Dive Brief:
- Arizona State University has been selected to receive up to $70 million over the next five years for a new Clean Energy Manufacturing Institute tasked with reducing emissions from a top-polluting manufacturing sector, the Department of Energy announced last week.
- The university will lead a multi-sector coalition in a coordinated effort to boost the use of clean electricity for industrial process heating, which creates the thermal energy needed to manufacture a range of industrial and consumer products.
- Industrial process heating produces more carbon emissions than any other sector in the industry, according to Manufacturing USA. Funding for the institute was announced last June.
Dive Insight:
Arizona State’s institute joins six other Manufacturing USA institutes tasked by the Energy Department with solving the country’s toughest manufacturing challenges.
The seventh center, called the Electrified Process for Industry without Carbon Institute, will convene private companies, national labs and universities, among other partners, to bring novel electrification processes to market.
“Achieving the nation’s climate goals will require an all-hands-on-deck, multidimensional approach to eliminating industrial emissions,” Alejandra Moreno, acting assistant secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, said in a statement.
“Our newest institute, EPIXC, will focus on one of the key pillars of industrial decarbonization – electrification – to dramatically slash emissions while helping to strengthen and secure America’s leadership in the global clean energy economy,” said Moreno, whose office is funding the project.
The Biden administration has rolled out a slew of funding opportunities this spring as it works to reduce emissions by at least 50% compared to 2005 levels by 2030. In March, the Department of Energy announced $6 billion to decarbonize heavy industry and $30 million for more cost-effective wind energy production.
