Decarbonizing Heavy Industry: System-Level Energy Efficiency in Cement, Steel, Chemicals, and Hard-to-Abate Sectors

Heavy industries such as cement, steel, chemicals, refining, and other hard-to-abate sectors are responsible for a significant share of global energy consumption and industrial carbon emissions. While renewable power, carbon capture, and alternative fuels are often discussed as decarbonization pathways, system-level energy efficiency remains one of the most practical and near-term strategies for reducing emissions, lowering operating costs, and improving process sustainability. This Research Topic will focus on integrated approaches for improving energy efficiency across industrial systems, with emphasis on process intensification, heat integration, electrification, low-carbon fuels, waste heat recovery, advanced reactor design, and digital optimization.The collection aims to bring together experimental, computational, techno-economic, and systems-level studies that address energy-efficient decarbonization of hard-to-abate industries. Particular interest will be given to work that connects fundamental process improvements with industrial implementation, including scale-up challenges, retrofit strategies, energy-water-carbon tradeoffs, and integration of emerging technologies into existing infrastructure. Contributions may include original research, reviews, perspectives, and case studies related to energy-efficient process design, hydrogen and syngas utilization, microwave- or electrically assisted chemical processing, catalytic process intensification, carbon capture integration, and circular use of industrial byproducts.This topic will provide a platform for researchers and practitioners to discuss practical pathways for reducing the energy and carbon intensity of heavy industry while maintaining productivity, economic viability, and operational reliability. The collection is expected to support cross-sector learning between cement, steel, chemicals, and related industries, where common challenges include high-temperature heat demand, fossil fuel dependence, process emissions, and limited retrofit flexibility.Key Subtopics:1. Process intensification for energy-efficient industrial decarbonization2. Heat integration, waste heat recovery, and pinch-based optimization3. Electrification and microwave-assisted processing in heavy industry4. Hydrogen, syngas, and low-carbon fuels for industrial applications5. Energy-efficient carbon capture, utilization, and storage integration6. Catalytic technologies for low-carbon chemical and fuel production7. Techno-economic and life-cycle assessment of decarbonization pathways8. Industrial AI, digital twins, and intelligent process optimization.9. Advanced sensing and monitoring for industrial energy efficiency.10. Sustainable manufacturing and Industry 4.0 for heavy industry decarbonization.11. Retrofit strategies for cement, steel, chemical, and refining sectors12. Digitalization, modeling, and process control for energy optimization13. Circular economy approaches using industrial waste and byproducts Topic editors: Dr Koustav Dey, Kshitij Tewari Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/81903/decarbonizing-heavy-industry-system-level-energy-efficiency-in-cement-steel-chemicals-and-hard-to-abate-sectors