficient models. For instance, EU regulations state that 750 W 4-pole IE2 class motors must have an efficiency of 79%, while similar-sized IE4 class motors must have an efficiency above 85%. In the NZE Scenario, 90% of global motor sales in light industry are IE3 class or above by 2030. For comparison, about three-quarters of industrial motors are IE2 class or below today.  

Beyond the heating and motor technologies mentioned above, many other technologies can help reduce light industry’s emissions and energy consumption, such as LEDs, process controls and efficient pumps. Energy savings need to be made across the board.

In contrast to in heavy industry, most of the technologies required for deep emission reductions in light industry are already on the market, making innovation less critical. That does not mean that it is unimportant, however, as a large number of technologies still have relatively low market penetration, especially in near zero-emission heat generation.  

Investment in technology such as heat pumps and alternative process heat production (e.g. radio frequency heating, electromagnetic heating and infrared heating) – either through direct funding of development or through policies to increase uptake – can help to reduce costs through innovation and thus increase the rate of deployment.

Electrification can only succeed in significantly reducing emissions if it comes from near zero-emission sources. Policy makers must therefore ensure that the necessary investment in, planning for, and deployment of production capacity and distribution systems for clean electricity and hydrogen takes place. Industrial clusters and infrastructure build-out would also help maximise opportunities for use of waste heat from neighbouring industrial facilities. An important part of this will be implementing stringent economy-wide emission policies that incentivise decarbonisation at every level.

Solutions to improve energy efficiency, such as industrial heat pumps, are important to decarbonise light industries, but deployment is slowed down by the upfront cost and information barriers. Several countries have introduced policies to remedy these problems, for example:  

• In Germany, subsidies in the federal funding programme for energy and resource efficiency in commercial enterprises can cover up to 55% of the initial cost of the heat pump, up to a ceiling of EUR 15 million per project.  
• Other European countries have implemented similar schemes, such as Denmark, where grants launched in 2022 cover up to 50% of the cost of an energy saving project, such as better lighting solutions or energy optimisation of process plants.  
• In Brazil, the PotencializEE programme, adopted in 2022, offers training for industrial energy efficiency experts to help facilities identify clean and efficient technologies. 
• In Chile, the first Energy Efficiency and Emissions Reduction Network was launched in 2021 to bring together 14 mining companies of all sizes to combine their experience and improve the energy efficiency, productivity and sustainability of their sector.  
• The government of Korea announced in 2019 the creation of a national heat map covering the waste heat from industrial facilities, incinerators, power plants, etc. This map will facilitate the reuse of waste heat and allow for energy efficiency gains.  
• In 2000, about 5% of industrial motors globally were covered by Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) regulations imposing a minimum efficiency standard. This jumped to 17% in 2010 and 53% in 2022, with 62 countries having MEPS for electric motors.