Industrial heating processes in Southern California will now be required to transition to electric systems under a new groundbreaking regulation.
In a bid to transform industry and drive investments in low- and zero-emission technology, Evan Gillespie, a Los Angeles-based partner at Industrious Labs, has stated that the aim is to modernize California's manufacturing sector.
The California manufacturing sector, the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state, accounting for more than one-fifth of annual emissions, is crucial to develop a comprehensive plan for cleaning it up. The South Coast Air Quality Management District, which includes large sections of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, is home to the most ozone-polluted region in the country.
Recently, the California Assembly passed a bill (AB 2083) to create a strategy for decarbonizing the state's $400 billion manufacturing sector. This move follows the adoption of several first-of-their-kind rules aimed at reducing emissions. Last year, the South Coast district adopted a rule for large commercial bakeries and kitchens, pushing food manufacturers to electrify their ovens.
The latest addition to this effort is a new rule in Southern California, which aims to shift toward electric boilers and heaters. This rule is part of a broader effort to rein in California's industrial emissions more broadly. Boilers and water heaters, commonly used in swimming pools, dry cleaners, aircraft-engine factories, textile mills, packaged snack facilities, bottled drink facilities, and other places requiring large amounts of steam or heat, account for about 9 percent of all NOx emissions from stationary sources in the region.
The new rule is designed to ramp up over time. New smaller units installed in new buildings are required to meet zero-emissions limits starting in 2026. For existing units, appliances already installed today must be replaced once they reach a certain age, or at the end of their useful life, depending on the unit. The drawn-out timeline is meant to give manufacturers of electric heat pumps and thermal-storage solutions enough time to scale up their production to meet the new demand.
The measure, known as Amended Rule 1146.2, is the first-in-the-nation measure aimed at reducing emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) from over 1 million large water heaters, small boilers, and process heaters in the area. When fully implemented, the Southern California rule is expected to reduce pollution by 5.6 tons of NOx per day, equivalent to slashing half of all smog-forming emissions from cars in the region.
However, the search results do not provide information about manufacturers of electric heaters and water heaters with sufficient capacity to meet the increased demand in California due to new regulations reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from large water heaters, small boilers, and process boilers in Southern California.
Gillespie emphasized that the transition is not just about retiring old facilities and replacing them with clean ones, but about modernizing industry to ensure it thrives in California. The aim is not just to clean up the industry but to modernize it for a sustainable future, ensuring it remains competitive and continues to contribute positively to the state's economy.
