By Leisa Burrell, Net Zero Industries Mission Secretariat, Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)
The Net Zero Industries Mission was officially launched at the recent Global Clean Action Energy Forum (GCEAF) in Pittsburgh on the 23rd September. The mission is the first ever global innovation coalition with the goal to catalyse the development and demonstration of cost-competitive solutions to create a net zero industries future.
The Net Zero Industries Mission (NZIM) plans to showcase at least 50 large-scale demonstration projects by 2030, which is set to decarbonise intensive industries such as steel, cement, and chemicals to facilitate the full decarbonisation of industry across regions around the world by 2050.
The Mission is led by Austria and Australia, in collaboration with Canada, China, the European Commission, Finland, Germany, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom. The NZIM members alone are responsible for 50% of global industrial emissions and USD $13.45B annual research, development and demonstration investments in 2021.
Kicking off the launch in Pittsburgh were Leonore Gewessler, Austrian Minister for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, alongside her Australian co-lead counterpart, Chris Bowen MP, Minister for Climate Change and Energy.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Gewessler emphasized that the development and accelerated deployment of breakthrough technologies “are prerequisites for decarbonizing heavy industry and for achieving climate neutrality” and thus welcomed the launch of the mission and cooperation with co-leads Australia and mission members. Acknowledging the strong connection between both countries and the mission partners, Minister Bowen noted that the NZIM “will accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction technologies in industry, crucial to reaching net zero by 2050”.
Speaking in the margins of the GCEAF, Elvira Lutter from the Austrian Government’s Climate and Energy Fund (KLIEN), and new Director of the Net Zero Industries Mission, detailed the reasoning for the mission, explaining that energy intensive industries are responsible for around 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions and that in order to address this “RD&D over the next decade will be critical to develop and validate innovative industrial processes and technologies that enable radical emissions reductions at lowest costs”. Accordingly, there is an urgent need to “accelerate the development of key technologies to become commercially available no later than 2030, to ensure that they can be taken up in the market in time for the next 25 year refurbishment cycle”. Thus, the Mission will “focus on unlocking these emissions reductions through demonstrations and cooperation across the steel, cement, chemical and other high temperature heat industrial users”.
The Mission has already released an innovation roadmap titled “Towards Net-Zero Industries”, focusing on industries such as steel, cement, and chemicals which require extremely high temperatures, and therefore massive amounts of energy (LINK).
To find out more about the Net Zero Industries Mission, please visit: NET-ZERO INDUSTRIES MISSION – Mission Innovation (mission-innovation.net)