System-level analysis of industrial electrification

Electrification is a promising method for industrial decarbonization, but understanding its potential is challenging due to the plethora of relevant technologies and industrial sectors it can be applied to. To this end, we develop an assessment framework to quantify the cost and environmental impacts of electrification, including the option to operate flexibly to take advantage of time-dependent electricity prices and emissions. We use the developed methods to show the relative importance of process and energy parameters on the economic and environmental outcomes of electrification. We find that using representative electricity profiles, flexible operation leads to a minimal reduction in costs, but potentially drastic decreases in emissions. We show that both costs and emissions are highly sensitive to process parameters such as the electricity-to-heat conversion efficiency. The developed suite of tools can assess system economics and environmental impact, and thereby identify the major drivers in a range of industrial sectors.