JRC explains | 24 February 2025 | Joint Research Centre
It is clear: a more and more clean and competitive industry is a priority for Europe.
What role can science play in this context? By filling possible knowledge gaps with factual information and analysis, the Joint Research Centre (JRC) helps scale up the deployment of technologies to reduce carbon emissions and depollute, guide investments, map critical raw materials, reduce dependencies, assess the energy market and its future needs, and boost a fair transition.
In this article, we will explore some of the many JRC areas of work that strongly feed into the Commission’s decarbonisation efforts and the industrial transition.
Decarbonising European industry
The JRC maps, monitors and analyses the development and deployment of the technologies supporting the transition of energy intensive industries to climate neutrality, paying particular attention to first-of-a-kind and pilot clean industrial plants.
A strong collaboration between industry and stakeholders invigorates the efforts to decarbonise and industrialise the EU.
This co-creation approach is the foundation of the JRC-led Sevilla process aimed at advancing industrial transformation and co-creating environmental norms. This is a technical, consensus-building dialogue with industry, Member States, NGOs and the Commission. For the last 25 years, it helped advance industrial transformation and co-create environmental norms. Through this science-based dialogue, the Sevilla Process has a solid track record in reducing pollutants: for example, emissions to air have decreased by 40%-75% in the last 15 years.
Industries can submit technologies for discussion in the Sevilla process through the INCITE information platform, launched in 2024.
The European Innovation Centre for Industrial Transformation and Emissions (INCITE) promotes the deployment of clean industrial technologies that can boost a circular and more competitive industry in Europe. But how? The JRC INCITE team dives deep into innovative technologies and assesses their environmental performance. This public knowledge will then inform stakeholders and make it easier to prioritise updating environmental norms, such as the best available techniques reference documents (BREFs).
Such a review will also unlock faster electronic permitting procedures for the industry and help accelerate the spread of more efficient technologies. INCITE is currently focusing on energy-intensive industries, such as the iron and steel sector.
Monitoring raw material supply chains and demand
A stronger and more autonomous EU benefits from reliable knowledge on raw materials at global scale, including forecasting future demands and assessing dependencies and risks in case of supply chain disruptions.
The JRC-run Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) is the Commission’s reference knowledge platform on metals and minerals. The RMIS supports EU policy on raw materials (such as the 2024 Critical Raw Materials Act) and provides data and information for circular, resilient, competitive and sustainable raw material supply chains.
The JRC helps identify strategic raw materials, and pinpoints bottlenecks and the segments of supply chains which need strengthening, sharing recommendations. RMIS can quickly gather critical information on economic and geopolitical shifts (e.g. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, announcement of import/exports tariffs).
RMIS’s detailed modelling of supply chains also looks ahead and focuses on strategic sectors and related technologies, such as batteries, e-vehicles and renewable energy. Did you know that only 1-5% of raw materials required for renewable and low-carbon energy technologies are produced within the EU?
To identify supply chain vulnerabilities and guide future investments, JRC scientists regularly assess Europe’s manufacturing capacity to produce clean energy technologies.
Assessing energy markets and infrastructure for cleaner technologies
To support the energy transition, the JRC monitors energy market developments, provides modeling-based analyses on market design, and helps identify needs for regional energy infrastructure investments.
For example, in 2024, the JRC analysed the extent and costs of a European CO2 transport network, in support of the Commission’s Industrial Carbon Management Communication. The study identified more than 100 potential clusters to capture CO2 (instead of releasing it into the atmosphere) and potential sites to store it across Europe. The JRC study developed eight different possible scenarios and assessed the extension of the possible network and their costs, with recommendations for greater efficiency.
The data produced for this study is available in the Energy and Industry Geography Lab (EIGL), a JRC public tool to find and use geographical data related to energy, industry and infrastructure. The EIGL can also be used to evaluate the investment needs for low-carbon energy infrastructure at regional level.
Through EIGL’s spatial assessments, the JRC produced the EU Energy Atlas, which provides information on the energy supply and demand across the EU at 1 km x 1km resolution. Usually, energy statistics are reported at national scale only, whereas this Atlas works at a high-resolution scale, making it a first of its kind.
Studying requirements and impacts for emerging technologies
To assess the technological needs of a cleaner energy mix, the JRC studies renewable energy integration into the electricity grid, energy storage, energy efficiency and alternative fuels. The Clean Energy Technology Observatory (CETO) offers a comprehensive repository of techno-economic and socio-economic data on key technologies, and their integration into the energy system.
Our engineers advance life cycle assessment methodologies that analyse the environmental impact of products and technologies across their entire life cycle.
Hydrogen and batteries will likely play a key role in the European energy transition. Our experts’ research helps assess the performance of these technologies in terms of efficiency, emissions, reliability and safety.
For example, a JRC report compares the environmental impact of different methods for delivering hydrogen and how best to mitigate it. The JRC works to ensure that batteries are safe and sustainable by developing common methods to test their performance and safety.
Ensuring a green AND fair transition
The JRC examines the challenges and opportunities of the green transition, with a focus on fairness, social equity and the socio-economic risks (such as energy and transport poverty) that may increase social inequalities.
Our experts monitor and analyse industrial trends and opportunities, focusing on research and development investments, technological development and innovation, productivity growth, technology transfer, and skills requirements. The JRC analyses the implications of these trends for European labour markets and human capital, and how employment, education and training policies can support a fair digital and green transition.
Each year, the JRC publishes the EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, which provides economic and financial data and analysis of the top corporate R&D investors from the EU and abroad. It is a reliable, up-to-date benchmarking tool for comparisons between companies, sectors, and geographical areas.
Also, the JRC investigates how technological changes brought by the clean industrial transition affect the demand for skills and, in particular, how new technologies impact task and occupation distribution. Our scientists also analyse the impact of automation technologies (including AI, industrial robots, and Industry 4.0 technologies) on the skills required by leading innovators.
Finally, the JRC evaluates EU funds linked to areas related to competitiveness, like R&D, and monitors sustainable financial flows for the industrial transition, such as green bonds.
Conclusion
The Commission is leading efforts to decarbonise the European industry.
At the JRC, our goal is to provide policymakers with data and science to help make the EU industry more competitive globally, while becoming cleaner, more digital and more resilient. Our research also helps strengthen Europe’s strategic autonomy in critical technologies and strategic value chains, in a context of profound global geopolitical shifts.
Related links
European Commission on Strengthening European competitiveness
Press release: An EU Compass to regain competitiveness and secure sustainable prosperity