• Ana María Blanco

• Beatriz del Río

• Best Poster Award.

Industries are one of the main energy consumers in a country.  Different countries, such as Germany, are currently developing strategies to reach net zero emissions by 2050. However, the diversity of industrial processes and demands makes it difficult to develop general concepts for the decarbonisation of the industrial sector and its subclasses. Industry classifications typically cluster based on products or into sectors by economic activities. An alternative would be to group industries according to their energy needs and processes. The largest portion of energy demand in industry goes into process heat. By looking at this heat generation, overlaps can be found between industries with different products and activities. This scientific work therefore deals with the reclassification of industrial sectors from an energy perspective as a basis for an industrial decarbonisation concept development.

For the research, all industrial sectors are first examined, and the respective processes are summarised. For this purpose, data on consumption is collected from the statistical offices or industry-related associations, and the individual processes of the sector are broken down and technically analysed. The entire data flows into an overview from which similarities and overlaps of different processes and industries can be identified. Ultimately, a new classification of industries linked to the main energy consumer, process heat, follows from this finding. Process heat can be divided into different temperature levels, similar processes or applied technologies. The complete classification is shown in a diagram, as well as in tabular form with the corresponding examples of the respective industrial sectors.