Electricity can be a clean and green source of heat!

Industrial process heating consumes a lot of energy. Of this heat, the low grade
variety (typically < 120 C) is about 3737 kToe (Kilo-tonne of oil equivalent)
which is about Rs. 18,400 Crore (US$ 2.8 Billion) annually. Of this, the top 3
consumers are Automotive and ancillaries, Food processing and Textiles,
accounting for 44%. While textile and food processing use a mix of input fuels
to cater to the need, automotive industries almost exclusively rely on higher
grade fuels such as electricity, diesel, LPG etc to satisfy the heating heads.
Component washing and pre treatment forms bulk of this need.

If you look at the above chart, it becomes evident that it is better to use
electricity for heating rather than diesel. However there is better way to use
electricity - using heat pumps. Solar heating is obviously cheaper and a great
option for reducing the energy cost burden. However, as with solar PV, solar
thermal is also infirm, necessitating its use only as a back-up. But with heat-
pumps, it is entirely possible to eliminate your fired systems and run on
electricity. In a previous post, I had shared how we could achieve a 50%
reduction in energy cost for a truck manufacturer using heat pumps, which is
reproduced here.

Industrial process heating with temperature requirements up to 90 C can now

be addressed using advanced refrigerants and high temperature heat pump
compressors being introduced in the market. Here is a demo unit available at IIT
Madras in the Energy and Emissions Lab, developed in collaboration with
Aspiration Energy.