Low-carbon technologies for industries in Europe.
Date: 2021-08-09
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
Subjects: European industrial area, circular economy, clean technology, energy efficiency, energy research, energy technology, innovation, research and development, research project

Low-carbon 
technologies for 
industries in Europe

technologies  across  European 

“Deploying  breakthrough 
industrial 
ecosystems is vital for a resilient, green and digital industry. The updated 
Industrial strategy brings Europe’s energy-intensive industries closer to an 
ambitious decarbonisation route, in partnership with industry, researchers, 
innovators, SMEs and civil society.”

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

R&I supported industrial transitions... 
Europe’s recovery efforts to accelerate the green and digital transitions will also rely on research and innovation (R&I) as a 
key enabler for a green, digital and circular industry. R&I drives new breakthrough technologies, helping Europe to become 
a climate-neutral and competitive economy by 2050. A future zero-emission aircraft alliance would help to accelerate the 
deployment and market uptake of the results from the European research and innovation investments in aviation from 
the Horizon 2020 Clean Sky 2 and Horizon Europe Clean aviation partnerships. Horizon Europe Partnerships on clean steel, 
process industries and advanced manufacturing will bring low-carbon technologies and processes to maturity, preparing 
the ground for investments to scale-up and deploy in industrial ecosystems. 

… in a new European Research Area 
The European Research Area’s (ERA) ambition to create a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology 
across  the  EU  will  help  create,  valorise  and  disseminate  innovative  technologies,  which  help  bringing  EU’s  industrial 
ecosystems to solid pathways to transition and resilience. The new ERA1 will strengthen the translation of R&I results into 
the  economy  and  enhance  the  competitiveness  of  European  industry,  including  through  Common  Industrial  Technology 
Roadmaps, by linking EU and national R&I investment agendas.

1 A New ERA for Research and Innovation, COM(2020)628.

Research and 
Innovation 

Industrial  Technology  Roadmap  #1  |  Low-carbon  technologies  for  energy 
intensive industries
Energy-intensive industries, such as steel, cement and chemicals account for more than two thirds of all industrial CO2 in the 
EU. Between 1990 and 2018, these industries decreased their emissions by almost 30%2. However, existing technologies 
will not be able to deliver the full emissions reduction required to achieve the green transition, and new technologies 
need to be commercialised by 2030. Energy-intensive industries require significant investments into R&I, demonstration, 
and rollout of new technologies3.

Additional costs
for low-carbon 
                                                                                             4
industrial technologies | by 2050 

Maximum amounts, based on current estimates

STEEL

CEMENT

CHEMICALS 

up to
+112% 

up to
+115% 

up to
+277% 

The Low-Carbon Industrial Technologies Roadmap will link EU Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas, developed 
together with industry through the dedicated Horizon Europe partnerships, with the main EU and national support 
programmes to support low-carbon technologies. 

It will provide R&I evidence and guidance to strengthen the EU energy-intensive industries ecosystem and facilitate scoping 
and development of potential industrial alliances and Important Projects for Common European Interest5. 

Horizon Europe Partnerships

Clean Steel – Low Carbon Steelmaking 
•  The Clean Steel Partnership will focus on accelerating and deploying the most promising solutions, with an investment 

of €1,700 million (€700 million from the EU & €1,000 million from industry). 

 ̍ Synergies with the Research Fund for Coal and Steel will provide an additional budget of €700 million through Horizon 
Europe  and  the  assets  of  the  European  Steel  and  Coal  Community.  The  investments,  under  a  common  governance 
structure,  will  translate  results  into  the  economy  to  ensure  market  uptake  of  research  outputs  and  make  EU  steel 
industry a first mover in industrial-scale decarbonisation.

Project | Use of recycling, waste and biomass materials in electric arc furnaces. GREENEAF2 demonstrated a reduction 
in CO2 emissions without drastic modification of the production cycle and realised collaboration among local institutions 
and other industrial sectors.

Processes for Planet (P4P)
•  P4P aims to develop and foster the deployment of climate neutral solutions for the European process industries, designed 

to close the energy and feedstock loops.

•  With a budget of €2,600 million, P4P will bring together process industry, focused on sustainable processes through 
resource  &  energy  efficiency  (cement,  ceramics,  chemicals,  engineering,  minerals  and  ores,  non-ferrous  metals, 
steel  &  water  sectors),  SMEs,  the  public  sector,  research  &  academia.  The  partnership  will  develop  Hubs4Circularity,  
first-of-a-kind, lighthouse demonstrator plants of (near) commercial size across the EU. 

Project | Transforming industrial emissions into building insulation and coatings. The Carbon4PUR project sought to 
turn CO2 in a raw material for increased sustainability & a more circular economy.

2 de Bruyn et al., S, Energy-intensive industries – Challenges and opportunities in energy transition, study for the committee on Industry, Research  and Energy (ITRE), 
Policy Department for Economic, Scientific and Quality of Life Policies, European Parliament, Luxembourg, 2020.
3 SWD(2021)351, Annual Single Market Report 2021.
4 Joint Research Centre, estimated figures based on data from International Energy Agency, Material Economics, Agora Energiewende and Wuppertal Institut.
5 COM(2021)350, Updating the 2020 New Industrial Strategy: Building a stronger Single Market for Europe’s recovery.

Made in Europe
•  Europe’s  industry  is  strong  in  advanced  manufacturing  technologies,  with  the 
highest  share  of  world  patent  applications  and  the  highest  number  of  venture 
capitalist backed firms6. It generates 22% of the world’s manufacturing output for 
EU27, with a trade surplus in manufactured goods of €421 billion annually7. 

•  The partnership’s budget of €1,800 million will seek to increase the number and 
attractiveness  of  jobs,  while  securing  the  environmental,  economic  and  social 
sustainability  for  future  generations  in  Europe.  Key  areas  of  action  refer  to 
establishing efficient, responsive and smart factories and supply chains. 

SPIRE
Project  |  A  circular-economy-approach  to  the  cement  industry.  The  RECODE 
project aims to recycle carbon dioxide in the cement industry to produce value-added 
chemicals and materials, thus enabling a CO2 circularity in advanced manufacturing. 

EIT Climate KIC & EIT Raw Materials 
•  EIT Climate-KIC runs holistic, transformative, citizen-driven and systemic innovation initiatives to support the EU climate 
goals, circular economy, digitization and the use of satellite data. It attracted more than €550+ million investment to 
start-ups. 

•  Raw materials are essential to the transition to a carbon-neutral circular economy. With a budget up to €800 million, 
including contribution from industry, EIT Raw Materials connects more than 120 core and associate partners and over 
190  project  partners  of  leading  businesses,  universities  and  research  &  technology  organisations  from  over  20  EU 
countries.

Project | Recycling of carbon fibres. The RELICARIO project develops a new technology to recycle Carbon Fibre Reinforced 
Plastics using thermosolvolysis allowing the substitution of metals used in the automotive or sport industry by recycled 
carbon fibres while offering easier use by industry, lower process cost and lower carbon footprint

6 European Commission, Report on technology trends, technology uptake, investment and skills in advanced technologies, 2020,  
  https://ati.ec.europa.eu/reports/eu-reports/report-technology-trends-technology-uptake-investment-and-skills-advanced
7 Eurostat, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Manufacturing_statistics_-_NACE_Rev._2#Structural_profile

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Industrial policy
European Research Area
Updating the 2020 Industrial Strategy: towards a stronger Single Market for Europe's recovery

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PDF: ISBN 978-92-76-40790-4, doi:10.2777/277771, KI-02-21-995-EN-N