Forging a carbon-neutral heavy industry by 2050: How Europe can seize the opportunity

The briefing identifies four primary technical approaches to achieve net-zero industrial emissions by 2050: efficient material use, high-quality recirculation using renewable energy, new production processes, and carbon capture and use/storage (CCUS). It argues that the decarbonisation of energy-intensive sectors—including oil, mining, shipbuilding, steel, chemicals, and machinery—is essential for Europe to meet its climate goals. To facilitate this, the document recommends that policymakers provide strategic clarity on hydrogen and biomass, unlock investment, implement carbon pricing to create market demand, and align infrastructure plans with the transition.

• The document identifies four primary strategic approaches to reduce industrial emissions to net-zero by 2050: the efficient use of carbon-intensive materials, high-quality materials recirculation powered by renewable energy, the implementation of new production processes, and the use of carbon capture and use/storage (CCUS).
• Decarbonising energy-intensive sectors—specifically oil, mining, shipbuilding, steel, chemicals, and machinery—is described as essential for Europe to achieve its climate objectives.
• The briefing recommends that policymakers support the industrial transition through several mechanisms, including providing strategic direction for hydrogen, biomass, and CCUS, creating market demand via carbon pricing, and embedding circularity into policy.

APA

Tatai, J. (2019). Forging a carbon-neutral heavy industry by 2050: How Europe can seize the opportunity. We Mean Business Coalition. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/forging-a-carbon-neutral-heavy-industry-by-2050-how-europe-can-seize-the-opportunity/

Chicago

Tatai, Julia. Forging a carbon-neutral heavy industry by 2050: How Europe can seize the opportunity. We Mean Business Coalition, 2019. https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/forging-a-carbon-neutral-heavy-industry-by-2050-how-europe-can-seize-the-opportunity/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Tatai |first1=Julia |title=Forging a carbon-neutral heavy industry by 2050: How Europe can seize the opportunity |publisher=We Mean Business Coalition |date=9 October 2019 |url=https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/forging-a-carbon-neutral-heavy-industry-by-2050-how-europe-can-seize-the-opportunity/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{tatai2019forging, author = {Tatai, Julia}, title = {{Forging a carbon-neutral heavy industry by 2050: How Europe can seize the opportunity}}, institution = {We Mean Business Coalition}, year = {2019}, month = oct, url = {https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/forging-a-carbon-neutral-heavy-industry-by-2050-how-europe-can-seize-the-opportunity/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }