Introduction
The chemicals sector is essential to the global economy, underpinning 96 percent of all manufactured goods. Yet the chemical sector generates over 5 percent of global emissions. As production continues to grow across all scenarios projected by the International Energy Agency (IEA), achieving a net‑zero industry will require coordinated action across technologies and value chains.
RMI’s Chemistry in Transition report indicates that, while existing deployment‑ready solutions can be used to mitigate roughly half of current emissions, finding ways to address the remaining emissions will require significant innovation, particularly for processes that continue to rely on fossil‑fuel‑based heat and reaction systems.
Process electrification is one of the most promising innovations. By substituting combustion-based heat with electricity, or by using entirely new electrically-driven reaction pathways, we can significantly reduce emissions from chemicals production.
However, many electrification technologies remain in early stages and require further validation, optimization, and scaled demonstration before they are ready for commercial deployment.
RMI’s Applied Innovation Roadmap (AIR) for Chemicals highlights six electrification technologies with meaningful emissions‑reduction potential. It assesses the technologies’ current readiness, identifies key barriers to scale, and outlines priority research, development, and deployment (RD&D) and funding needs to achieve technical feasibility and economic viability.
The AIR is designed to support:
• Funders and investors seeking to maximize climate‑aligned opportunities
• Researchers and developers advancing breakthrough technologies
• Chemical producers evaluating new electrification pathways
Together, these insights aim to help stakeholders accelerate progress toward a net‑zero chemicals sector.
Six technologies that can transform chemicals production
The first five technologies highlighted in the AIR address one of the largest emission sources in the chemicals sector: the process heat and steam that enable chemical reactions. Derived from fossil fuel combustion, this heat and steam accounts for 30-50 percent of chemicals production emissions. Each of the five alternative heating technologies differs in commercial maturity, technical approach, and has the potential to replace process heat and steam generation in chemicals facilities when powered by low-carbon electricity.
Induction heating for steam methane reforming
Induction heating works on the same principle as induction stovetops. A magnetic field generates heat within conductive metal components and delivers that heat precisely where it is needed. Today, hydrogen is produced in steam methane reforming (SMR) reactor furnaces under extremely high temperatures, fueled by natural gas. A conventional furnace loses roughly 30 percent of its energy before its heat reaches the reaction surface. Electromagnetic induction coils can surround the furnace tubes to transfer heat to the reaction, and in turn reduce these losses and improve control. Our analysis shows that integrating induction heating can reduce hydrogen production emissions by up to 40 percent, due to efficiency gains from direct heat delivery in the SMR process and by switching to renewable sources for electricity generation.
Resistive heating for steam cracking
Steam crackers convert fossil fuel inputs into olefins (chemicals and plastics precursors) using high temperature heat from fossil-fuel-fired furnaces. Resistive heating is an electrified alternative to fossil fuel combustion for this kind of heat generation.
Resistive heating generates heat when an electric current passes through a resistive material. It is a simple, well-understood technology already used in many applications, from toasters and kettles to industrial processes. Resistive heating coils can either replace the burners in steam cracking furnaces that indirectly heat reactor tubes, or directly heat the tubes themselves. This flexibility and its compatibility with existing downstream equipment make it attractive for retrofitting plants. With a facility-wide emissions reduction of around 15 percent compared to fossil-fuel-fired steam cracker furnaces, resistive heating offers a practical near-term solution for the sector.
Shockwave heating for steam cracking
Shockwave heating takes a fundamentally different approach to producing heat for chemical reactions. In this system, a rotating reactor rapidly accelerates and then slows incoming molecules, generating shockwaves that create high-temperature heat directly within the reaction zone. By producing heat exactly where reactions occur, shockwave heating reduces thermal losses. The resulting reactor design is more compact and efficient compared to large conventional furnaces. Our analysis suggests that transitioning a steam cracking unit to shockwave heating could achieve a 15 percent emissions reduction. The technology has potential for smaller, modular applications rather than large, centralized commercial-scale units, but remains at an early development stage.
Air-source heat pumps for steam generation
Steam is a crucial component of chemicals production. For example, it heats reactors, drives product separations, and powers rotating equipment. Air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) offer an electrified alternative to fossil fuel combustion to generate steam.
ASHPs use electricity to extract useful heat from ambient air and upgrade it to a higher temperature to generate steam. They are highly efficient and deliver multiple units of heat per unit of electricity consumed by transforming the thermal energy already present in air into a more usable form. The AIR focuses on ASHPs that operate independently of waste heat, allowing them to function as drop-in replacements for fossil-fired boilers. They are proven in the market today, with demonstration units already in place in industrial applications. Their commercial availability and modular design make them one of the most readily deployable electrification options for low- and medium-temperature steam in chemicals facilities.
Thermal energy storage for steam generation
Thermal energy storage (TES) helps address one of the main challenges of electrification: the variability and cost of renewable electricity. These systems use electricity to heat a storage medium such as heated bricks or molten salts that can retain heat for days or weeks. The stored heat is then used to generate steam when needed. This approach allows facilities to operate continuously while drawing electricity intermittently. Chemicals plants can charge storage systems when renewable electricity from wind or solar is abundant or inexpensive and discharge heat around the clock. TES can reduce emissions, lower operating costs, improve the reliability of heat delivery, and ultimately play a critical enabling role in scaling electrified steam generation in chemical facilities.
Alternate Production: CO2 Electrolysis
Beyond decarbonizing heat in chemicals facilities, electrification can unlock new chemicals production pathways. One promising example is CO2 electrolysis. It is an electrochemical process where stacks of electrolyzer modules use renewable electricity to convert carbon dioxide, a waste product of many industrial processes, into useful basic chemicals. This process can fully decouple chemicals production from fossil fuels and abate up to 100 percent of production emissions. If powered exclusively with low-carbon electricity, CO2 electrolysis could enable net-negative process emissions, depending on how plastics’ end-of-life pathways (e.g., recycling, incineration, or landfill) are treated in emissions accounting. While still in early stages of commercial readiness, CO2 electrolysis highlights how electrification can transform the chemicals sector beyond incremental improvements towards fundamentally new, modular production pathways.
How chemicals ecosystem’s stakeholders can advance RD&D
To understand what is needed to advance development and deployment of each technology, including the most critical innovation activities and investment priorities, we encourage readers to explore the full Applied Innovation Roadmap. The AIR provides guidance on where stakeholders across industry, research, and finance can engage to accelerate chemical sector RD&D. By getting involved, readers can help advance the solutions required to put the chemicals industry on a credible path to net‑zero.
Click here to download the report and reach out to chemicals@rmi.org for feedback and collaboration.