World Economic Forum working with EPRI to reduce carbon emissions in industrial areas

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is working with Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Accenture to reduce carbon emissions in industrial areas in the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United States.

The “Transitioning Industrial Clusters Towards Net Zero” initiative aims to accelerate the decarbonization of hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The approach focuses on building cross-industry and cross-cluster partnerships to better implement low-carbon technologies — as in the case of the regionally developed Basque Hydrogen Corridor. It also relies on accessing public funding frameworks and blended-finance options for these decarbonization projects.

Industrial clusters are regions where industrial companies are concentrated. Since industrial assets are located close to one other, sharing infrastructure, financial and operational risks, and natural and human resources becomes possible. It also provides opportunities to deploy new green technologies, such as hydrogen and the capture, utilization, and storage of carbon for industrial applications.

“Net-zero industrial clusters are instrumental to accelerating the scale and speed of carbon reduction on the path to mid-century goals,” Neva Espinoza, EPRI’s vice president of Energy Supply and Low-Carbon Resources, said. “Clusters present unique opportunities for forwarding-thinking industrial and energy companies to build common energy infrastructure — advancing systemic efficiency and circularity, hydrogen, carbon capture, industrial electrification, and other solutions for hard-to-abate sectors more efficiently.”

The clusters joining the initiative are the H2Houston Hub, which includes more than 100 organizations and companies; the Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance, with approximately 100 corporate, governmental, and community organization members; the Port of Antwerp-Bruges, Belgium; and the Brightlands and Chemelot industrial hubs in Geleen, Netherlands.

These four large industrial emissions centers currently account for CO2 emissions of 296 million metric tons per year — greater than the annual emissions of Poland.

“The Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance seeks to locate a clean hydrogen hub in the state of Ohio and the Ohio River Valley, leading to the eventual decarbonization of much of the transportation, electricity, industrial, and heating sectors,” Kirt Conrad, co-founder, Ohio Clean Hydrogen Alliance and CEO, Stark Area Regional Transit Authority, said. “Investment into a clean hydrogen hub in Ohio will help create massive economic, environmental, and health benefits for the state and its citizens.”

The new clusters are already actively advancing their decarbonization journey. For instance, the Ohio Clean Hydrogen Hub Alliance has developed hydrogen fuel cell buses that tour around the United States, educating transit authorities on the potential and viability of clean transportation. However, to achieve net-zero emissions, these efforts must be scaled up.

“The Houston region has the talent, expertise, and infrastructure needed to lead the global energy transition to a low-carbon world,” Brett Perlman, CEO of the Center for Houston’s Future, said. “Clean hydrogen, alongside carbon capture, use, and storage, are among the key technology areas where Houston is set up to succeed and can be an example to other leading energy economies around the world.”

There are now eight clusters currently involved in the initiative, with more than a dozen in the United States, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region in the process of joining. The goal is to build a community of 100 global industrial clusters to accelerate industrial decarbonization.