The fossil use in thermal and chemical inputs below is way beyond heat pumps so they count 1:1 in primary energy.

1. Iron, Steel, and Metal Processing

These processes require some of the highest temperatures in manufacturing to extract, melt, and purify metals.

Blast Furnace Smelting: 1,500 °C - 2,000 °C — Used to reduce iron ore into liquid pig iron.

Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Steelmaking: 1,600 °C - 1,700 °C — Melts recycled scrap steel to produce new steel.

Metal Casting and Founding: 1,200 °C - 1,600 °C — Melting metals like aluminum, copper, and iron into molds.

Heat Treating (Annealing, Hardening, Tempering): 400 °C - 1,100 °C — Controlled heating and cooling processes to alter the physical and chemical properties of steel and alloys.

2. Ceramics, Glass, and Cement

These involve extreme heating to drive off moisture, chemically alter minerals, and melt raw materials into durable goods.

Cement Clinkering (Rotary Kilns): ~ 1,450 °C — Heats limestone and clay to form cement clinker.

Glass Melting: 1,200 °C - 1,600 °C — Melts silica sand, soda ash, and limestone into molten glass.

Ceramic Firing / Sintering: 1,000 °C - 1,400 °C — Hardens and bonds ceramic materials to produce brick, tiles, and advanced technical ceramics.

Lime Calcination: 850 °C - 950 °C — Decomposes limestone into calcium oxide (quicklime) and carbon dioxide.

3. Chemical Processing and Petroleum Refining

High temperatures are utilized in the petrochemical sector for cracking, reforming, and producing core industrial gases.

Steam Cracking: 750 °C - 900 °C — Breaks down heavy hydrocarbons into lighter, valuable alkenes (like ethylene).

Steam Methane Reforming: 700 °C - 1,000 °C — Reacts steam with natural gas to produce synthesis gas and hydrogen.

Ammonia Production (Haber-Bosch process): ~ 400 °C - 500 °C — Requires both high heat and high pressure to synthesize ammonia.

4. Refining and Mining

These processes are responsible for extracting precious metals and purifying chemical elements from mined ores.

Copper / Zinc Smelting: 1,100 °C - 1,300 °C — Melts copper and zinc ores to remove impurities.

Calcination of Alumina (Bayer Process): 1,000 °C - 1,200 °C — Removes water from aluminum hydroxide to produce alumina.

You can’t use heat pumps for high-temperature industrial processes. And heat pumps and EVs need grid upgrade and renewable infra which are energy-intensive.

World primary energy use shows an effectively constant fraction of fossil in the overall use. There is no “turning back” from something that doesn’t exist.

Nope. Not any computer I own.