Advancing to Net Zero Steam

Its ability to hold a significant amount of energy that can be used either mechanically, to turn a turbine for example, or as heat to enable many processes, makes steam a key sustainable, renewable resource. Thanks to the steam and condensate loop, the water it uses can be recycled by efficient systems, saving energy as it does so. 

With high efficiency, low toxicity, ease of movement, superior heat capacity, and low cost compared to other alternatives, a world without steam is unthinkable. We have steam to thank for many of the tremendous technological advances in society over the past 300 years. Whilst the mechanisms that use, and need steam may have changed, steam itself has remained fundamental to our evolution. 

It plays a key role in the pharmaceutical industry, ensuring medicines and vaccines can be produced safely, reliably, and in large quantities. Healthcare facilities rely upon steam to keep instruments risk-free when treating us. Both the chemical and petroleum industries need steam to keep their plants running smoothly, and in creating the many products we rely upon for everyday living. From plastics to polyester (the world's most common clothing material), to ammonia production, which provides fertilisers to feed the world. And its many uses in the food and beverage industry mean we do not need to think twice about the safety and lifespan of so many things we eat and drink to live. 

Taken as a whole, heat is responsible for more than double the energy demand of global electricity generation, and produces 55% of global energy emissions¹. Getting that number down is a significant decarbonisation² goal, but up to now, attempts have often been siloed, looking at areas like electrification, hydrogen, biomass, and carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) separately, and focusing on specific end uses. 

That is why the path to carbon neutrality sometimes seems so difficult, waiting for new technologies to replace those we have relied upon for decades or even centuries. Thankfully, the means to use sustainably-generated steam are well within reach. 

As the need to decarbonise our planet becomes more urgent, it is reassuring that with steam, that does not mean losing it altogether. We all know that the days of driving petrol or diesel vehicles will come to an end, that our use of natural gas will be restricted, and difficult decisions will have to be made if we are to ensure our planet's future. 

This is not the case with steam. Moving away from fossil-fueled boilers does not require waiting decades for new alternatives to arrive. Nor does it mean a complete overhaul of existing systems. The ability to retrofit boilers with electric heating technology is here, now. When old equipment needs replacing, new, more efficient electric options are readily available. As the power generation shift away from coal, gas, and oil, steam will be ready to prove its carbon-neutral potential.