MANUFACTURING

WHAT ARE THE KEY TAKEAWAYS?

Clean industry is scaling up, with projects moving from plans to investment – especially in China
Governments are shifting from subsidies to standards and procurement, while navigating tensions between localisation and global supply chains
Breakthrough tech is emerging in thermal storage, carbon capture, and hydrogen-based green iron/steel

What are the experts saying?

About Mission Possible Partnership

Mission Possible Partnership (MPP) is a non-profit advancing global clean industry transformation. Since 2019, it has been working with some of the most energy-intensive industries: aluminium, chemicals, concrete, steel, aviation, and shipping, to cut their greenhouse gas emissions. MPP mobilises business, finance, and government to speed up the shift to clean materials, chemicals, and fuels. Having chartered sectoral pathways to net-zero, the organisation is forging new territory, lifting the barriers to enable a critical mass of clean industrial projects to break ground by 2030. MPP has people and partners in North America, Brazil, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, India, and Asia Pacific.

Edward Boyd Global Policy Lead, Mission Possible Partnership

What themes will be important in manufacturing and industrial innovation in 2026?

Decarbonisation of key materials and fuels is graduating from trials and roadmaps to boardroom decisions and regulatory frameworks in 2026. With over 1,000 commercial-scale projects in development across aluminium, cement, chemicals, steel, and aviation/shipping fuels, momentum is gradually building and plans are converting to plants.

Mission Possible Partnership’s Global Project Tracker shows China’s momentum. Of 19 plants reaching Final Investment Decision (FID) globally in 2025, 12 were in China. Outside of China, a further 70 projects are “poised” to reach FID, having secured part of their offtake or financing. Progressing these projects to FID typically hinges on permits and access to critical infrastructure (e.g., grid connections) and additional offtake, often requiring pioneering buyers or supportive policy.

As technologies scale, the test is whether industrial policy can turn prototypes into bankable commercial propositions. Governments are shifting from one-off subsidies to market-making tools and rules: clean public procurement (e.g., Canada), binding product and fuel standards (e.g., SAF mandates in the EU and UK, with Asia following), and targeted incentives.

A key crux of emerging policies is the balance between localisation and global supply chains. On the one hand, many of the policies above are bundled with domestic content criteria, signalling a desire for locally produced, clean commodities. At the same time, global partnerships are proving effective. A major offtake agreement announced in January for Indian green ammonia bound for Germany shows how cross-border deals can be attractive, especially where renewable power is cheapest.

None of this will settle overnight and the direction of travel between countries and companies is far from uniform. High green premiums, uneven policy follow through, permitting delays, and geopolitical uncertainty will keep progress lumpy. But as clean energy proliferates and early projects come online, we can expect a stronger policy footprint to shape where, and how fast, clean industry scales.

Three Innovations to keep an eye on

INNOVATION ONE:

Could ‘electric bricks’ energise thermal battery implementation?

US startup Electrified Thermal Solutions (ETS) recently announced the commissioning of its first commercial-scale thermal battery at the San Antonio site of the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI). The system will convert alternating current (AC) electricity into heat that can be released on demand as hot gas to industrial furnaces, boilers, and kilns, with peak temperatures as high as 1,800 degrees Celsius.

ETS utilises ‘electric bricks’ that are directly heated by a current and arranged in a specific pattern with traditional firebricks.”

Thermal energy storage is a promising solution for matching energy demand and supply, particularly in hard-to-abate industrial sectors. The technology can store energy from intermittent renewable electricity sources by heating up materials in a highly insulated system. The stored heat can then be converted back into electricity at a later point or used directly in industrial processes, as is the case in this first commercial deployment of ETS’s ‘Joule Hive’ technology.

Many thermal battery systems heat up bricks or rocks by transferring heat from a separate heating element. However, ETS utilises ‘electric bricks’ that are directly heated by a current and arranged in a specific pattern with traditional firebricks. This means that they combine the role of heating element, thermal storage media, and heat exchanger, achieving “near flame-temperature heat”. The company claims the lack of heating elements also enables flexibility in configuration, meaning its systems can be delivered in conventional shipping containers as a modular, ‘drop-in’ solution.

INNOVATION TWO:

Will Nobel Prize winning chemistry bring carbon capture to more sites?

UK startup Nuada uses a category of advanced materials, called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), to apply carbon capture to industrial sites where issues with energy intensity and integration complexity often stymie aspirations to install traditional systems.

The startup recently announced an agreement with MLC, a leading manufacturer of calcium products, to deploy a demonstration unit of its next-generation technology at the Singleton Birch lime production site in Lincolnshire, UK.

By testing the demonstration unit in a real-world industrial lime environment, the project will generate valuable performance data, which will help to accelerate deployment of the technology, including through future large-scale deployments across MLC’s operations.

The project will generate valuable performance data, which will help to accelerate deployment of the technology.”

Last year, three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their work on MOFs. Carbon capture is one of the most promising near-term applications for these modular, porous materials, which Springwise delved into in a member-exclusive technology briefing last year.

INNOVATION THREE:

Will on-site hydrogen production ease the path to green steel?

Marseille-based startup GravitHy is developing a large-scale solution for producing Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI) using low-carbon hydrogen generated on site.

Rather than locking steelmakers into investing across the entire hydrogen infrastructure chain, the company provides a ‘plug-and-play’ feedstock, allowing manufacturers to focus on transforming steelmaking processes like electric arc furnaces (EAF).

The startup’s upcoming facility in Fos-sur-Mer, just outside Marseille, will generate 120,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually, powering the production of two million tonnes of low-carbon iron per year, roughly the mass of one Eiffel Tower every day.

Backed by €60 million in fresh capital from a diverse group of investors – including Rio Tinto, Siemens, Marcegaglia, and the Japan Hydrogen Fund – GravitHy is now working toward an FID in 2026.”

Backed by €60 million in fresh capital from a diverse group of investors – including Rio Tinto, Siemens, Marcegaglia, and the Japan Hydrogen Fund – GravitHy is now working toward an FID in 2026. The plant, expected to achieve first production in 2030, will be France’s largest hydrogen electrolyser and one of the largest in the world, helping to secure Europe’s industrial sovereignty.