Towards CO2 neutral industrial heat

EnergyDays | 27 March 2025

Date
Thursday March 27, 2025 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Location
DIFFER, De Zaale 20, 5612 AJ Eindhoven
Price
Free

Unfortunately, there are no more spots available for the event.

INVITATION

Towards CO2 neutral industrial heat

Introduction
Currently, industry consumes about 30% of the total national energy use, 80% of which is in the form of heat. This typically is process heat, ranging from 150 掳C (industrial steam systems) up to 1500 掳C (steel production), generated by combustion of fossil fuels, hence contributing heavily to the Dutch CO2 emissions.

To realize a CO2 neutral industry by 2050, large investments are needed in implementation of new energy efficient production processes, CO2 neutral heating technologies and expansion of the national energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, economic viability of industrial plants is essential and requires suitable policy measures to support the transition.

This EnergyDay will focus on developments towards CO2 neutral industrial heat. After introducing the current state of heat use in the Dutch industry and options to reduce CO2 emissions, we will deep-dive into relevant technologies as well as current and future bottlenecks for a CO2 neutral industry, and discuss actions needed to accelerate the transition.

Program

13h00 - 13h20 Walk-in with coffee and tea

13h20 - 13h30 EIRES 5 years | by Richard van de Sanden | EIRES, 果冻传媒

13h30 - 14h00 Overview industrial heat and symposium overview | by Herbert Zondag | Professor at TU Eindhoven and Senior Scientist at TNO

14h00 - 14h20 Strategies for decarbonising key industrial processes | by  | Professor of Energy System Integration at the Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management at Delft University of Technology

14h20 - 14h40 System change (and what it implies for industry) | by | Professor of Sustainable Energy Supply Systems, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development of Utrecht University

14h40 - 15h00 Energy transition challenges for a sustainable steel industry | by  | Department Manager, Iron and Steel R&D, Tata Steel

15h00 - 15h30 Break

15h30 - 15h50 Industrial electrification technologies | by | Senior Scientist Project Lead, TNO

15h50 - 16h10 Industrial Energy Efficiency and Excess Heat | by  | Researcher Energy & Resources Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University

16h10 - 16h30 High-Temperature Thermal Storage for a Low-Carbon Heat Supply | by  | Group Leader Thermal Systems with Phase Change, DLR 鈥 Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics

16h30 - 17h00 Panel discussion | with all speakers and John Nijenhuis (HeatFlex)

17h00 Drinks

Abstracts

Herbert Zondag is part-time professor in Mechanical Engineering at the 果冻传媒, as well as senior researcher at TNO Energy & Materials Transition in the group 鈥淪ustainable Technologies for Industrial Processes鈥. He is co-author of over 60 scientific publications as well as several international whitepapers on topics related to industrial heat. In addition, he is an expert on industrial heat storage. In this capacity, he is also the responsible lecturer for the 果冻传媒 courses on Thermal Energy Storage and Energy Demand.


Herbert Zondag | part-time Professor & senior researcher of tno

Overview industrial heat + decarbonisation challenges + symposium overview

The industrial sector is a very large energy user, consuming about 31% of the Dutch final energy use. It consists of many different companies, from small food industries to large chemical plants, employing a wide range of often very capital intensive production facilities with long payback times, operating in a competitive market. Decarbonization of industry requires new process designs, CO2 neutral heating technologies, new energy infrastructure and dedicated policy measures to steer this transition, making this a very complex challenge. An overview will be presented of industrial heat demand, possible directions for decarbonization and associated challenges, providing a general background for the subsequent presentations.

is a Professor of Energy System Integration at the Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management at Delft University of Technology. Her research centres on advancing the energy transition from a system perspective, exploring decarbonisation pathways of the industry, built environment, transport, and power sector, including sector coupling, renewable energy integration, and infrastructure development. Her expertise spans long-term investment planning for energy supply, transport, and storage, as well as short-term strategies for balancing the energy system. She leads among others the DEFLAME research project, which investigates industrial electrification and enhancing the flexibility of industrial power demand to better align with the fluctuating supply of solar and wind energy.


Machteld van den broek | Professor of Energy System Integration at the Faculty of Technology, Policy, and Management at Delft University of Technology

Strategies for decarbonising key industrial processes

The presentation will explore various decarbonization solutions for key industrial processes including direct electrification, hydrogen utilization, energy efficiency, circularity, biomass, and CO鈧 capture and storage. The viability of these solutions depends on multiple factors, such as energy supply requirements, infrastructure needs, costs, technological maturity, scalability, and their impact on industrial processes. An overview will be provided of their potential, benefits, and limitations, offering a broad perspective on decarbonisation strategies in the industry.

has a PhD in physics from Leiden University. From 1988 to 2016 he worked for Shell in various research and strategy roles, from 1998 onwards mostly in the field of alternative fuels and renewables. His last role was Manager Energy Futures. In 2016 he was appointed Professor of Sustainable Energy Supply Systems at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development at Utrecht University. His research interests are in technology assessment, energy system modelling and industrial transformation. He co-founded and chairs the Sustainable Industry Lab, a network of experts from industry, government, societal and nature organizations and academia that aims to clarify the choices and consequences of the transformation of Dutch industry.


