Industrial heat is one of the largest sources of emissions, and it is hard to abate. The equipment is expensive and has a long lifespan, processes are complex and there has been a lack of mature decarbonization technologies to reduce emissions. Now, however, the sector is at a turning point. Technology, policy, and engineering analysis have converged to open real paths toward decarbonization.
In this virtual discussion, we unpack research on the electrification of industrial heat featured in the University of California, Santa Barbara’s 2035 Initiative. Joining us are Dr. Eric Masanet, a faculty member of the Initiative, and Andrew Hoffmeister, Senior Research Analyst in the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s Industrial Program. Susan Kish, the CEO of Constructive, moderates.
UC Santa Barbara’s 2035 Initiative is a ‘think-and-do’ tank that unites environmental policy research labs in the development of roadmaps for cutting climate pollution. Through the Initiative, empirical research, policy development, and media engagement support transformational policy change in the United States and worldwide.
Our discussion explores the electrification of low- and medium-temperature industrial heat, technologies that can cut emissions, improve public health, and that make economic sense.
Learn more and register for the CATALYZE Summit
This presentation is a part of the CATALYZE Series, connecting to themes of the CATALYZE Summit. The summit is a two-day gathering in June in Detroit, Michigan, where engineers, researchers, and practitioners will convene to accelerate climate solutions across industry. CATALYZE is co-produced the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Constructive, a nonprofit reshaping cross-sector collaboration to advance clean energy and climate solutions.
Dr. Eric Masanet: How to cut emissions from industrial process heat
Dr. Eric Masanet shares research into how electrification can cut emissions most effectively, which technologies are ready now, and what kinds of policies are needed to make these projects economical at scale.
Takeaways
- The studies target low- to medium-temperature process heat (less than 300°C), which is about half of U.S. industrial process heat, focusing on food & beverages, pulp & paper, and chemicals.
- Four mature technologies are central: industrial electrode boilers, air‑source high‑temperature heat pumps, and electrified ovens and dryers.
- Electrification combined with a cleaner grid can significantly cut emissions; high‑temperature heat pumps often outperform gas combustion even on today’s grids due to higher efficiency.
- Added grid load from early industrial electrification is modest compared with other new loads (data centers, for example).
- Policies that reduce capex and operating costs, pair efficiency with electrification, remove fossil subsidies, and provide technical assistance can unlock most of the opportunity.
Q&A: Dr. Eric Masanet & Susan Kish
Dr. Eric Masanet and Susan Kish dig into why certain technologies were included in the studies, how U.S.‑focused findings might generalize globally, and what the ‘spark gap’ implies for grids under pressure from data centers.
Takeaways
- The research focused on four low‑risk, already‑piloted technologies (electrode boilers, high‑temp heat pumps, electric ovens and dryers). Promising options like advanced thermal batteries were excluded because they’re earlier‑stage and less proven for near‑term deployment.
- The technical findings and general policy lessons are broadly transferable, even though specific costs, grid emissions, and plant details vary by country.
- Industrial electrification must be planned alongside surging data‑center demand. In some cases, on‑site generation for data centers could help relieve grid stress and even support industrial loads.
Andrew Hoffmeister: The Market Reality of Industrial Electrification
Andrew Hoffmeister discusses industrial heat pumps as a proxy technology, explaining where projects are moving ahead today, what still blocks deployment, and how facilities can build a business case by stacking efficiency gains, incentives, and co‑benefits.
Takeaways
- Industrial heat pumps are technically ready for many low‑ and medium‑temperature process‑heat applications. The core challenges are market, coordination, and economics, not physics.
- The best project sites combine strong energy savings, supportive corporate goals and regulations, favorable ‘spark gaps,’ and opportunities to redesign or avoid new fossil infrastructure.
- Andrew frames projects in four buckets:
- “No‑brainer” projects that already pencil out
- Projects that work with coordination/funding
- Projects needing stronger policy, and
- Projects still awaiting technical/economic advances.
- Building a viable business case typically involves:
- An energy/feasibility assessment,
- Detailed cost and payback modeling,
- Early utility engagement, and
- Stacking incentives from utilities, states, and federal programs.
- Persistent barriers include high capex and integration costs, unfavorable spark gaps, grid constraints, supply‑chain lead times, and organizational misalignment between corporate decarbonization goals and plant‑level decision‑making.
Overall, Andrew says, industrial electrification below 140–150°C is no longer a technical problem. It is now a problem of aligning incentives, supply chains, utilities, and internal company processes.
Q&A: Andrew Hoffmeister and Susan Kish
Andrew Hoffmeister and Susan Kish at Constructive walk through practical steps for an engineer at an industrial site wanting to electrify process heat.
Takeaways
First steps for a “slam‑dunk” site:
- Get an energy/feasibility assessment (university assessment centers, utilities, or vendors).
- Engage the utility early to understand constraints and incentives.
- Get quotes from technology suppliers to refine costs and payback.
- Then stack funding and incentives from the state and utilities to bring down capex and implement.
Your Questions Answered
How efficient are today’s electric industrial heat technologies? Will surging electricity demand from data centers widen the gap between gas and power prices? And where should an engineer begin when considering electrification at an existing plant? Eric Masanet and Andrew Hoffmeister answered your questions about their research into the electrification of industrial processes.
Your Questions About the Electrification of Industry Answered
Presenters
Dr. Eric Masanet
Dr. Eric Masanet is the Mellichamp Chair in Sustainability Science for Emerging Technologies at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Bren School, with a courtesy appointment in Mechanical Engineering. He leads the Industrial Sustainability Analysis Laboratory and is a Faculty Scientist in the Energy Analysis & Environmental Impacts Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
Dr. Masanet previously headed the Energy Demand Technology Unit at the International Energy Agency and served as a Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Sixth and Seventh Assessment Reports and as a contributor to the Fifth and Sixth U.S. National Climate Assessments. He has also advised the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on industrial innovation and energy initiatives and served as the inaugural lead of the Industrial Emissions and Technology Coordination Program at the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 2024, he was appointed by the U.S. Department of Energy to its Industrial Technology Innovation Advisory Committee. He holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, with a specialization in sustainable manufacturing.
Andrew Hoffmeister
Andrew Hoffmeister is Senior Research Analyst for the Industrial Program at The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). He leads efforts to electrify industrial process heat and accelerate the deployment of technologies critical to this transition. His work centers on solving real-world problems by collaborating with multiple stakeholders and working directly with companies to transform markets and remove barriers to adoption.
Moderator
Susan Kish is the CEO of Constructive and the founding producer behind several major innovation and energy-focused convenings, including Deploy (U.S. Department of Energy), ROADMAP (National Science Foundation & Department of Commerce), the Innovation Agora at CERAWeek, and BloombergNEF’s Future of Energy Summits. She previously led Bloomberg’s Cross Platform Media Strategy team and served as Director at the nonprofit data platform Candid. Earlier in her career, she was Head of Structured, Project & Municipal Finance at UBS. She holds a B.A. in the History of Science from Harvard University.
Top image: Ant Rozetsky / Unsplash
