With gasworld’s US Decarbonisation Summit in New Jersey less than a week away (April 8th-11th), momentum is building behind industrial decarbonisation at state and national level.
As part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced up to $6 billion for 33 projects across more than 20 states to decarbonise energy-intensive industries. Together, the projects are expected to reduce the equivalent of more than 14 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions each year.
Kraft Heinz Company has been selected for award negotiations to receive up to $170 million at 10 plants, including Lowville, where the New York plant will be boosted by £22 million funding.
Marcos Eloi Lima, Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer at Kraft Heinz, said it is on a journey to achieve Net Zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The FMCG company, which produces 24 brands, wants to procure ‘the majority’ of electricity from renewables by 2025 and reduce energy intensity by 15% across its manufacturing sites by next year too.
He said, “This investment will give us critical resources to make necessary improvements in our plants to help increase their energy efficiency and reduce emissions. This investment recognises our continued efforts to reduce our environmental footprint, and we’re eager to get started.”
Kraft Heinz will use the funds to install a range of technologies, including heat pumps, electric heaters, electric boilers, anaerobic digestors, biogas boilers, solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, and thermal energy storage.
It is targeting a 23% reduction in electrification and onsite generation after the implementation of energy efficiency measures (from 1043 GWh/y to 801 GWh/year), 97% fall in natural gas use – with 3% for standby equipment – and 3% drop in total water use.
The company anticipates the industrial energy changes will create 500 construction jobs across the 10 sites, providing opportunities for employees to receive additional training and develop new skills related to the new technologies.
“The infrastructure changes made at these 10 plants will allow us to replicate successful technologies and processes across our remaining U.S. plants and globally, making us more efficient as we continue to make upgrades to more locations,” said Helen Davis, SVP and Head of North America Operations at Kraft Heinz.
As part of ongoing work with the US Department of Energy, Kraft Heinz joined its Better Climate Challenge and Renewable Thermal Collaborative to work across industries to exchange ideas and share repeatable models that can help accelerate decarbonisation.
According to the DOE, the industrial sector’s ‘unique and complex’ decarbonisation challenges require equally innovative solutions that leverage multiple pathways including energy efficiency, electrification, and alternative fuels and feedstocks such as clean hydrogen.
The projects are part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program, managed by DOE’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED), and will help strengthen America’s manufacturing and industrial competitiveness.
The Biden-Harris Administration has also released Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050: A National Blueprint for the Buildings Sector, a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from buildings by 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2050. The US’ buildings sector accounts for a third of emissions.
Another recent policy development has seen the introduction of the 48C tax credit to spur clean energy supply chains covering manufacturing, processing, recycling and refining. Up to $4 billion in tax credits will be made available to over 100 projects across 35 states.
Decarbonisation Summit debates rapidly changing national and global dynamics
The global industrial gas and equipment business has an imperative role to play in the future of clean fuels and decarbonisation. The energy transition simply won’t happen without it.
Next week’s Decarbonisation Summit: Industrial Gases & Clean Energies 3.0 at The Westin Jersey City Newport will feature an Opening Keynote from Makini Byron, Director of Clean Energy Strategy at Linde, and sessions dedicated to Energy Pathways, The Hydrogen Society and two sessions, across two days, on Delivering Decarbonisation. Other sessions will be held on The Clean Value Chain and panel discussion exploring the event’s key talking points.
The gasworld Summit leads into the North American Hydrogen Summit 2024, in which Matt Krayton at MACH2 will outline ‘A Vision for Hydrogen in New Jersey & Mid-Atlantic’ in the Opening Keynote, and hear on the US hydrogen investment opportunities.
A panel will also be dedicated to ‘Green Hydrogen at Scale & Technologies to Meet Demand’ and the event will round off with a return of the ‘Make Hydrogen Happen Panel: Pathways & Pinch Points’, following on from Kuala Lumpur and London events.
For more details on all the topics, speakers and exhibitors, and to reserve your place at the Summit, click here, or email: [email protected]