Gert Jan Kramer | Professor of Sustainable Energy Supply Systems, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University

System change (and what it implies for industry)

In this lecture I zoom out from the techno-economic options that we are discussing in the other talks today and discuss why industry generally seems reluctant to invest in the transition. I believe there is a more profound reason than 鈥榟igh energy prices鈥 or 鈥榲ested interests鈥. I will argue that the root cause is that today, when renewables and decarbonization rise beyond the initial few percent, we are confronted with system change. System change implies that nothing works as it used to. In particular, policy becomes ineffective because it can only finetune the existing system 鈥 not change it. (Maatwerkafspraken are a case in point.) This invites intellectual creativity and openness to open up new pathways to industrial transformation.

received an Engineering Degree and a PhD in Applied Physics at TU Delft. After working several years as Assistant Professor at TU Delft in the fields of Heat transfer, Turbulence and Combustion, he joined R&D at Hoogovens (now Tata Steel) in 1999. He currently is Department & Program Manager for ironmaking, steelmaking and casting. In this role he is deeply involved in the technology developments needed for decarbonisation and sustainable energy transition of Tata Steel in the Netherlands.

Tim Peeters | Department Manager, Iron and Steel R&D, Tata Steel

Energy transition challenges for a sustainable steel industry

Decarbonisation of large-scale integrated steel plants essentially requires a transition from coal-based energy to renewable electric power. Today, coal is used not only for its energy content but also for its mechanical properties, which means that the entire steel production chain has to be redesigned. This talk will address the many challenges and solutions regarding energy supply, process design, raw materials, environmental impact and product quality. The complexity of this transition requires significant research and innovation, also from universities and institutes in The Netherlands.

 has over 10 years of experience in thermal energy storage and currently develops power-to-heat and high-temperature phase change thermal storage systems at DLR in Stuttgart. She joined DLR in 2016 as a Postdoc with a DLR/DAAD Fellowship and became an associate researcher, leading the Thermal Systems with Phase Change group since 2022. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of San Sim贸n, Bolivia, and a PhD from the University of Antofagasta, Chile. A 2015 Green Talent Award winner, she has authored numerous scientific papers and reviews for peer-reviewed journals and projects for the Research Council of Norway.

Andrea GutierrezGroup Leader Thermal Systems with Phase Change, DLR 鈥 Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics

High-Temperature Thermal Storage for a Low-Carbon Heat Supply

Thermal energy storage plays a key role in the energy transition by enabling greater use of renewables, recovering surplus heat, and balancing energy supply and demand. It offers cost-effective electricity storage and enhances grid stability by managing power and heat fluctuations. Despite its potential, industrial adoption remains limited due to system integration challenges, and lack of awareness. This presentation will highlight recent advancements in high-temperature TES at the Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics, with a focus on phase change systems and their role in decarbonizing heat supply.

has a MSc in Chemical Engineering and PhD in thermochemistry.  He is senior researcher and project manager at TNO Energy & Materials Transition in the group 鈥淪ustainable Technologies for Industrial Processes鈥.  His expertise is in thermal systems for industrial applications, and activities are focused on supporting energy intensive industries to reduce their CO2 emissions. Technologies he is working on are industrial heat pumps, thermal energy storage and industrial electrification.

Robert de Boer | Senior Project Manager TNO

Industrial electrification technologies

The increasing share of renewable electricity in the energy system provides new opportunities for industrial heating processes to decrease their fossil fuel use, replacing gas fired systems by electric driven systems. The use of heat pumps, electric boilers and resistance heating as power-to-heat (P2H) options are existing examples.  The presentation provides an overview of electrical heating technologies,  their characteristics and industrial application potential, and identify barriers and development needs.  

gives advice on sustainability issues faced by the industry. She holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in physics, a master's degree in Sustainable Development, and a PhD on the modeling of industrial energy demand. She analyzes the relations between material processing and energy use and the impacts of energy and material e铿僣iency. She worked in a wide number of research and consultancy projects for the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the European Commission, and several NGOs.

Katerina Kermeli | Researcher Energy & Resources Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, Utrecht University

Industrial Energy Efficiency and Excess Heat

Energy efficiency is widely recognized as one of the main ways to reduce energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions in the industrial sector. Main technologies or strategies include energy management driven by data analytics, waste heat recovery, efficient equipment and efficient process design and integration. Across the EU, energy-intensive industries release significant amounts of excess (unused) heat into the environment. Capturing and utilizing this excess heat, is an energy efficiency measure that can substantially contribute to the decarbonization of other energy demand such as the heat needed in nearby industries and buildings and district heating.

About EnergyDays

EnergyDays is organized every half year and are open for anyone interested in the latest developments in societal energy issues. EnergyDays focusses on a specific aspect of the present energy and climate discussion. Different keynote speakers from academia and industry will present their views, solutions and outlooks on the topic. The motto of EnergyDays is to stimulate the audience to broaden their vision on energy and climate.

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Organizer

Eindhoven Institute for Renewable Energy Systems