Industrial Decarbonization: Materials, Methods and Developments

Industrial Decarbonization: Materials, Methods, and Developments offers a timely and in-depth exploration of the technologies and strategies reshaping high-emission industries in the global push toward carbon neutrality. As sectors such as chemicals, steel, cement, concrete, asphalt, and construction face mounting pressure to reduce their environmental impact, this book provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary perspective on the innovations driving industrial transformation.

Drawing from cutting-edge research and real-world implementation across academia, national labs, and industry, the book highlights both the challenges and scalable solutions in industrial decarbonization. Key features include:

• Innovative Technologies: Investigates emerging thermo-, electro-, and photocatalytic processes, microwave-assisted techniques, and energy-efficient manufacturing systems aimed at reducing industrial emissions.

• Analytical Frameworks: Introduces life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA) tools to assess the viability and environmental impact of new decarbonization approaches.

• Carbon Management: Explores advanced materials and integrated system designs for carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), including novel separation and process integration technologies.

• Sector-Specific Solutions: Showcases targeted innovations in cement, concrete, steel, and chemical production, alongside cross-cutting strategies such as circular economy models and thermal energy storage.

• Digital Tools: Discusses the role of computational modeling and data-driven methods in optimizing decarbonization pathways.

With a rich collection of case studies and practical examples, this book is an essential resource for researchers, engineers, and policymakers working at the intersection of materials science, industrial engineering, and sustainable development.

Qingxu (Bill) Jin is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan State University (MSU) and the principal investigator of the Resilient, Intelligent, Sustainable and Energy-efficient (RISE) Infrastructure Materials Lab at MSU. His research focuses on the decarbonization of construction materials and the development of advanced infrastructure materials with enhanced durability, adaptability, and multifunctionality, particularly for extreme environments. Dr. Jin earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, with a minor in Materials Science. He also holds dual M.Sc. degrees in Civil Engineering and Natural Resources & Environment from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He previously served as a guest researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A passionate advocate for STEM education, Dr. Jin is an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Excellence in Engineering Education (ExCEEd) Fellow, a STEM Ambassador for MSU, and a National Science Foundation (NSF) CMMI Game Changer Academies (C-GCA) Panel Fellow. He is a licensed Professional Engineer (PE) in Michigan and Maryland, and a member of the honor societies Sigma Xi and Chi Epsilon.

is a Global R&D Fellow at Dow Chemical Company, specializing in energy transition and sustainability research. Dr. Chen has successfully commercialized over 20 innovative and sustainable products aimed at decarbonization across various markets. She currently serves on the industrial technical advisory board for several Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Transportation (DOT)-funded programs, focusing on decarbonization in the chemical industry and advanced electricity heating technologies. Dr. Chen currently serves as Chair of the Sustainability Engineering Forum (SEF) within the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), a member of the Committee of Science of the American Chemical Society (ACS), and a leadership team member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Steering Committee. Dr. Chen has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal papers and has filed over 700 global patent applications, with approximately 190 granted patents. She has delivered numerous technical presentations and invited talks to both industry and academia. Dr. Chen has received more than ten prestigious national and international individual awards from organizations such as the American Chemical Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, Society of Global Chinese Chemical Engineers, and Society of Women Engineers. Her patented decarbonization technologies have won more than ten global technology awards, including the R&D 100 Award, Edison Award, and Business Intelligence Group Award. Dr. Chen earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan, USA., and her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University, China.

is a Senior Scientist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) under the U.S. Department of Energy in Pittsburgh, USA. Prior to joining NETL, he served as a Technical Fellow at Leidos. Dr. Shi has edited two books and authored or co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed articles focused on the recovery of critical metals, energy conversion, and decarbonization technologies. He is also an inventor of ten patents. His research projects earned him two R&D 100 Awards in 2020 and 2021, and a Bronze Edison Award in 2022. Dr. Shi has established academic and industrial connections globally in the field of industrial decarbonization, facilitating his work on related publications. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), AIChE, and the North American Catalysis Society.

is the team supervisor for the Reaction Engineering team at the NETL, U.S. Department of Energy, Morgantown, USA. His research focuses on fuel processing, reaction engineering, plasma and microwave-assisted catalysis, and energy systems. He co-developed a pyrochlore-based reforming catalyst, licensed to Pyrochem Catalyst Company, and won the Federal Laboratory Consortium 2011 Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer. He has over 200 publications, seven book chapters, three books, and 15 patents. A registered Professional Engineer in West Virginia, Dr. Shekhawat holds a B.S. from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. from Michigan State University.