Energy transition and filtration: new fuels, new processes, new challenges

The energy transition is not only about electricity. For the manufacturing industry, it means changing the fuels used in thermal processes, introducing new raw materials, modifying the operating conditions of existing plants — and doing all of this while maintaining regulatory compliance and production continuity.

For industrial filtration systems, this translates into concrete technical challenges that are worth examining carefully.

New fuels, new dust profiles

The Italian transposition of the RED III Directive, enacted with Legislative Decree No. 5 of January 2026, sets ambitious targets: by 2030 the industrial sector must increase its share of renewable energy use by 1.6 percentage points per year, while renewable hydrogen must cover at least 42% of industrial hydrogen demand.

In practical terms, the partial or full replacement of fossil fuels with biomass, biomethane or hydrogen changes the nature of the flue gases and emissions that filtration systems must handle. Biomass combustion, for example, generates particulate matter with different characteristics compared to coal or natural gas: different granulometry, more variable moisture content, higher corrosive potential. Every change in fuel is potentially a change in the operating conditions of the filter.

Hard-to-abate sectors and ETS pressure

Hard-to-abate sectors — those that cannot simply be electrified — will see a progressive reduction in free ETS allowances from 2026. Steel, cement, chemicals, ceramics, paper: these are all sectors where emission filtration plays a critical role, and where regulatory and economic pressure to reduce emissions is set to increase significantly.

Hydrogen: opportunities and technical specificities

Italy's target is for renewable hydrogen to cover at least 54% of industrial hydrogen demand by 2030. Processes using hydrogen have specific operational characteristics — higher temperatures, different moisture profiles — that require filtration components designed for these conditions. It is not a matter of swapping one component for another: it requires rethinking the filtration system in light of the new process.

Filtration as a strategic variable

In this context, the choice of filtration system is no longer a purely technical decision made downstream of plant design. It becomes a strategic variable to factor in during the planning stages of the energy transition — alongside fuel selection, process design and regulatory compliance.

CleanAir works on these topics with clients who are facing or planning changes to the energy mix of their plants. If your process is evolving, now is the right time to think together about the implications for your filtration system.