By Cliò E. Agrapidis, PhD
2024 was the first year on record to go 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This piece of information raises alarms in the community and urges the development of new technologies to keep the promise of meeting EU-wide goals related to climate action.
Part of these promises concern the reduction of greenhouse gasses by 2050. Energy production in the EU accounts for around 70% of such emissions, with energy-intensive industries representing around 19% of the total. A recent publication by the SUSHEAT project shows how the energy-intensive sector mostly consumes energy for heat and electricity, and how repurposing otherwise wasted heat could significantly reduce emissions.
How Waste Heat Recovery Can Help Reduce EU Carbon Emissions
The idea of reusing waste heat through a heat pump is not new. However, current technologies do not allow for reaching high-enough temperatures for industrial processes through this method. The SUSHEAT project is challenging the status quo and working towards a new generation of heat pumps for industrial processes, promising to reach temperatures as high as 250°C.
In order to do so, SUSHEAT is developing four groups of new technologies that will together form the SUSHEAT ecosystem: a new generation High-Temperature Heat Pump (HTHP), a novel Thermal Energy Storage, a Linear Fresnel collector to harvest solar power for heat production, and a Control and Integration Twin (CIT).
Understanding EU energy consumption
To assess SUSHEAT’s potential contribution to the EU 2050 long-term strategy, it is crucial to identify the industries with the highest energy demand and the temperature ranges at which they operate.
At the EU27 (after Brexit) level, in 2022, the final energy consumption by the industry sector had decreased by 3.9% compared to the previous year. Considering the peak reached in 2006, it decreased by 8.9%. A fifth of the final energy consumption was taken by the chemical and petrochemical industry, followed by non-metallic mineral industry and the pulp, paper and printing industries.
Focusing on heat consumption, data from 2015 (EU28, pre-Brexit) show an overall demand of 1600 TWh. As a typical European household consumes about 4000 kWh, this amount of energy could power 400 million homes for a year, or all of European households (about 200 millions) for two years.
Which Industries Can Benefit from SUSHEAT’s Heat Pump Technology?
It is fundamental to know in which cases the SUSHEAT novel technology can be applied. The temperature ranges achievable within this ecosystem are 150°C to 250°C, but which are the industries operating at this range?
Once again, a clear answer is given by the SUSHEAT project itself.
Almost one third of the heat demand of processes in European countries is within 100°C and 200°C, a range in which SUSHEAT can operate. The largest consumer of energy and heat, namely the chemical and petrochemical sector, has a heat demand of 48% of the share in the 60°C to 400°C range, making it a candidate for SUSHEAT technologies at least for certain processes.
However, the main beneficiaries of this new heat upgrade system would be industries operating up to 250°C for processes such us sterilization, pasteurizing, frying and baking, heating, and drying. This includes several sectors, starting from, and not limited to, dairy, food and beverage, textile, iron and steel and non-ferrous metals.
How Heat Pump Innovation is Transforming Energy-Intensive Sectors
The next step in understanding SUSHEAT’s impact is analyzing the heat waste in each industry sector to see where the possibilities lie. A thorough analysis reveals great amount of waste heat in most industrial sectors, showing once more the potential applications of the SUSHEAT technologies. To make things real, the authors analyzed two case studies, namely the dairy industry Mandrekas and the fish meal company Pelagia, both partners in the project. Both case studies show great potential for the use of the revolutionizing SUSHEAT heat pumps.
The Future of Industrial Heat: How SUSHEAT is Driving Change
The path to a greener Europe passes through a smarter use of the available resources and a “circularity” mindset. SUSHEAT will drive us through this path, as it “addresses the main technological challenges associated with developing key components for a new generation of greatly efficient industrial heat upgrade systems, utilizing renewable energy sources, waste heat recovery, and ambient heat.” This new technology will help reduce carbon emissions in Europe, contributing to the European Commision 2050 long-term strategy of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. By rethinking how we use industrial heat, SUSHEAT could become a key player in the European Green Deal, joining EU’s journey to carbon neutrality—turning waste into opportunity and helping industries meet sustainability targets.