Modernizing California's industrial boilers will bring cleaner air and save lives.
California is home to the largest manufacturing sector in the country, where all kinds of essential everyday goods are made in factories across the state. These industrial facilities support more than 1.24 million jobs and provide a critical underpinning to our state’s economy. However, these facilities largely rely on polluting industrial boilers that worsen smog and threaten the health of nearby communities.
Map of NOX emitting industrial boilers in the Bay Area and South Coast
California’s Clean Heat Opportunity
California has the technology to clean up this pollution. Industrial heat pumps, electric resistance boilers, and heat batteries are more efficient and can meet the needs of a wide range of manufacturers and large facilities such as hospitals and universities. These zero-emissions technologies perform better, faster, safer, quieter, and cleaner than the 19th-century combustion technologies they replace. California manufacturers and hospitals are already adopting this technology. California can’t afford to fall behind and lose its competitive edge.
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Bay Area
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South Coast
A major driver of California’s air pollution
Each industrial boiler emits an average of 2.2 tons of NOx annually, roughly equivalent to the emissions from 136 gas-powered cars.
Disproportionate exposure in environmental justice communities
92% of California’s industrial boilers are located in regions that already exceed federal ozone standards
Meanwhile, the majority of the industrial boilers in California are in or near disadvantaged communities
Transitioning industrial facilities to zero-emission technologies in CA can deliver major health benefits statewide. By 2050, industrial heat pumps can:
Deliver $47.5 billion in cumulative health benefits
Prevent 3,220 premature deaths
Prevent nearly 2 million asthma attacks
California Clean Manufacturing in the News
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California has abundant solar power. Here’s how factories can use it.
California’s power system has an infamous problem. Solar projects often produce more electricity than is needed during the day but too little to satisfy demand at night. So the state’s major utilities are developing new electricity rates to encourage their largest customers to shift to using more power during those hours of sunny abundance.
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Boilers Begone! ASPC and Pitzer Senate support stricter gas boiler regulations
On March 1, Pitzer Student Senate passed a resolution to support phasing out large industrial gas boilers in the South Coast, including at Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College, after Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) did the same on Feb. 19.
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Too Much Renewable Power? Data Centers, Industry Could Use It
Spring days can produce an excess of surplus renewable energy in California — more power than electric lines can carry. Researchers have some ideas about where and how to harness that energy.
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Agoura Hills City Council Backs Clean Manufacturing Transition
Agoura Hills backs clean manufacturing transition with support for zero-emission industrial boilers Rules 1146x, requiring zero-emissions industrial boilers for manufacturers and large facilities, can slash smog-forming pollution, improve health of nearby communities Agoura Hills, CA
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ASI Senate passes zero-emission resolution to reduce campus pollution
CSU Long Beach is the first CSU to pass a student resolution supporting the replacement of polluting boilers with zero-emission alternatives-cutting emissions that harm student and faculty health.
