Manufactured goods – from the cement in our buildings and steel in our appliances to the clothes we wear and the plastic in our devices – are essential to our global economy. But the manufacturing sector accounts for nearly one-third of our global emissions, making it one of the most critical – yet challenging – sectors to decarbonize on our path to a clean energy future. 

That’s why Breakthrough Energy is investing in the innovations needed to eliminate emissions across each subsector of heavy industry. From decarbonizing cement and steel production to advancing clean industrial heat, Breakthrough Energy is supporting critical clean manufacturing solutions at every step of the innovation pipeline. And many of these technologies are already being deployed today. 

Innovation alone won’t be enough, though. More than any other sector, we need to also advance the right policies to fuel these solutions and ensure they can move from discovery to commercial-scale adoption. 

Manufacturing emissions are often considered among the most challenging to decarbonize due to a variety of market, regulatory, and infrastructure barriers. Policy support, like the U.S. Department of Energy’s historic Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP), will help reduce those barriers and provide essential funding for our industrial decarbonization efforts.