Electrification of Compressor in Steam Cracker Plant: A Path to Reduced Emissions and Optimized Energy Integration

Supply chain solutions are based on first-mile and last-mile deliveries; their efficiency significantly influences the total cost of operation. Drone technologies make it possible to improve first-mile and last-mile operations, but the design and optimization of these solutions offers new challenges. Within the frame of this article, the author focuses on the impact of integrated first-mile/last-mile drone-based delivery services from trucks, analyzing the impact of solutions on energy efficiency, the environmental impact and sustainability. The author describes a novel model of drone-based integrated first-mile/last-mile services which makes it possible to analyze the impact of different typical solutions on sustainability. As the numerical examples and computational results show, the integrated first-mile-last-mile drone-based service from trucks could lead to a significant reduction in energy consumption and a reduction in virtual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which would lead to a more sustainable logistics system. The numerical analysis of the scenarios shows that the increased application of drones and the integration of first-mile and last-mile delivery operations could decrease energy consumption by about 87%. This reduction in energy consumption, depending on the generation source of electricity, significantly increases the reduction in greenhouse gas emission.

Major US electric utility climate pledges have the potential to collectively reduce power sector emissions by one-third

Since most Green House Gases (GHGs) and air pollutants are generated from the same sources, it will be cost-effective to develop a GHGs reduction plan in combination with simultaneous removal of air pollutants. However, effects on air pollutants reduction according to implementing any GHG abatement plans have been rarely studied. Reflecting simultaneous removal of air pollutants along with the GHGs emission reduction, this study investigated relative cost effectiveness among GHGs reduction action plans in Busan Metropolitan City. We employed the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), a methodology that evaluates relative efficiency of decision-making units (DMUs) producing multiple outputs with multiple inputs, for the investigation. Assigning each GHGs reduction action plan to a DMU, implementation cost of each GHGs reduction action plan to an input, and reduction potential of GHGs and air pollutants by each GHGs reduction action plan to an output, we calculated efficiency scores for each GHGs reduction action plan. When the simultaneous removal of air pollutants with the GHGs reduction were considered, green house supply-insulation improvement and intelligent transportation system (ITS) projects had high efficiency scores for cost-positive action plans. For cost-negative action plans, green start network formation and running, and daily car use control program had high efficiency scores. When only the GHGs reduction was considered, project priority orders based on efficiency scores were somewhat different from those when both the removal of air pollutants and GHGs reduction were considered at the same time. The expected action plan priority difference is attributed to great difference of air pollutants reduction potential according to types of energy sources to be reduced.

In persuasion of global commitment of the country on reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission, India’s ‘National Mission on Sustainable Habitat’ has included promotion of energy efficiency in residential and commercial sector and has envisaged that energy use in buildings varies significantly across income groups, building construction typology, climate and several other factors. Though substantial energy savings can be achieved in the housing sector through implementation of various carbon mitigation options, it was stated that the incremental cost of implementing energy efficient measures is estimated to vary between 3 and 5% for residential houses. The challenge before the engineers, architects and other professionals associated with building construction sector is to find out appropriate technologies that will ensure reduction of GHG emission without increasing cost of construction. As majority of construction in government sector will come from construction of small residential house belonging to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) as part of government’s commitment to provide housing for all by 2020, assessment of GHG reduction potential of various cost-effective construction technologies is very essential to provide guidance to the stakeholders. This paper has surveyed various prevalent construction technologies in different parts of the country, analyzed the cost and embodied GHG emission for construction of the building envelope by collecting data through extensive search of literature and information obtained from construction sites. It has been found that there is ample scope of adoption of location-specific, cost-effective and eco-friendly construction technologies for construction of houses for EWS which are capable of reduction of GHG emission without any increase in cost of construction. The technologies can meet the commitment of the country at international level on reduction of GHG emission without any extra burden to state exchequer.

Energy efficiency is widely accepted as a tool to achieve reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. And reductions in GHG emissions are necessary in order to control the effects of climate change resulting from increased GHG emissions. With these statements the assemblage that explains the need for energy efficiency is supposedly complete. But that simply is not the case. Energy efficiency is not only pursued for reasons other than GHG emission reductions but is often pursed by actors that actually reject the entire notion of human-caused climate change and/or reject GHG emissions as a cause for climate change. In this paper I explore how and why actual actors decouple energy efficiency from climate change and examine some of the factors actors include in their decisions to pursue energy efficiency that are not related to climate change.

