Industry 2014

Overview

Question
How can industry innovate to meet the climate challenge and drive sustainable growth? 

Submit proposals:  https://www.climatecolab.org/plans/-/plans/contestId/1300204
Deadline:  July 20, 2014, at 11:59:59 PM U.S. Eastern Time
Rules:  All entrants must agree to the 2014 Contest Rules.
Prizes: Judges Choice and Popular Choice winners will be connected with and able to present to people who can support the implementation of their proposal, which may include policy makers, business executives, NGO and foundation officials, scientists, and others.  They will be recognized and publicized by the MIT Climate CoLab and invited to showcase their proposals at a conference held at MIT fall 2014, where a $10,000 Grand Prize will be awarded. (See 2013 conference.)

Related 2014 contests: Energy Supply, Agriculture and Forestry, Consumption of Products & Services

Other related contests:

• Tri-State Carbon X-Prize http://www.xprize.org/prize-development/energy-and-environment
• MIT Clean Energy Prize http://cep.mit.edu/structure/categories/
• Sustainable Brands Innovation http://www.sustainablebrands.com/events/sb14/innovation-open
• E3 forum poster competition http://e3forum.org/?page_id=3496

 

Guidelines from Advisors and Fellows

Opportunity/challenge

Industry is the key contributor to economic growth and prosperity, and has been a primary engine of economic development over the last century.  It is also a leading global source of greenhouse gases. The International Energy Agency estimates that, to meet global GHG reduction goals, emission reductions of 60-80% will be necessary. Industry is also an important source of innovation and rich with mitigation opportunities: resource efficiency (e.g. energy, materials, water), reducing process emissions of non-CO₂ GHGs, industrial ecology, supply chain logistics and geography, manufacturing efficiency, CO₂ capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), and enhanced use of renewables are just some of the areas in which there is great potential for paradigm-shifting progress.

The industry contest seeks innovative, well-described, actionable solutions that will enable continued global economic growth while achieving major emission reductions in the industrial sector over the course of the next decades.

Key issues

Industry contributes to GHG emissions through on-site generation of electricity and heat from fossil sources, industrial processes that directly release CO₂, methane, CFCs, and other high impact greenhouse gases, and via the carbon footprint of the materials and resources utilized in its processes and supply chains.

Opportunities for mitigation arise in each of these sectors.  The most promising link emissions reductions to profitable activity, such as increases in efficiency, conversion of wastes to useful inputs or products, or enhanced stability and competitiveness in uncertain markets.

Some of the key areas for exciting innovation are listed below.  These are only a sampling of the possibilities; the breadth of opportunity for improvement is vast.  We encourage contest participants to seek imaginative, cross-disciplinary, and cross-boundary solutions.

• Resource efficiency: materials, inputs with significant supporting energy requirements (e.g. water), electricity, and heat
• Reducing process emissions of non-CO₂ GHGs
• Industrial ecology
• Supply chain logistics and geography
• Manufacturing efficiency
• CO₂ capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)
• Enhanced use of renewables
• Data-driven analysis and optimization
• New business models

Proposal guidelines

To be successful, contest participants should ensure their proposals are:

• Innovative and original
• Clearly communicated
• Potential drivers for significant mitigation of GHG emissions in at least one industrial sector
• Supported by evidence of technical and economic feasibility
• Supported by evidence of the quantitative mitigation potential

 

Some freely-available references for contest participants

General Literature on Industry Emissions, Technologies, and Policies

Energy Information Agency. Manufacturing energy consumption survey for the US
http://www.eia.gov/consumption/manufacturing/

US Environmental Protection Agency. GHG emissions in the U.S.
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/ghgemissions/usinventoryreport.html

Canadian Industry Program for Energy Conservation (CIPEC)
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/energy/efficiency/industry/cipec/5153

Industrial energy and material efficiency: What role for Policies?
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/industrial_development/3_2.pdf

Institute for Industrial Productivity
http://www.iipnetwork.org/

American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
http://www.aceee.org/portal/industrial  

The Bellona Foundation
www.bellona.org

 

Mitigation Technologies

International Energy Agency Energy Technology Perspectives
http://www.iea.org/etp/

Example of a roadmap for industry needs: European Paper industry
http://www.unfoldthefuture.eu/uploads/CEPI-2050-Roadmap-to-a-low-carbon-bio-economy.pdf

UNIDO Cleaner and Sustainable Production resource list
http://www.unido.org/cp.html

CCUS
Europe’s Zero Emissions Platform

http://www.zeroemissionsplatform.eu/
 

Manufacturing

US Department of Energy's advanced manufacturing program
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/manufacturing/m/index.html

 

Energy Efficiency

US Environmental Protection Agency's energy star resources
http://www.energystar.gov/buildings/tools-and-resources/energy-management-guidance

European Union energy efficiency roadmap
http://www.roadmap2050.eu/attachments/files/EnergySavings2020-FullReport.pdf

Asian Development Bank's Review of Energy Efficiency Interventions
http://www.adb.org/documents/review-energy-efficiency-interventions-eks

Energy Efficiency Policies in the United States (multiple sectors)
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy10osti/46532.pdf

Tracking Energy Efficiency and CO2 emissions from the International Energy Agency
https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/tracking_emissions.pdf

Industrial Efficiency resources from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
http://industrial-energy.lbl.gov/
 

Business models & tools for sustainability projects

System analysis
http://www.jotmi.org/index.php/GT/article/view/art295/742

Data management & visualisation
http://www.ideo.com/work/green-strategy-and-environmental-data-vis
http://www.carboncredentials.com/using-data-sustainability/#!
http://knowledge.insead.edu/csr/meeting-the-sustainability-challenge-hcl-technologies-1909
http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/conference/ei14/session3/tanger.pdf
http://datadrivendetroit.org/projects/dsi/
http://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_us/doc/whitepaper2/emerging-green-intelligence-104141.pdf
http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/IMOs/Corporate%20Responsibility%20and%20Sustainability/us_scc_businessanalytics_011711.pdf
http://deloitte.wsj.com/cio/2012/09/28/using-analytics-to-guide-sustainability-initiatives/
http://www.sustainablebrands.com/news_and_views/may2012/data-analytics-perspectives-utility-industry

Business Model & Project Investment
http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/
http://www.businessinsider.com/developing-a-business-plan-2011-2
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sustainable_Business/The_business_plan
http://www.ghgprotocol.org/standards/publications
http://www.ted.com/talks/chris_mcknett_the_investment_logic_for_sustainability

Business sustainability
http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/09/sustainable-investing-time-to/
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/03/how-much-do-companies-really-worry-about-climate-change/
http://hbr.org/2010/01/can-technology-really-save-us-from-climate-change/ar/1
http://mashable.com/2013/10/06/sustainable-launch-forum/
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eco-innovation/

 

Contest photo source: Gary, Dances With Light