Decarbonizing The “Forgotten Wedge” of Thermal Energy in Industrial Sectors with Blaine Collison

To create the products and grow the food we eat, the industrial sector requires a lot of thermal energy—heating and cooling—which today represents approximately 13% of total U.S. emissions. However, tackling this “forgotten wedge” of the emissions mix to slow climate change requires a range of approaches and policies beyond electrification.

Tackling this difficult challenge is Blaine Collison, Executive Director at the Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC) and a renewable energy & sustainability professional looking for ways to decarbonize our industrial sectors. In this episode, Blaine discusses with Lincoln the technology roadmaps, policy initiatives and convening work the RTC has been leading to help large industrial companies start reducing their thermal emissions across the globe.

Key Takeaways:

• Last year, the RTC collaborated with the Boston Consulting Group to develop the Renewable Thermal Vision Report: charting five pathways to decarbonizing U.S. industrial emissions by 2050 focusing on specific sectors, geographies, and technologies.
• Critical to the RTC’s work is bringing together companies, solution providers and outside experts to connect and combine perspectives. By getting sustainability and operational teams out of their respective siloes, companies can share new ideas, best practices and fresh approaches to decarbonization in their respective sectors.
• Green hydrogen is gaining a lot of attention for its potential to curb emissions in a range of industrial sectors, from steel production to shipping and heavy-haul freight transportation.