Mitigating climate change and achieving stabilization of greenhouse gas atmospheric concentrations — the objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — will require deep reductions in global Energy-related Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions. G-8 leaders called for a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions before 2050 to avoid the most serious consequences of climate change. Meeting this goal requires transforming the way energy is produced, delivered, and consumed across all sectors of the economy and regions of the world. Energy efficiency offers seemingly glittering promises to all-savings for consumers and utilities, profits for shareholders, improvements in industrial productivity, enhanced international competitiveness and reduced environmental impacts. As global energy demand continues to grow, actions to increase energy efficiency will be essential. The technical opportunities are myriad and potential savings real, but consumers and utilities have so far been slow to invest in the most cost-effective, energy-efficient technologies available. The energy efficiency of buildings, electric equipment, and appliances in use falls far short of what is technically attainable. Energy analysts have attributed this efficiency gap to a variety of market, institutional and technical constraints. Electric utility energy efficiency techniques have great potential to narrow this gap and achieve significant energy savings. This paper provides some of the recent trends in energy efficiency technologies that have been successful and also used widely worldwide. They are: 1) Energy efficient motors 2) Soft starters with energy saver 3) Variable speed drives 4) Energy efficient transformers 5) Electronic ballast 6) Occupancy sensors & Energy efficient lighting controls 7) Energy efficient Lamps This paper presents Case Studies of various energy efficient techniques used in a Steel Plant resulting in considerable Electrical energy savings varying from 10–15%. Electric motors drive both core industrial processes, like presses or roll mills, and auxiliary systems, like compressed air generation, ventilation or water pumping. They are utilized throughout all industrial branches, though the main applications vary. With only some exceptions, electric motors are the main source for the provision of mechanical energy in industry. In recent years, many studies identified large energy efficiency potentials in electric motors and motor systems with many saving options showing very short payback times and high cost-effectiveness. Furthermore, almost all electricity in India is generated by rotating electrical generators, and approximately half of that generated is used to drive electrical motors. Hence, efficiency improvements with electrical machines can have a very large impact on energy consumption. The key challenges to increased efficiency in systems driven by electrical machines lie in three areas: a. To extend the application areas of variable-speed electric drives through reduction of power electronic and control costs b. Secondly, to integrate the drive and the driven load to maximize system efficiency c. Finally, to increase the efficiency of the electrical machine. Lighting is a large and rapidly growing source of energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time the savings potential of lighting energy is high, even with the current technology, and there are new energy efficient lighting technologies coming onto the market. Currently, more than 33 billion lamps operate worldwide, consuming more than 2650 TWh of energy annually, which is approximately 19% of the global electricity consumption. The introduction of more energy efficient lighting products and procedures can at the same time provide better living and working environments and also contribute in a cost-effective manner to the global reduction of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Promoting sustainable practices: Exploring secondhand clothing consumption patterns and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Japan

A transformation from conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles to battery electric (BE) vehicles coupled with a low carbon electricity grid is considered to be effective in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions especially carbon dioxide (CO2) and a resulting drop in the oil demand. This study investigates the possible savings in the gasoline consumption and reduction in CO2 emission in India from the battery electric two-wheeler segment during the fiscal year 2021–2030. The CO2 emissions are estimated based on emission coefficients, average fuel consumption and the annual mileage of two-wheelers. In India, more than 70% of the total registered motor vehicles belong to the category of a two-wheeler. Hence, any policy actions intended at the reduction in CO2 emission and gasoline consumption from the transportation sector must focus on the two-wheeler segment. Older two-wheeler has higher gasoline consumption due to lower fuel economy which leads to larger CO2 emission. The study reveals that with 100% replacement of newly registered ICE two-wheelers with BE two-wheelers, a total savings of 322.50 billion litres of gasoline and a reduction of 571.49 million tonnes of CO2 emissions can be achieved during the period 2021–2030. With strict implementation of a scrapping policy whereby all ICE two-wheelers completing 15 years of service are taken off the road, the gasoline savings and reduction in CO2 emissions can be enhanced to 403.23 billion litres and 811.27 million tonnes, respectively, during the same period. The enhanced use of non-fossil fuel-based sources for electricity generation will lead to a further reduction in CO2 emission, as the energy required for the propulsion of BE two-wheeler is sourced from the grid.

