A new report from energy and sustainability experts, Gemserv commissioned by Liquid Gas UK, the voice of the renewable liquid gas industry (RLG) in the UK, has found that businesses in the glass, cement and mineral sectors that rely on high temperatures for industrial processes can meet their carbon reduction targets by using RLGs.

The industrial sector including high-heat processes and manufacturing, is responsible for 14% of the UK’s carbon emissions. However, reaching the 1000-degree temperatures that many processes require can be prohibitively expensive if done via a furnace powered by renewable electricity.

The report found that for a glass manufacturing facility producing approximately 110,000 tonnes of glass per year would need a 28,000 kW furnace. For an electric furnace of this size, the annual cost to a business is around £9,000,000, however, an RLG furnace would cost just £6,411,000 in comparison.

George Webb, Chief Executive of Liquid Gas UK said: “The Government has set out that industrial emissions must be reduced by two-thirds by 2035 and by 90% from 1990 levels by 2050 to achieve net-zero targets. However, electrification is not suited to the complexity of different processes and temperatures that require quick modulation, and businesses in this space require an alternative.”

“The Government’s Biomass Strategy recognised that renewable liquid gases can contribute to decarbonising high-heat industrial processes, but we need decision-makers at all levels to join us on our journey to bring more RLGs to the market, so these hard to electrificy sectors can play their part in reaching net-zero.”

The report details that RLG based heating systems can present an economically viable and technically feasible solution for the manufacturing sector. As such, the demand for RLG is expected to increase between 42% and 128% from 2025 to 2050, depending on the availability of low carbon hydrogen. 

Manufacturing & Engineering Magazine | The Home of Manufacturing Industry News