Decarbonising Heat: Why Half of Industrial Energy Is Ripe for Reinvention Artwork

Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Climate Confident is for business leaders, climate professionals and policymakers who need to understand what is actually cutting emissions—and what it takes to make those solutions work at scale.

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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Decarbonising Heat: Why Half of Industrial Energy Is Ripe for Reinvention

November 12, 2025 • Tom Raftery • Season 1 • Episode 246

0:00 | 48:39

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Most people never think about industrial heat. Yet half of all manufacturing emissions come from it. My guest this week, Addison Stark, CEO and co-founder of AtmosZero, is on a mission to electrify one of the dirtiest, most overlooked pieces of infrastructure on Earth: the steam boiler.

In this episode, Addison and I uncover how a technology unchanged since the 1860s can finally go clean. We talk about the hidden carbon footprint of steam, why “waste heat recovery” can actually slow progress, and how heat-pump boilers can cut industrial energy use in half while delivering zero-emission steam. You’ll hear how his team’s first installation at a Colorado brewery is already brewing beer with carbon-free heat, proof that decarbonisation doesn’t have to mean disruption.

We also explore the bigger picture: how electrified heat could transform everything from food and pharma to chemicals and cosmetics, why Europe’s gas crisis is accelerating the shift, and what policy tweaks could make clean steam the default everywhere.

If you’ve ever wondered how to decarbonise the “hard-to-abate” sectors, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how AtmosZero is re-engineering industrial heat for a zero-carbon future.

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