As illustrated in Fig. 1b, to achie

As illustrated in Fig. 1b, to achieve significant improvements in the industrial sector, emissions, both direct and indirect, will require turnaround from growth to a steep drop to attain 2050 targets. Given that the industrial sector accounts for 28% of global GHG emissions in 2014, it follows that the set targets cannot be attained without decarbonising the sector. The decarbonisation of the industrial sector is therefore the next frontier after the significant breakthroughs and successes recorded in the building, transport and power sectors, due to the scaling up of decarbonisation technologies. As such, energy efficient and sustainable manufacturing processes based on advanced technologies with reduced energy costs and lower environmental impact have become an important research focus [4–8].