Oil refineries are under increasing pressure to reduce CO2 emissions to assist global reductions in greenhouse gases under international treaties such as the Kyoto protocol. Moreover, the growing demand for oil products and the continuing push for cleaner distillates lead to substantial increases in energy consumption and therefore as a consequence higher CO2 emissions from these same refineries. Therefore, the ability to estimate accurately CO2 emissions (emissions targeting) has become very prominent in modern refineries. To meet these challenges and survive in today’s very competitive fuel market, continuous optimization is imperative for refineries to raise their operations to new levels of performance. However, environmental and economic objectives often compete with one another and, thus, the best solution involves a trade-off between the different objectives. Multi-Objective Optimization (MOO) is a proven powerful optimization method to achieve a satisfactory trade-off between such competing or conflicting objectives. This thesis uses MOO for the first time to target CO2 emissions from refinery processes. For this purpose, a new MOO framework has been introduced to set a target for CO2 emissions from refinery processes and produce the trade-off solutions for the environmental and economic objectives of the refinery. The MOO framework includes rigorous mass and energy balance simulation, and process integration, and the genetic algorithm optimizer provides a comprehensive optimization approach. Rigorous models of the two most energy intensive oil refinery units, i.e. Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and the Fluidized-bed Catalytic Cracker (FCC) and associated heat recovery system are analysed. The optimization approach is illustrated in different optimization problems of the refinery. The impacts of the crude type on the trade-off between the economic and environmental performances of the refinery units are studied and the optimum blend of different crudes is investigated. The crude type shows significant impacts on both the economic and environmental performance of the refinery units and a considerable amount of CO2 emissions can be avoided by changing the type of crude processed at minimum impact on the economic objectives. Different schemes of energy integration, namely, direct integration and total site, and their potential impacts on products revenue and CO2 emissions of the refinery are also studied. The trade-off between environmental and economic targets are also investigated in this thesis using a new graphical approach which can be used for targeting CO2 emissions associated with utility systems and energy resource networks. The optimization approach is used to target and allocate different energy resources to meet a specific energy demand and achieve both economic and environmental goals. This approach based on the principles of marginal energy cost and marginal CO2 emissions involves two new plots: the cost composite and CO2 emissions composite. These plots are used with the energy load shifting factor to shift between different alternative resources with minimum impacts on CO2 emissions and associated cost. The validity of the new graphical approach is demonstrated in two different cases of a single utility system for an industrial complex and for energy sector planning on a national basis. The principles of marginal energy cost and marginal CO2 emissions are also extended for predicting the optimal results of MOO, and therefore they provide a useful method for explaining the results from a purely stochastic algorithm. The results show that the accuracy of predicting the Pareto-optimal front using this method was excellent.

Energy-related activities are a major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. A growing body of knowledge clearly depicts the links between human activities and climate change. Over the last century the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil and other human activities has released carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and other heat-trapping GHG emissions into the atmosphere and thus increased the concentration of atmospheric CO2 emissions. The main human activities that emit CO2 emissions are (1) the combustion of fossil fuels to generate electricity, accounting for about 37% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 31% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, (2) the combustion of fossil fuels such as gasoline and diesel to transport people and goods, accounting for about 31% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 26% of total U.S. GHG emissions in 2013, and (3) industrial processes such as the production and consumption of minerals and chemicals, accounting for about 15% of total U.S. CO2 emissions and 12% of total ...

Hospitals produce and waste large amounts of food. When disposed in landfill it creates greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the decomposition process. While various food waste management strategies exist that divert hospital food waste to an alternative end of life pathway to landfill, it is not clear which can decrease GHG emissions the most. This study aimed to (a) compare the differences in GHG emissions associated with hospital foodservice food waste before and after adopting a food waste management strategy, and (b) identify which waste management strategy can prevent the most GHGs in 1 year. A secondary analysis of data from a systematic review reporting on food and food-related waste diversion strategies in hospital foodservice was conducted. The online "ReFED Impact Calculator" was used to calculate GHG emissions from food waste in the original scenario (e.g., landfill), and the alternative scenario after a food waste management strategy that reused, recycled or recovered resources was implemented. The net change of GHGs was calculated, and the GHGs emissions avoided in paired samples and between food waste management scenarios was analyzed statistically. Fifty-five food waste management strategies (surplus food donation, feeding animals, anaerobic digestion or industrial uses, and composting) were eligible for analysis and were grouped into eight scenarios. The median GHGs generated decreased after adopting the alternative strategy in all scenarios. There was a statistically significant median reduction in GHGs when changing from landfill to donations (-11.54, p < 0.001), landfill to industrial uses (-25.92, p < 0.001), and landfill to composting (-15.24, p < 0.001). Percentage change in GHGs generated in these 3 scenarios demonstrated a significant difference (p < 0.001), with landfill to donations displaying the greatest reduction in GHGs (-92.02%), followed by composting (-8.69%) and industrial uses (-7.75%). Various food waste diversion strategies can handle types and volumes of hospital food waste, yet each strategy displays a reduction in GHG emissions compared to a lower prioritized strategy. Donating waste shows the greatest reduction in GHG emissions and if food waste cannot be avoided, it may be the preferred end of life pathway for food waste.

