Menu

emissions

2149232155

Decarbonising Manufacturing – A Long Term Game

, , , , 0

 

Manufacturing relies on processes requiring intense heat, the carbon-intensive extraction and refinement of resources and huge power requirements to keep process lines humming. It is estimated that industrial processes, such as mining and manufacturing, consume 44% of Australia’s energy and 40% of electricity each year. While advances are being made, such as the development and use of green hydrogen and green ammonia, these are far-off initiatives. Many manufacturers have completed the early stages of decarbonisation — the quick wins. These have shown the world, their investors, stakeholders, and employees they are doing everything in their power to decarbonise. The next stage of decarbonising is dubbed ‘hard-to-abate’ but it can be done.

Achievement of Quick Wins

Many manufacturers have declared their net zero intentions, as part of mandatory emissions reporting. It creates an impetus to ensure a declared public target is not another act of greenwashing. This external pressure is acting to push manufacturing companies to stay on track, either meeting or exceeding targets. While many have enacted meaningful change, they have done so at a smaller scale so that failures could be mitigated and isolated.  For example, one global food and beverage manufacturer identified several pilot locations in each region with a good level of engagement and readiness from site-level management, and used these to build a proof-of-concept for low-carbon operations before scaling up across its global footprint. Additionally, many have either begun or completed the replacement of end-of-life equipment or mining plant and equipment with more energy efficient equivalents. These include implementing heat pumps, changing lighting from halogen to LED and switching to smart technologies which automatically power down equipment. NCI Packaging, for one, installed 500kW of rooftop solar at its site in Preston, Melbourne, reducing its energy consumption from the grid by 22%. While it may only decarbonise a production line or robotics, it is a key step towards decarbonisation as well as a proof-of-concept for future rollouts across the rest of its sites. Research reveals that 75% of organisations globally have achieved most of these quick wins. They are now tackling the harder-to-address challenges often associated with implementation.

Next Steps

Manufacturing is hard to abate but it is incumbent on companies to achieve their targets, while remaining financially viable and competitive. Short-term wins are great for the morale of the team, but projects with timelines stretching anywhere from 2-15 years make it harder to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Forward-thinking heavy steel fabrication companies are embracing long-term goals and those that are not risk falling behind. Furthermore, new technologies and advances such as green ammonia and green hydrogen are emerging and, while not yet mature, they should be part of any holistic decarbonisation strategy. One of the biggest aspects of net zero is something that seems out of control, but must be considered. Scope 3 emissions may fly under the radar for now, but there is a responsibility incumbent on organisations to begin aligning with suppliers focused on sustainable practices. Scope 3 emissions are set to increasingly make up a key pillar of decarbonisation reporting and research needs to be started on a sustainable post-pandemic supply chain. Meanwhile, offsets should not be deployed in isolation to authentically reach net zero, but the use of offsets for residual hard-to-abate emissions can help organisations decarbonise around the edges.

Final Thoughts

It is acknowledged that manufacturing is a hard-to-abate sector due to its reliance on industrial processes and what is next beyond the quick wins is complex. But hard-to-abate does not mean impossible-to-abate and it is incumbent on organisations to ensure they do their utmost to meet their targets, both for the future of the planet and the future of their business.

construction-workers-install-metal-rebar-and-build-2022-07-05-03-48-52-utc (1)

Fibre-reinforced Rebar Slashes Weight By 75%

, , , , , 0

 

A high-strength alternative to traditional reinforcing bar that is a quarter of the weight of the same size steel product is being brought to Australia from South Korea by Technofast. John Bucknell, Technofast Founder and CEO, believes the South Korean Dong Shin Materials Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) rebar product typically doubles work speed or better while also imposing less load on buildings and structures. The GFRP, for which Technofast is exclusive Australian distributor, is also safer to handle and install, as well as being versatile for architects, builders, and engineers to use for precast and rebar detailing in construction, including those with electro-magnetic field issues because it curtails electro-magnetic interference. “This GFRP rebar is a proven product in service in a multitude of applications, including precasts, bridges, roads, rail, tunnel, tank, dam, dock, flood mitigation, tetrapod (four-legged) structures, factories, logistics centres, modular construction, civil works, infrastructure, tower base, and other domestic, commercial, and industrial applications, and particularly tower structures,” said Bucknell.

Technofast’s link with Korea’s high-quality manufacturing, engineering, energy, and construction sectors extends over more than 20 years, including exports of its EziTite® speed and safety-oriented hydraulic fastening systems. It is produced by one of the world’s most advanced GFRP plants into which extensive R&D and GFRP mass-production technology has been invested over the last five years to offer proven, quality, cost-efficient product. “GFRP rebar used to be more expensive than steel rebar, but new mass production technology in a new plant permits structural steel fabrication at a highly competitive price,” says Bucknell. The 5000-square-metre plant specializes in advanced technologies including GFRP, nanomaterials, secondary battery material, EMI shielding, and machine R&D, he says. “Advanced production technology has cut the time involved in manufacturing. Time also equals cost in construction project cycles, where GFRP rebar not only saves material costs, but also transport, fossil fuel pollution, labour at a time of labour shortages, and heavy equipment costs. Other benefits include compliance with the relevant standards in Asia, the US, and Europe, with guidance on specific types of projects in Australia available through Technofast, which is likely to give a boost to Australia’s structural metal product manufacturing industry.

