Industrielle Transformation 2050 (IT2050)

As the backbone of industrial production, the raw materials industry has been based on the availability of fossil raw materials (e.g. iron ore and limestone) and energy sources (today petroleum derivatives, natural gas and coal) as important location factors since the beginning of industrialisation in the mid-19th century. The rapid transition to a circular economy required to achieve sustainability goals, coupled with the simultaneous restructuring of the energy system towards CO2-neutral technologies, is fundamentally changing both location factors. The inevitable transformation of the industrial system by 2050 is disruptive and therefore requires simultaneous infrastructural and technological adaptation. Interactions between the distribution networks for energy, materials and CO2 are being investigated. To this end, methods and models are being developed that link future material cycles (base metals, cement, carbon carriers) and their necessary infrastructures into an overall system. Based on techno-economic analyses, scenarios are being developed and evaluated with geographical localisation of future energy-intensive industrial sites.