New Energy World™
New Energy World™ embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low-carbon technologies.
Research update on… electrification
18/6/2025
10 min read
Feature
As the UK progresses towards its net zero targets, electrification is emerging as a vital pathway for industrial decarbonisation. The findings from IDRIC’s electrification projects highlight clear opportunities for decarbonising industrial processes but also expose critical gaps that must be addressed to enable widespread implementation, writes Jonathan Radcliffe, Professor of Energy Systems, University of Birmingham. Below is an edited and abridged synthesis of UK research on these topics commissioned by the UK Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) over the last few years.
Replacing fossil fuels in industrial processes with zero or low-carbon electricity has the potential to make a significant contribution to industrial decarbonisation. The generation of electricity from renewable and low or zero carbon sources continues to increase. In the UK, the carbon intensity of grid electricity reached a record low of 125 gCO2/kWh in 2024, with 51% of generation from zero carbon sources. The UK government has an ambitious target of ‘clean power’ by 2030, with an expansion of renewable generation capacity of at least 70 GW, bringing carbon intensity to less than 50 gCO2/kWh. Whether or not these precise targets are met, the trend of reducing the carbon intensity of electricity is sure to continue.
At the same time, evidence is growing that many industrial processes can be electrified. A study by ERM for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) found that ‘the vast majority of [industrial] emissions were associated with combustion of fossil fuels for heat generation’, with established technologies that can meet the requirements, and that ‘[f]or most UK industrial heating processes, an electrification alternative can be identified as under development’.
Despite this opportunity for electrification, there are barriers to implementation. The barriers are both technical, in terms of functionality and grid constraints that limit increasing electrical demand, and non-technical, including capital and operational costs and lack of long-term policy stability. Electrification also ‘competes’ with other decarbonisation routes, such as the use of hydrogen to substitute for natural gas, or carbon capture. These alternatives have received more attention in recent years, but may not be appropriate according to the context, especially at dispersed sites which are responsible for over 50% of industrial emissions.