Producers and retailers are scrambling to cut emissions before they are obliged to, and new technology provides some solutions

Manufacturing accounts for a sizeable share of total greenhouse gas emissions. In the US, it represents about 20% of domestic direct emissions and is indirectly responsible for another 11% due to electricity use, according to the Pew Center on Global Climate Change.

With such an overwhelming carbon footprint, many manufacturers are implementing significant voluntary carbon emission reduction strategies well in advance of regulations. Likewise, the retail sector, which accounts for nearly 7% of total UK building energy consumption, is investing in renewable and internal energy efficiency, and some are starting to measure the carbon footprint of individual suppliers and products.

The financial, PR and competitive benefits of implementing efficiency improvements have manufacturers and retailers scrambling to hop on the green bandwagon.

Smart move

Helpful new technologies and strategies for gaining energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions are springing up everywhere.

One innovative way of assessing and monitoring companies’ footprints is through the use of so-called smart meters.

Examples include Evergreen Energy and Enterprise Information Management, which has developed the GreenCert greenhouse gas meter, using IBM technology to automate monitoring, reporting and trading carbon emissions. The meter captures data inputs from a number of streams and uses it to quantify emissions generated, as well as changes over time in total emissions.

DuPont’s Sabine River Works site, which produces copolymers used in packaging films, has an active energy reduction programme that relies on an innovative energy management smartboard that pulls in data from the company’s processes and analyses operations with an eye on energy savings. Processes performing significantly above or below expectations are flagged and underperforming operations are queued for corrective action.

Implementation of the dashboard data collection technology has, according to DuPont, resulted in a 25% savings in annual energy use and a reduction of nearly 11,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.

Powerful brew

Solar power and wind power are becoming popular choices among many manufacturing and retail businesses to reduce emissions and facility costs.

Sierra Nevada Brewery is installing a 1.4-megawatt solar array at its Chico, California facility. The 6,800 solar panels will provide 34% of the brewery’s power. When coupled with four 250-kilowatt fuel cell power units, the two systems will provide the majority of the brewery’s power and surplus energy will be sent to the state’s power grid.

In one of the largest retail solar and energy efficiency initiatives, Macy’s department stores have installed solar roof tiles on 28 of its stores in California. The 8.9-megawatt system covers more than 800,000 sq ft with 45,000 panels and will reduce carbon emissions by 195 million pounds over 30 years – the equivalent of removing about 19,500 cars from the road.

Efficiency first

But Geoff Newman, marketing director for Sabien Technology, which supplies energy efficiency strategies and technologies, says it is surprising how many organisations implement renewable energy sources such as wind and solar before embarking on an energy efficiency drive.

“This is sometimes because they do not have an energy strategy in place, or they want to ‘visually’ demonstrate they are green to their customers, employees and stakeholders,” Newman says. “But this approach will not deliver energy and financial savings, let alone reduce carbon emissions.”

Sabien, whose customers include the Royal Bank of Scotland and Ford Motor Company, says its boiler and air conditioning compressor optimisation technologies are proven to reduce carbon and energy consumption by up to 35% with a typical return on investment in fewer than two years.

Energy gains

Thermal destratification is another energy efficiency technology gaining widespread attention. The directional ceiling fan technology equalises the air temperature throughout a building or enclosed space. Airius Europe, which distributes the technology in the UK, claims its clients, which include Marks & Spencer, British Airways and Toyota Motors, have reduced their electricity bills by as much as 50%, achieving both significant financial savings and reductions in carbon emissions.

powerPerfector, a voltage optimisation technology, is also delivering energy efficiency gains to manufacturers and retailers. The units, which are installed at a facility’s main incoming power supply, lower and balance the voltage for an entire site, reducing kilowatt consumption and improving power quality, thereby making equipment run more efficiently.

The company says its customers, which include BP, Tesco and 3M, are reducing energy use and cost and lowering carbon emissions by as much as 20%. In addition, powerPerfector says its units extend the life of electrical equipment, including light bulbs and motor controllers, by 150% to 300%. The technology is accredited by the UK Carbon Trust’s four-year, interest-free loan scheme for small business for loans up to £100,000.

Common sensor

Although some manufacturers find that simple changes in lighting and heating and cooling practices can yield huge savings when implemented factory-wide or enterprise-wide, many companies are taking their initiatives beyond ‘low hanging fruit’.

At NRG Systems, which makes equipment for wind energy projects, occupancy sensors are used to minimise lighting needs, while solar photovoltaics and a wind turbine provide about 53% of the facility’s electricity. ‘Smarter’ production equipment automates the company’s processes and ensures machinery only runs during production times. For instance, on NRG’s paint spray booths, lights and fans only run when a technician opens the doors.

Ford’s focus

Ford has also made advances in paint technology that promise big savings not only for its own operations, but perhaps for the entire car industry. The company’s new ‘three-wet’ paint process, which combines an advanced chemical formulation of high-solids, solvent-borne paint with an innovative three-step wet application technique, results in a 15% reduction in greenhouse gases and a nearly 10% cut in VOC emissions.

Innovative approaches to reducing emissions abound – and the possibilities seem to be limited only by willpower and imagination. And with more than 90% of associated emissions for many products, including appliances, electronics and automobiles, coming from post-manufacture product use, the future may lie in companies using their new energy efficiency expertise to add energy saving features to their products.


Useful links:
www.openeco.org
www.sabien-tech.co.uk
www.wrap.org.uk

Case Study:

T-Mobile UK has completed a two year project to install ‘smart-meter’ devices that allow the mobile phone provider to make more informed decisions about its energy use at 6,000 of its network sites. The company is the first in the UK to roll out the technology, which records and stores electricity units used on a site, on such a large scale.

T-Mobile’s installation of the technology transmits energy use details via a SIM smart card system to a secure database. Energy consumption at the company’s network sites is now measured every half hour and the data collected allows T-Mobile to assess how each site is working and to make adjustments for variables such as the weather.

With the data, T-Mobile expects to reduce its electricity bills by 7% annually by transferring to the most appropriate energy tariffs, allowing the company to save millions and actually recoup its investment in about two years.

Although the meters do not directly reduce the amount of electricity used, Jim Hyde, T-mobile’s chief executive in the UK, says they do give the company transparency into how electricity is being used, allowing the company to make better decisions about things like future equipment purchases. For instance, it achieved a 25% carbon savings at one network site by upgrading sub-optimal equipment identified by the technology.