Big Pharma Turns Industrial Heat Decarbonization Into a Supply Chain Strategy

Industrial heat is becoming a more important part of the corporate net-zero conversation, particularly for sectors where manufacturing depends on steam, hot water, drying, sterilization, chemical processing, and other energy-intensive operations. In the pharmaceutical industry, heat is essential to research, development, and medicine manufacturing, but it is also a persistent source of fossil fuel use.

A new Forbes article by Ken Silverstein highlights how AstraZeneca is positioning industrial heat decarbonization as a strategic asset through its Clean Heat Program. The central argument is that low-carbon heat is no longer only a technical sustainability measure. For large manufacturers and their suppliers, it can also help reduce exposure to volatile energy prices, improve operational resilience, and strengthen readiness for climate-related regulation and customer expectations.

That shift matters because industrial heat remains one of the hardest parts of the energy transition. The International Energy Agency estimates that heat accounts for almost half of global final energy consumption and 37% of energy-related CO2 emissions. Renewable energy still supplies only a limited share of global heat demand, with fossil fuels continuing to dominate many industrial processes.

AstraZeneca’s Clean Heat Program Targets Supplier Emissions

AstraZeneca launched the Clean Heat Program with sustainability consultancy ERM and supply chain intelligence platform Secaro in March 2026. The program is designed to help companies and suppliers identify, assess, finance, and implement low-carbon heat projects across complex supply chains.

The initiative combines Secaro’s supplier data and analytics with ERM’s technical and advisory capabilities. According to ERM, the program aims to address common barriers that stop heat decarbonization projects from moving beyond early assessments, including limited site-level data, technical complexity, and financing challenges.

AstraZeneca is listed as the sponsor of the Clean Heat Program, which is intended to help customers and suppliers move from emissions reporting to project delivery. Secaro describes the program as focused on supplier engagement, data collection, site-level analysis, and practical implementation support.

For pharmaceutical companies, this supplier focus is significant. Much of the sector’s climate impact sits beyond direct operations, including purchased goods, contract manufacturing, logistics, packaging, and energy used by suppliers. Decarbonizing heat across those networks requires more than corporate renewable electricity procurement. It requires an understanding of which sites use heat, what temperature levels they need, which fuels they rely on, and which alternatives are technically and financially viable.

Why is Heat Difficult to Decarbonize

Unlike electricity, which can increasingly be procured from wind, solar, hydro, and other renewable sources, heat often requires direct changes to industrial equipment and site infrastructure. Many facilities rely on natural gas boilers or combined heat and power systems. Replacing or retrofitting those assets can affect production reliability, validation requirements, permitting, maintenance planning, and capital budgets.

The challenge is especially relevant for industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, food processing, paper, textiles, and materials manufacturing. Many of these sectors require low- and medium-temperature heat that can be served by electric boilers, industrial heat pumps, thermal storage, biomethane, solar thermal, geothermal systems, or waste heat recovery. Higher-temperature applications can be more difficult and may require emerging technologies, green hydrogen, biomass, or hybrid systems.

The IEA has previously noted that industrial heat makes up around two-thirds of industrial energy demand and almost one-fifth of global energy consumption. Most of that heat has historically come from fossil fuel combustion, making it a major source of direct industrial CO2 emissions.

From Cost Center to Risk Management Tool

The strategic case for clean heat is becoming clearer as companies face higher scrutiny over Scope 3 emissions, supply chain resilience, and energy cost exposure. Heat decarbonization can help companies reduce emissions while also limiting dependence on fossil gas markets, which have shown sharp price volatility in recent years.

AstraZeneca has already taken steps to replace fossil gas with renewable alternatives in its own operations. In February 2025, the company opened a biomethane plant in Lincolnshire, UK, through a 15-year agreement with Future Biogas. Reuters reported that the plant is expected to supply 100 gigawatt hours of renewable energy annually for AstraZeneca’s UK research, development, and manufacturing sites, equivalent to about 20% of the company’s global gas consumption.

The company has also highlighted clean heat as part of its broader renewable energy strategy. AstraZeneca says its Macclesfield site, its second-largest manufacturing site globally, achieved 100% renewable energy use for heat and power in 2025.

These examples show why heat is moving from a narrow sustainability topic to a business planning issue. Companies that can secure lower-carbon heat may improve emissions performance, reduce exposure to future carbon costs, and strengthen relationships with customers who are asking suppliers to provide more detailed climate data.

Technology Options Are Expanding

Industrial clean heat is not a single technology market. Companies may use a combination of electrification, heat pumps, renewable gases, biomass, thermal storage, waste heat recovery, and process efficiency improvements.

Thermal energy storage is gaining particular attention because it can store renewable electricity as heat and deliver steam or high-temperature heat when needed. Reuters reported in April 2026 that thermal storage is attracting interest from industrial users because it can help provide round-the-clock heat and may be cheaper than battery storage for some applications.

High-temperature heat pumps are also becoming more relevant for industrial sites. Research and demonstration projects show that heat pumps can use waste heat or low-grade heat sources and raise them to useful industrial temperatures. A documented AstraZeneca case in Gothenburg, Sweden, describes heat pumps using recovered heat to generate steam for a plant’s distribution system.

For pharmaceutical manufacturers, these technologies may be especially attractive where heat demand is steady, quality requirements are strict, and energy reliability is critical. However, implementation still depends on site-specific engineering, electricity prices, grid capacity, available waste heat, permitting, and the ability to avoid production disruption.

Implications for Suppliers and Net-Zero Planning

The Clean Heat Program reflects a broader shift in corporate climate strategy. Large companies are no longer focusing only on their own facilities. They are increasingly asking suppliers to cut emissions, use renewable power, improve energy data, and adopt low-carbon process heat.

AstraZeneca’s 2026 supplier sustainability guidance includes clean heat expectations, including a target for suppliers to achieve 20% clean heat at the global corporate level and to target 100% clean heat by 2030 at sites manufacturing for AstraZeneca.

For suppliers, this creates both pressure and opportunity. Those that can demonstrate credible heat decarbonization plans may become more competitive in procurement processes. Those who cannot may face rising expectations from customers, investors, and regulators.

For the wider net-zero transition, the message is clear: industrial heat is no longer a secondary issue. It is becoming a core part of supply chain decarbonization, energy security, and industrial competitiveness. The pharmaceutical sector’s approach could provide a model for other industries where heat is essential, emissions are embedded across supplier networks, and practical implementation has lagged behind climate commitments.

Source: www.forbes.com