“Our distribution of this product complements perfectly our own manufacturing and distribution of Technofast’s wide range of hydraulic fastening, safety, and maintenance ranges to a large range of established customer bases across mining plant and equipment and energy, manufacturing and maintenance, construction and civil engineering, primary processing and materials handling, water and wastewater, and ports, electrical and communication infrastructure.”, stated Bucknell. Many existing customers may also have a need for this innovative, safe, and rapidly installed product. In addition to the safety benefits relating to musculoskeletal injuries, use of this material in the applications for which it is suited reduces rebar manufacturing carbon emissions by more than half conservatively, ranging up to 75% as estimated by its smart energy manufacturers, which also produces solar energy systems. The new rebar’s sustainability credentials include reduction of waste caused by traditional reinforced concrete’s vulnerability in some applications to salt, moisture, chemicals, and factors that can produce waste due to frequent maintenance.

Air quality control abstract concept vector illustration.

Mandatory Emissions Reporting – Are Manufacturers Ready?

, , , , 0

 

With climate-related financial disclosures getting nearer, large Australian manufacturers are starting to plan how to manage mandatory reporting of their carbon emissions. Carbon emissions are already being tracked for the oil and gas sector by companies such as Palantir and Trafigura. The Australian government is shifting to align the country with jurisdictions such as Europe and the US in introducing mandatory sustainability reporting for large listed and unlisted entities and financial institutions, which would include climate emissions. The Australian Accounting Standards Board (AASB) will be responsible for developing Australian climate disclosure standards, which would closely align with the International Sustainability Standards Board’s (ISSB), IFRS S2 Climate-related Disclosures. So, how will emissions reporting be implemented for the manufacturing industry and what needs to be reported? This blog will dive deeper into this topic.

Proposed Staged Approach

Group 1: 2024-25 onwards, entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and that fulfil two of the three thresholds:

– over 500 employees;

– value of consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $1 billion or more;

– consolidated revenue for the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $500 million or more, AND entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act that are a ‘controlling corporation’ under the NGER Act and meet the NGER publication threshold.

Group 2: 2026-27 onwards, entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and that fulfil two of the three thresholds:

– over 250 employees;

– value of consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $500 million or more;

– consolidated revenue for the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $200 million or more, AND entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act that are a ‘controlling corporation’ under the NGER Act and meet the NGER publication threshold.

Group 3: 2027-28 onwards Entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act and that fulfil two of the three thresholds:

– over 100 employees;

– value of consolidated gross assets at the end of the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $25 million or more;

– consolidated revenue for the financial year of the company and any entities it controls is $50 million or more, AND entities required to report under Chapter 2M of the Corporations Act that are a ‘controlling corporation’ under the NGER Act.

Emission Content Disclosures

Scope 1 and 2 emissions

  • ‘material’ climate-related risks and opportunities, as well as how they identify, assess and manage those risks and opportunities (such as US steel and aluminium tariffs on carbon emissions)
  • information about ‘governance processes, controls and procedures’ used to monitor and manage the above risks and opportunities
  • information about the heavy steel fabrication company‘s climate strategy and decision making, including disclosure of the company’s transition plans.
  • climate resilience assessments against at least two possible future states, one of which would need to be consistent with the global temperature goal set out in the Climate Change Act 2022 which is to contribute to ‘holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’.
  • information about climate-related targets and plan for achieving them, and progress to date.
  • The idea is that the new climate disclosure requirements would be published with companies’ annual financial reports.

Scope 3 emissions – the emissions generated indirectly by third parties, via the supply chain for example – are one of the more problematic reporting concerns. The government’s proposal suggests that reporting of the more elusive Scope 3 emissions would be phased in later, during the second reporting year, and kept from then onwards.

Final Words

At this point, manufacturing companies need to start identifying direct and indirect emission sources, climate-related risks, and opportunities; as well as measures to mitigate climate impacts.  Since a major part of a carbon emissions assessment is summarising and collecting data, research should be performed on robust data collection systems that include emissions data, energy consumption, heat induction bending services and other relevant metrics. It needs to be noted that no exceptions will be provided for carbon emission reporting by manufacturing firms – so it is best to get cracking early!

interior-view-steel-factory (5)

Old Tyres and Boots Used in Next-Gen Australian Steel Manufacturing

, , , , , 0

Old tyres, conveyor belts and rubber safety boots have been used in a novel steel manufacturing process commercialized by Australian steel manufacturer Molycop, which will be offered for export to global EAF operators. The process is the result of a collaborative project between Molycop, the UNSW SMaRT Centre, footwear manufacturer Crawford Boots and the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). It involves maximizing the recovery and use of waste rubber as a substitute for imported carbonaceous material (‘coke’) used in Molycop’s Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) in Newcastle. Australia’s waste tyre export ban, which began in December 2021, has been a catalyst for companies to find innovative new processing capabilities (such as water tanks) to reduce the huge tyre landfill problem. The development of this new technology reduces the company’s reliance on imported carbonaceous materials from China by up to 20 per cent. It also removes up to 90,000 tyres from landfill and reduces the steel maker’s electricity consumption and scope one carbon emissions.

