Fuel switching as contribution to the decarbonisation of the industry sector: Integration in a bottom-up energy system model

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is one of the greatest challenges of this century: The consequences of global warming above 1.5°C seriously threaten our civilization. Climate scientists thus agree that the release of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the atmosphere must be reduced by about 50% until 2030 and reach net-zero until 2050. The manufacturing industry is one of the main emitters of GHG in the European Union. This is caused by its reliance on fossil fuels as energy carrier and feedstock. This thesis investigates opportunities for important industrial processes to switch to less GHG-intensive energy carriers. The analysis incorporates technical, economic and behavioural aspects of energy carrier selection. The insights gained inform a bottom-up energy system model, which is used for policy advice on national and European level. One of the main conclusions of this thesis is that vast technical potentials for fuel switching exist and that it may be a substantial pillar of early decarbonisation. The realization of these potentials however requires drastic changes to economic conditions.