Electrification versus hydrogen: A data-driven comparison framework for energy-intensive industries (Diesing et al. 2025)

Energy-intensive industries account for approximately 20% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Electrification,
both direct and indirect via electricity-based hydrogen, is increasingly proposed by scientists as a promising
pathway for reducing emissions in primary industrial production. However, hydrogen is often perceived by
policy makers as a silver bullet for emission reduction, often neglecting the advantages of direct electrification.

This study conducts a comparative analysis of these pathways for two non-metallic minerals and two basic
chemicals, which collectively represent about 9% of total emissions and 50% of emissions from energy-intensive
industries, evaluating highly promising but frequently overlooked direct electrification technologies. A multi-
criteria decision analysis framework, supplemented by an expert survey, was developed to provide an
industry-specific assessment, applying a framework suitable for all industries.

The findings reveal that direct electrification offers significant advantages in terms of lower land impact, decreased nitrogen oxide emissions, and lower energy costs. These results challenge the prevailing notion that a wide application of hydrogen in hard-to-abate sectors is the optimal solution for industrial defossilisation, which is the key novelty of this study. It can
be concluded that direct electrification technologies should receive more attention and support from policy-
makers to enable a rapid upscaling of highly efficient, emission-free technologies.

Published in: Energy Conversion and Management, Volume 342, 2025

Download