TY - BOOK

T1 - Transitioning towards climate neutral industrial energy systems: Analysing pathways and boundaries for the manufacturing industries in a case study of Austria

AU - Nagovnak, Peter

N1 - no embargo

PY - 1800

Y1 - 1800

N2 - To reach the Paris Agreement¿s climate objectives, the decarbonisation in manufacturing industries takes a central role in shaping the energy system of the future. In 2020, the sector was responsible for one fourth of energy and process-related European greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the manufacturing industries are an important part of the Union¿s economic wellbeing and success. The present thesis provides a standardised approach to investigating climate-neutrality pathways and key levers of action in a case study of Austria. State-of-the-art energy and emission balancing, which is the cornerstone of any subsequent analysis, exhibits several limitations regarding necessary subsector-specific analyses, particularly concerning energy-intensive industries as energy generation and transformation are not accounted for within the economic sectors in which they occur. Therefore, this thesis pioneers innovative energy and emission balances, tracing physical energy flows from and to economic sectors. This is enabled by introducing the sectoral gross energy balance border (SGEBB), allowing the identification of all energy activity within each sector. Secondly, the thesis establishes robust indicators based on the technical climate neutrality potential, evaluating cost-benefit ratios for alternative climate-friendly technologies. Clustered by four distinct climate neutrality pathways, the set of indicators provides both granular insights into subsectors¿ process necessities and a holistic overview of the general energy system. Based on this information, distinct industry scenarios are developed using the SGEBB and identified technology options. A completely novel scenario approach contrasting industry representatives' transformation measures assessment against a scientific backcasting scenario and a business-as-usual scenario allows insights into future developments of industries. Projections until 2050 show a surge in climate-neutral energy carriers, with electricity and gas consumption increasing by up to 80% each. Techno-economic analysis reveals that alternative climate-friendly technologies can compete with conventional counterparts given GHG emission costs of 200-300 ¿/t CO2 or substantial funding of capital expenditures, especially for generation plants of green gases. As accompanying research in this thesis ¿ e.g. the Austrian national grid infrastructure plan ¿ suggests, occurring bottlenecks can be solved not only through traditional grid expansion but also through sector coupling, e.g., through industrially-owned power-to-heat or power-to-gas units as well as storages strategically placed to decrease the stress on the electricity grid as the most critical grid in terms of time and load. The manufacturing industries can be an essential partner for both the investment and operation of these units. Future research should utilise the proposed balance border and potential analysis developed in this thesis to broaden both the range of available scenarios concerning industries and the technologies employed. Additionally, it should incorporate other economic sectors and existing infrastructure requirements to thoroughly investigate the necessary conditions for successful energy system decarbonisation.

AB - To reach the Paris Agreement¿s climate objectives, the decarbonisation in manufacturing industries takes a central role in shaping the energy system of the future. In 2020, the sector was responsible for one fourth of energy and process-related European greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the manufacturing industries are an important part of the Union¿s economic wellbeing and success. The present thesis provides a standardised approach to investigating climate-neutrality pathways and key levers of action in a case study of Austria. State-of-the-art energy and emission balancing, which is the cornerstone of any subsequent analysis, exhibits several limitations regarding necessary subsector-specific analyses, particularly concerning energy-intensive industries as energy generation and transformation are not accounted for within the economic sectors in which they occur. Therefore, this thesis pioneers innovative energy and emission balances, tracing physical energy flows from and to economic sectors. This is enabled by introducing the sectoral gross energy balance border (SGEBB), allowing the identification of all energy activity within each sector. Secondly, the thesis establishes robust indicators based on the technical climate neutrality potential, evaluating cost-benefit ratios for alternative climate-friendly technologies. Clustered by four distinct climate neutrality pathways, the set of indicators provides both granular insights into subsectors¿ process necessities and a holistic overview of the general energy system. Based on this information, distinct industry scenarios are developed using the SGEBB and identified technology options. A completely novel scenario approach contrasting industry representatives' transformation measures assessment against a scientific backcasting scenario and a business-as-usual scenario allows insights into future developments of industries. Projections until 2050 show a surge in climate-neutral energy carriers, with electricity and gas consumption increasing by up to 80% each. Techno-economic analysis reveals that alternative climate-friendly technologies can compete with conventional counterparts given GHG emission costs of 200-300 ¿/t CO2 or substantial funding of capital expenditures, especially for generation plants of green gases. As accompanying research in this thesis ¿ e.g. the Austrian national grid infrastructure plan ¿ suggests, occurring bottlenecks can be solved not only through traditional grid expansion but also through sector coupling, e.g., through industrially-owned power-to-heat or power-to-gas units as well as storages strategically placed to decrease the stress on the electricity grid as the most critical grid in terms of time and load. The manufacturing industries can be an essential partner for both the investment and operation of these units. Future research should utilise the proposed balance border and potential analysis developed in this thesis to broaden both the range of available scenarios concerning industries and the technologies employed. Additionally, it should incorporate other economic sectors and existing infrastructure requirements to thoroughly investigate the necessary conditions for successful energy system decarbonisation.

KW - produzierende Industrie

KW - Dekarbonisierung

KW - Szenarioanalyse

KW - Potentialanalyse

KW - Energiebilanz

KW - Energieinfrastruktur

KW - manufacturing industries

KW - decarbonisation

KW - scenario analysis

KW - potential analysis

KW - energy balances

KW - energy infrastructure

M3 - Doctoral Thesis

ER -