Center for Electrification and Decarbonization of Industry

Addressing climate change will require decarbonizing the industries which manufacture the products essential to modern life. All told, industry is responsible for a staggering 33% of global anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with the lion’s share due to four specific products: cement, steel, ammonia, and ethylene. These four industrial pillars of society are together responsible for 45% of industrial CO2 emissions. We propose an innovation hub that will unify the efforts of different research groups, departments, and schools within MIT, as well as a broad range of external stakeholders. This new Center for Electrification and Decarbonization of Industry will carry out targeted fundamental research with urgency and engineering that pushes the technological envelope on electricity-driven chemical transformations. We will aim to transition the most promising projects to full commercialization within five years.