Net-zero strategies of emission-intensive companies in Poland

The decarbonisation of industry belongs to the main challenges of the transition towards a net-zero economy. GHG emissions from industrial energy consumption and direct industrial processes account for about 25-30% of global emissions. A significant proportion of these are produced by the so called hard-to-abate industries (steel & aluminium, glass & cement, ammonia and petrochemical production). These sectors alone were responsible for 16% of global emissions in 2016 . Their reduction would mostly require, in most cases, the substitution of other production technologies, which are currently still in development phase and not ready for the market. Significant reductions of CO2 emissions for these hard-to-abate industries would require not only the use of renewable energy sources and improvements in energy efficiency, but also implementation of new clean production technologies, such as electric furnaces and direct reduction of iron (with green hydrogen) in steel industry, electric steam crackers in chemical sector or BECCUS (bioenergy with carbon capture and utilisation and storage) in cement production. According to existing reports, most of the required, new technologies will be available around 2030. However, 30 to 50% of existing assets in cement, steel, and chemicals will require major reinvestment by 2030, since their investing cycles demand replacement of existing production capacities every 30-50 years. On the other hand, the technologies which are closest to readiness are highly controversial due to the environmental risks associated with them, e.g. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)/Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) or Small Modular Reactors (SMR). Their use is often framed as a ‘interim solution’, needed for the time being until other, more environmentally friendly solutions will be ready. These techno-optimistic way of thinking is based on the often-criticised technological fix approach, according to which technological advances are supposed to bring solutions to the problems we currently face. In this presentation, we seek to find out what emissions reduction strategies are adopted by the most energy-intensive companies in Poland: 1. Whether and how they are dealing with the dilemma of new low-carbon manufacturing technologies? 2. What research, development and innovation policies do they apply? 3. How do they approach the issues of risk and controversies associated with technologies such as CCS or SMR? To answer these questions, we analysed sustainability strategies of the most energy- and emission-intensive companies in Poland. We collected more than 70 documents, published as climate neutrality/low-emissions/net-zero or sustainability strategies.. In the sample, we distinguish companies which are (1) state-owned (or controlled by state), (2) private and (3) international in order to identify differences in approaches to technological innovation for emissions reduction. The analysis of the climate neutrality strategies of Polish emission-intensive manufacturers shows points that should be addressed in industrial decarbonisation policy. Irrespective of the size and nature of the companies, most of them will not be able to carry out deeper emission reductions without significant assistance in creating appropriate ‘technology paths’.