Industrial Decarbonization Innovation Challenge

Deadline: 30 November 2023

The Centrepolis Accelerator is excited to announce, alongside their sponsoring partners the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), Whirlpool Corporation, Gerdau, Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), and Breakthrough Energy, the launch of the Industrial Decarbonization Innovation Challenge.

The challenge will connect industrial decarbonization technologies with some of the leading industrial companies and investors in the world.

The goal of this challenge is to globally crowdsource best in class Industrial decarbonization technologies and connect them with their industrial corporate sponsors to accelerate their emission reduction goals and industrial decarbonization programs. Michigan Executive Directive 2020-10 charged EGLE with developing a Michigan Healthy Climate plan and achieving economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050. The goal is help achieve goals like these.

Up to $250,000 will be made available to demonstrate and test best-in-class industrial decarbonization technologies in a real world setting.

Focus Areas

Decarbonize how they Manufacture Things
- To reach Net-Zero, they need to use clean energy and production processes. They aim to enable traditional machine applications to switch to sustainable energy sources and to improve carbon capture
- Some examples of technologies they’re looking for:
  - Unique fuel switching technology for traditional machine applications
  - Breakthroughs in Hydrogen fuel or electric boiler
  - Substitutes for natural gas equip, methods to retrofit and electrify natural gas
  - Carbon capture systems for manufacturing procedures and plants
  - Decarbonizing and or electrifying paint curing and drying ovens
  - Decarbonized water heating technologies
  - Decarbonizing dewatering and moisture removal
  - Affordable and scalable biofuel technologies
Decarbonize the Built Environment
- How they run and monitor the buildings they occupy is important but they need to decarbonize the way they build these environments. They aim to make current buildings more efficient and at the same time build new structures without emitting carbon.
- Some examples of technologies they’re looking for:
  - Low cost energy consumption metering
  - Dynamic supply balance across multiple energy sources (Grid, Wind, Solar, Battery)
  - Dynamic load balancing
  - Breakthrough energy efficient building technologies
  - Water monitoring and reduction
  - Systems that heat or cool isolated work areas locally without having to cool and heat the whole building
Decarbonize The Supply Chain
- The program seeks to leverage new circular design processes, materials, and manufacturing technologies to eliminate new carbon from the industrial supply chain
- Some Examples of technologies they’re looking for:
  - Material, product recycling and waste reduction technologies
  - Improve onsite scrap recycle and reuse
  - Increase the use of non-virgin materials in manufacturing
  - Create new materials and manufacturing processes that are carbon neutral or carbon negative
  - How can they recycle and reuse foams (insulation foams) throughout the product life cycle?
  - How can they reuse parts of returned products that can be recycled back into the manufacturing process?
  - How can they utilize “digital passport” to improve the circularity of their products for supply chain transparency

Challenge Benefits

Connect With Corporate Partners
Enter Paid Pilot Program
Fast Track Product Development
Expand Your Network
Develop & Drive Your Solution
Accelerate Commercialization

Why?

They believe that this work is crucial now more than ever, to ensure a sustainable future for the planet. By bringing together industry experts, innovators, and investors, they are helping to create solutions that will make a lasting impact. The Department of Energy has lofty goals of moving toward a Net Zero economy by 2050, and the U.S industrial sector is a massive contributor with total emissions in 2021 equalling 6,340 Million Metric Tons of CO₂ or nearly 30% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
They are committed to helping the industrial sector transition to a more sustainable future by providing resources, and support to help them achieve their goals. This innovation challenge will help empowering industry and innovators to reduce carbon emissions of industrial processes.
Michigan has a strong industrial base with over 10,000 manufacturers. It is essential that they support their transition to reduce energy consumption and emissions. By doing this effectively they also provide their local manufacturers with an opportunity to improve their operational margins and improve their global competitiveness.

How?

By deeply understanding the partner organizations’ industrial decarbonization opportunities, utilizing Centrepolis’ expertise in open innovation, and leveraging the ecosystem of experts this challenge will effectively scout, evaluate, and match best-in-class decarbonization technologies with the problem statements provided by the industrial partners to accelerate the adoption of industrial decarbonization.

Eligibility Criteria