Heavy lifting: Technology pathways for industrial decarbonization

Matt Palys is a postdoctoral associate in the Daoutidis group of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota. His research focuses on mathematical modeling and optimization of design and operational aspects of chemical production from variable renewable energy, and on utilizing these chemicals to facilitate decarbonization across multiple sectors.

Dr. Palys received his Ph.D.in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2021 with a thesis covering renewable ammonia for sustainable agriculture and energy.

Virgilio Barrera is Director of Government and Public Affairs for Holcim US, the world’s largest building material manufacturer, where he oversees federal and state legislative and regulatory issues. Barrera provides counsel to Holcim US’s senior executive team on legislative and regulatory issues and helps shape and implement the company’s sustainability agenda. He also helps lead the company’s response to public affairs issues, land conditional use permits, investor inquiries, and media oversight inquiries.

Lachlan Wright is a Manager with RMI’s Climate Intelligence Program, where he focuses on efforts to reduce emissions in heavy industry. His work includes developing and deploying carbon accounting frameworks within industrial sectors like steel and aluminum to enable development of a differentiated commodities market with low embodied emissions for these products.

Al Armendariz is an IEEFA board member and the Industrial Initiative Director for Climate Imperative. He has more than 25 years of experience in industrial environmental engineering, federal and state energy policy, and clean energy campaigning.