Straightforward steps to put carbon cutting ideals into practice
14 Dec 2022
Few process firms are unaware of the importance of tackling their carbon footprint but for many the problem is knowing where to start. Torill Bigg lends her expertise…
We all know that carbon emissions must be reduced, but may not know where to start.
The beginning is the best place to start anything. In carbon planning the beginning is to measure current carbon emissions. The principle is the same as preparing to decorate; to know how much paint to buy, you need to measure your walls.
Measure up
Begin by deciding what to include - and what to leave out; this is setting your scope and boundary. It's like deciding which rooms and walls to paint. Include all relevant emissions sources; list assets and activities within your control. Record assets large in number, such as fleets of pumping systems, at process level rather than individual asset level. Next calculate the annual amount of carbon emissions from each source.
Start by recording data already available. For example, record annual electricity kwh purchased, or record the summed power required annually for an asset inventory. For your baseline, annual kwh is sufficient. Later, more detail will facilitate an itemised carbon reduction plan, but at this stage you are finding your starting point.
List stationary assets that use fuels directly on site, such as gas boilers, or assets that burn oil or solid fuels. Find the annual amount of each fuel used in litres, kg or tonnes.
Repeat this for vehicles, recording litres of fuel used, or annual mileages. Now include water and wastewater in m3, materials used and waste materials disposed. Materials might be paper, cardboard, plastics, metals, glass or aggregates. Carbon emissions can now be calculated from this inventory of assets and emissions sources.
Calculate
Calculating carbon emissions is less tricky than it sounds. Government guidance and documented emission factors are published illustrating how to convert kwh of electricity, m3 of water, and miles driven, into CO2 equivalents (CO2e). Adding these numbers to your list becomes an inventory of carbon emission sources, source types, and documented emission factors. Multiplying the documented emission factors by kwh, m3 or kg quantities gives CO2e in tonnes or kilogrammes per year.
Reduce
Set realistic changes for each emission source. For example, change electricity to a genuine eco-tariff, whereby purchased electricity is generated from renewable sources. Or generate your own renewable electricity to also reduce reliance on the National Grid. Fitting water-saving devices cut m3 of water and reduce both wastewater treated and the CO2e of both. Change to electric vehicles, install charging points and, with additional use of batteries, charge those from solar panels. First, though, reduce demand: Consider asset efficiency; assets producing too much heat, noise or vibration are running inefficiently and literally wasting energy. Maintenance interventions improve efficiency, increase cost effectiveness and reduce carbon emissions. Win, win, win.
And finally, report
Broadcast your carbon reduction journey. Share it with all stakeholders; customers, suppliers, employees, and the community. Tell them your measured carbon footprint and carbon reduction targets. Go forth and implement the changes. Monitor your success; measure electricity used before and after servicing previously inefficient assets, measure gas use before and after insulation, calculate vehicle carbon emissions and compare them with new electric vehicles. Monitor monthly and next year remeasure your carbon footprint - and again tell the world how well you have done.
Dr Torill Bigg is chief carbon reduction engineer at Tunley Engineering
