© Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
What exactly is process heat?
The aim: process heat is needed for many industrial processes and is mostly generated from fossil fuels. In future, supplying them should be carbon neutral.
How would you feel about a nice slice of warm chocolate cake from the oven, now that the days are getting colder? The heating in the kitchen provides pleasant temperatures. But its warmth has no impact on the ingredients we have assembled for our chocolate cake. The oven heat, at around 180 degrees, takes care of that, turning the liquid batter into a nice, firm chocolate cake. The oven uses heat as a tool. Without this thermal energy, this process heat, there would be no cake.
Process heat is also needed in industry for processing and treating many materials. It actually accounts for a staggering two-thirds of the industrial sector’s final energy consumption. But so far, only a very small part of process heat comes from renewable energy or electrification. The majority comes from fossil fuels. Process heat urgently needs to be modernised, which in turn opens up great potential to increase efficiency. Experts estimate that it will be technically feasible to achieve a full transition in industrial process heat in Germany by 2045.
The Federation is funding measures to decarbonise process heat
The Federation is funding measures to decarbonise process heat, for instance via the Federal Funding for Resource and Energy Efficiency in Industry (EEW) and the Federal Funding for Industry and Climate Action (BIK) programmes. There are also Carbon Contracts for Difference to help businesses in energy-intensive industries build and operate innovative, low-carbon production installations.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy started a stakeholder dialogue in September 2026 to move forward on modernising process heat. The format is intended as a pragmatic dialogue with industry to remove obstacles, accelerate investment and make innovations market ready. It brings together stakeholders from industry, the scientific community and politics to discuss the policy environment for investingin and implementing projects to modernise process heat and to draw up recommendations.
Cornerstone for a competitive homebase for industry
Frank Wetzel, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, said: “Modernising process heat is a cornerstone for making Germany a competitive homebase for industry. We have to make progress faster to be technology leaders.”
The dialogue is guided by a council of representatives from the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), the Federation of German Industries (BDI), German Industry
Initiative for Energy Efficiency (DENEFF), the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and the Federal Energy Efficiency Centre (BfEE). The German Energy Agency (dena), the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) and KPMG Law provide subject matter expertise and logistical support for the dialogue.
Decarbonising process heat: real-world examples on a larger scale
Let’s return to our chocolate cake. Although baking with process heat in a single-family home using renewable energy has long been possible, how do things look for real-world examples on a much larger scale? There are a few in operation already. For example, the chocolate-maker Ritter Sport is decarbonising its chocolate production in the Swabian town of Waldenbuch. Large-scale heat pumps and factory waste heat will be harnessed to cover 90% of its heat needs in future. This will save 25 gigawatt-hours of natural gas per year.
BASF is another industry example. They are using green steam for production in Ludwigshafen. A heat pump uses the waste heat of a steam cracker to produce formic acid, making the operation less dependent on natural gas.