Decarbonizing heavy industry – steel, cement, chemicals – is the hardest part of the net zero puzzle. These processes need extreme heat and chemical reactions that electricity alone cannot yet replace at scale. They account for a large slice of global emissions and resist easy fixes.
Solutions are emerging: green hydrogen for steel, carbon capture for cement, and electrified process heat. Each is technically credible but expensive, and needs early markets to mature.
Cracking industrial decarbonization is what separates a partial transition from a complete one.
The Hard Part of Net Zero: Decarbonizing Heavy Industry