Molycop, alongside its steel fabrication partners, has developed a means to maximize the use of rubber crumb (polymer) as a source of carbon and hydrogen needed in the steel-making process. Molycop produces over 240,000 tons of steel each year for train wheels, billet steel, steel bar and grinding media. Sustainability is core to the company’s strategy and integrated into how Molycop does business, said the company’s President of Sustainability, Ian Tooze. Displacing fossil carbon materials is also a key objective in Molycop’s decarbonization pathway. “We are investing in innovative solutions that improve the ways we reduce the consumption of virgin raw materials, recover valuable materials from waste streams, minimize waste and reduce our carbon footprint while we perform quality management. “What we have developed is yielding results and delivering outcomes for Molycop, our customers and communities in which we operate.” The AMGC said the innovation will help Australia’s steel manufacturing sector to be more competitive, through lowered production and import costs, and be more sustainable through decreased emissions and energy consumption.

AMGC’s Managing Director, Dr Jens Goennemann said commercializing great manufacturing ideas is where Australia’s future prosperity lies. “Australia has an opportunity to transform from being a lucky country to a smart one through the commercialization of great ideas that have local and global relevance. While the US has floated new steel tariffs based on carbon emissions, Molycop, UNSW and Crawford Boots together have manufactured a product that will reduce emissions and address waste in steel making, while generating more jobs and revenues for the nation – what more could you ask for?” Director of the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, Professor Veena Sahajwalla said it is crucial for manufacturers and researchers to work to tackle environmental issues, while delivering commercial outcomes. “By working collaboratively with Molycop we have been able to prove that polymer injection works and is commercially viable. It is only through partnerships like this that we can truly achieve positive environmental outcomes at scale. I encourage all manufacturers to engage with your local research institution and challenge them with a business issue that needs solving.”

carbon-dioxide-7123532_1280

Palantir and Trafigura to Track Carbon Emissions for Oil Industry

, , , 0

 

Palantir Technologies Inc and Trafigura have set sights on a new market, their chief executives told Reuters: tracking, calculating and reporting carbon emissions across the oil and gas sector. The companies are building a platform for oil majors and other commodities firms to vet the environmental impact of their supply chains, applying Trafigura’s data to Palantir’s operating system, known as Foundry.

The effort represents a particularly lucrative long-term opportunity at a time when Palantir’s revenue outlook has fallen short of expectations, with shares trading down 57% this year. This project marks the first time Palantir will go to market with a partner on carbon emissions tracking. Leveraging Trafigura’s expertise in global commodity supply chains, Palantir’s Foundry operating system will be configured to provide consortium partners with an accurate calculation of carbon intensity across supply chains, beginning with crude oil and refined products, and concentrates and refined metals.

In a joint interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Palantir’s Chief Executive Alex Karp said, “This is going to be one of the biggest things we’ve ever done.” Jeremy Weir, Trafigura’s CEO, said the market is “massive. In terms of size, I think it touches everybody.”

The idea grew out of a pilot last year when Trafigura’s global head of carbon trading approached Palantir with a desire to better assess indirect carbon footprints, known as “Scope Three” emissions. The announcement builds on the work already done over the past year, with the initial pilot already having built scenarios across ten million carbon pathways using actualized commodity shipments by integrating Trafigura data and metrics supplemented by third-party data.

“Our customers are increasingly asking us for visibility into the lifecycle emissions of the commodities we move as they prepare for regulated Scope 3 emissions reporting and more generally for Net Zero,” said Weir. “The complexity involved in commodity supply chains requires robust cooperation across the industry and a technological solution that can enable meaningful decisions and change. We are delighted to jointly deliver a solution to market with Palantir, whose technology can manage the complexity and data security required to provide additional services to our customers and the market.”

Customers can subscribe to the new platform and take part in what Palantir and Trafigura are calling a consortium. They did not disclose financial terms. Concerns about energy security fuelled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have not dampened interest in sustainability, said Weir. “We’ve got a severe bump in the road, but we still have to decarbonize,” he said. For Palantir, the war, which Moscow has called a “special operation,” has meanwhile created potential for other products it developed, such as secure data transfer across allies. “You’ll have to use your imagination to figure out how those things may be in use, but we play a crucial role in the security of the West,” Karp said.

 

© K999 Engineering & Construction Co. Ltd. 2023