Austria is also working actively at an international level to accelerate the transformation of industry through research and technology development. Within the framework of the global Mission Innovation initiative, Austria has partnered with Australia to lead the “Net-Zero Industries” mission (NZI) since 2022. The aim is to mobilise investments to drive forward the development of key technologies for the complete decarbonisation of industry. The NZI is designed to ensure that reliable, cost-effective and emission-free production is possible by 2030 in high-temperature processes in the steel, cement and chemical industries. Over this period, the participating countries want to develop and trial solutions with a technology readiness level of TRL 6 or higher. The climate-neutral production methods are expected to be scalable and able to compete with established technologies by 2050.
www.mission-innovation.net/missions/net-zero-industries-mission
As part of the activities of the International Energy Agency, Austria participates in the technology programme“Industrial Energy Technologies and Systems” (IETS) and is leading the project “Decarbonizing industrial systems in a circular economy” (Task 21). Energy conservation and reduced CO2 emissions by means of the circular economy, especially directly through carbon circularity, alongside increased resource and energy efficiency through industrial symbiosis1 represent two key approaches to decarbonising industry. The “Circular Carbon” subtask deals, for example, with how carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) (i.e. the capture and subsequent use of CO2) can be depicted in a life cycle analysis and how CCU technologies can be established effectively and efficiently in various industries. Among other measures, a survey is being conducted in Austria on how CCU is perceived by industrial companies. The “Industrial Symbiosis” subtask seeks to define the term scientifically and theoretically in order to identify best practice examples and derive suitable business models as a means to establish the concept more broadly. Further efforts are focused on identifying and comparing potential collaborations that span various subtasks and harness new value chains on the basis of Austrian and international projects.
www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/iea/technologyprogrammes/iets/
www.nachhaltigwirtschaften.at/en/iea/technologyprogrammes/iets/iea-iets-task-21.php
„The term decarbonisation actually means that no CO2 is released into the atmosphere. ‘Carbon’ remains a central topic, however: There are industries that manufacture carbon-based products and others that will continue to produce carbon as a residual material, despite the use of renewable energy sources. At the international level, we are discussing the extent to which CCU can be considered climate-neutral. We are also discussing the coupling of unavoidable carbon sources with carbon utilisation made possible by industrial symbiosis. The Austrian projects of the flagship regions NEFI and WIVA P&G2 as well as the CACTUS project3 are providing valuable insights in this area.“
Simon Moser,
Energy Institute at JKU Linz
1 Industrial symbiosis is a circular economy concept referring to the economic coupling of neighbouring enterprises in order to use resources more efficiently. This can include, for example, the exchange of materials, energy, water and waste materials or by-products as well as the joint utilisation of infrastructure, services and social facilities in order to generate competitive advantages.
2 www.nefi.at/en, www.wiva.at
3 www.project-cactus.at