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Industrial emissions have historically been coupled with population and per-capita wealth, both increasing trends globally. Global emissions from industry as reported by the IPCC in their 2007 assessment are 12 billion tons, or more than 20%, of annual anthropogenic CO2e emissions.
Industrial emissions have historically been coupled with population and per-capita wealth, both increasing trends globally. Global emissions from industry as reported by the IPCC in their 2007 assessment are 12 billion tons, or more than 20%, of annual anthropogenic CO2e emissions.
Under business-as-usual, emissions from industry are projected to reach 18.1 billion tons annually by 2020. Clogged city air and hazardous wastewater are the hallmarks of industrial pollution, familiar in developing nations where industrial emissions are growing the fastest. The larger but invisible threat is from rising concentrations of CO2e that are the cause of climate change. Catastrophic climate change would quickly undo the global gains in wealth from industrial growth under business-as-usual development plans.
To be viable, industry must decouple emissions and growth going forward.
The challenge industry faces to reduce CO2e emissions can also be viewed as a major opportunity for reinvention that can spur innovation and ultimately lower total costs. Rising energy prices and increases in fuel price volatility are significant incentives for industry to increase energy efficiency, and thereby cut emissions.
The challenge industry faces to reduce CO2e emissions can also be viewed as a major opportunity for reinvention that can spur innovation and ultimately lower total costs. Rising energy prices and increases in fuel price volatility are significant incentives for industry to increase energy efficiency, and thereby cut emissions.
The largest sector-wide opportunity for CO2e reductions in industry is through changes in energy use, including efficiency measures and fuel switching. The sector-wide potential for emissions reductions was estimated at between 1.5 and 5.9 billion tons of CO2e annually by the IPCC.
In their 2007 assessment, the IPCC identified four major areas for energy-related CO2e savings that can also provide cost savings:
Innovation in these areas would be accelerated by industrial standards setting efficiency targets and mandating low-carbon technologies that are cost-effective.

Global annual emissions in the industrial sector were estimated at 12 billion tons of CO2e by the IPCC. Without strong action, these emissions are projected to reach over 18 billion...
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Energy-use accounts for more than half of industrial emission, and offers an incentive to lower emissions and costs. Lowering the energy-intensity of production is an opportunity to attain both...
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Energy use in the industrial sector is estimated at greater than 10 billion tons of CO2e each year...
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Energy-use accounts for more than half of industrial emission, the high cost of energy consumptions can be viewed as incentive to lower use, emissions and costs. This can be achieved by lowering...
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Industrial energy use has been rising for decades alongside increasing populations and economic growth.
Read more > Source: IEA, 2007