Nearly every factory, from those making paper towels to cement and glass to canning vegetables, relies on process heat — and currently antiquated, fossil-fueled combustion boilers supply most of it. The majority of emissions from the manufacturing sector come from burning fossil fuels for heat. Boilers providing low-temperature heat — which have the most readily and commercially available clean alternatives — account for 171 million metric tons of CO2 alone.

We have a historic opportunity to clean up manufacturing by transitioning to zero-emission energy solutions that are available today.

Industrial heat pumps, electric boilers, and thermal batteries are cleaner, more efficient electric alternatives. Enhanced geothermal systems can also unlock heat from the earth efficiently and cleanly. By weaning our reliance on burning fossil fuels for industrial heat, we can rapidly decarbonize this sector, cut U.S. industrial climate emissions, and save tens of thousands of lives.

California has more industrial boilers than any other state, and manufacturing is the backbone of its economy, employing over 1.2 million workers and contributing 12% of the state's GDP. This sector produces the essential goods we use every day, from bread and coffee to cement and medicine. However, the scale of this sector also makes it a major source of climate and air pollution.

California's industrial sector accounts for about 20% of the state's climate-warming emissions — the highest polluting sector after transportation. And the majority of the over 36,000 manufacturing facilities rely on fossil fuels for their industrial heat processes. Burning these fuels emits health-harming air pollution like nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and particulate matter (PM) that drives smog and is linked to increased rates of respiratory illnesses, heart disease, and premature death.

This pollution disproportionately harms low-income communities and communities of color in California, often clustered in regions like the San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, and the Los Angeles basin.

The pathway to a modern, clean manufacturing sector is clear. Investing in existing zero-emissions technologies to replace gas-fired equipment can achieve a triple win:

• Cleaner air & climate: According to a recent report from the American Lung Association, electrifying process heat from key industrial sectors could avoid over 77,000 early deaths and over 33.2 million asthma attacks by 2050 — delivering an estimated $1 trillion in public health benefits nationwide.
• Grid affordability & resiliency: Thermal batteries can soak up cheap, clean renewable power and relieve peak demand grid stress. By updating industrial electric rates to better reflect the cost of cheap, renewable electricity, we can leverage our factories as a vast network of large, load-shifting assets that increase the reliability of the electric grid and drive down the costs of our energy system for all ratepayers.
• Good jobs & economic security: Modernizing aging facilities will help secure our manufacturing base as a long-term economic driver and also create new, high-skilled jobs to install new equipment and retrofit existing facilities and make our manufacturing sector more competitive.