Regional patterns of global industrial energy demands as a foundation for modelling decarbonization pathways

Abstract

Decarbonisation of the industry sector is particularly challenging given its huge energy demand and high complexity of its various production processes. Additionally, regional differences in energy demand patterns affect the possible transition pathways. This study assesses energy demands of the five most energy-intensive industries iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, non-metallic minerals, pulp and paper, and chemicals for 2018, the most recent year not affected by the Covid-19 pandemic for 16 exemplary world regions of the TIAM global energy system model. This new approach follows three steps: mapping industrial production quantities, determining theoretical specific energy demands by applying the best available technologies and theoretical minima, and calculating inefficiency of the energy usage based on the International Energy Agency’s energy balances. For the first time, this study provides regional inefficiency factors for the energy-intensive industrial subsectors globally based on a consistent methodology. It diversifies between electricity, different fuels and chemical feedstock demands. The resulting dataset is meant for energy system modellers and decision-makers to analyse industrial energy demand and develop decarbonization strategies.