Mitigating Curtailment and Carbon Emissions through Load Migration between Data Centers

With the global challenge of climate change, it becomes crucial to understand the factors that can guide carbon intensive companies to comply with environmental regulations through significant reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Using the natural-resource-based view, the argument in this paper is that focusing on sustainability-driven resources by companies is a way to meet environmental compliance and reduce GHG emissions while gaining differential competitive benefits. A specific analysis on Alberta case has discussed large GHG emitters’ environmental compliance mechanisms in the context of their sustainability resources. The aim is examining if large GHG emitters in Alberta related to corporations having sustainability resources are complying with the Specified Gas Emitters Regulation (SGER) reduction requirement through cleaner-production driven internal mechanisms. The paper examines the existence of the sustainability resources in the reporting companies related to large GHG emitters responsible for 86% of total GHG reported by facilities with emissions above the threshold of 100 kilotonnes of GHG per year under SGER in Alberta. Corporations are found not using their sustainability resource potential to achieve internal reductions in GHG emissions throughout their facilities. Thus, some recommendations are presented for Alberta case as well as for environmental regulations in other jurisdictions that can potentially help policy makers improve their climate change regulations and achieve their global targets and enable companies to gain competitive advantage while meeting GHG reduction compliance.

For all its cachet, you might think that hybrid drivetrain technology is inherently green. But only 13 of 34 hybrid vehicles assessed achieve better than a 25% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and just 3 exceed a 40% reduction, according to an evaluation by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).1 Moreover, reductions in GHG emissions do not necessarily correlate with reductions in other toxic emissions. Like any engine output–improving technology, hybrid technology can boost both fuel efficiency and power—but the more you boost one, the less you can boost the other. That dichotomy spurred the UCS to develop its “hybrid scorecard,” which rates each hybrid according to how well it lives up to its promise of reducing air pollution.2 All the vehicles were from model year 2011 except for one, the 2012 Infiniti M Hybrid. First the UCS scored each hybrid on how much it reduced its GHG emissions relative to its conventional counterpart, on a scale of zero (least reduction) to 10 (greatest reduction). These scores reflect the percentage in fuel efficiency gain. For example, the Toyota Prius gets 50 mpg3 compared with 28 mpg for the comparable Toyota Matrix. This represents a 44.0% reduction in GHG emissions, earning the Prius a GHG score of 9.4. At the bottom of the scale, the 21-mpg hybrid VW Touareg reduces GHG emissions only 10% over the 19-mpg conventional Toureg, for a score of 0.0. With a 46% improvement, the luxury Lincoln MKZ Hybrid had the greatest reduction over its conventional counterpart. The UCS also scored hybrids for absolute emissions (rather than relative to the conventional model) of air pollutants including particulate matter, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. These scores, on a scale of zero (dirtiest) to 10 (cleanest), are based on California certifications for tailpipe emissions. As the scorecard showed, a vehicle that emits less heat-trapping gases may not necessarily emit less of other air pollutants. For example, the Mercedes Benz S400 Hybrid scored 9 on air pollution reduction, alongside the Prius and the Lincoln MKZ, but only 1.3 on GHG emissions. HYBRID SCORECARD: Top 10 Nonluxury Hybrids by Total Environmental Improvement Score “Hybrid technology doesn’t add additional challenges [to reducing exhaust pollutants] that can’t be addressed through design of the vehicle’s emission controls,” says Don Anair, senior vehicles analyst at the UCS. “Numerous manufacturers of hybrids are meeting the lowest emissions levels. Hybrid manufacturers who aren’t delivering the lowest smog-forming emissions have chosen not to do so.” Each vehicle’s air pollution and GHG scores were averaged into a total “environmental improvement score,” again with the MKZ and the Prius leading the pack, and the Touareg scraping bottom. The UCS also scored “hybrid value” (the cost of reducing GHG emissions in dollars per percent reduction) and “forced features” (options you must buy with the hybrid whether you want them or not). HYBRID SCORECARD: Top 10 Luxury Hybrids by Total Environmental Improvement Score Luke Tonachel, vehicles analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council, compliments the scorecard for illustrating that hybrid technology is not automatically green. He says, “We should improve the efficiency of all vehicles, and [hybrid technology] is just one technology that can get us there if applied with that goal in mind.” Nonetheless, Jamie Kitman, the New York bureau chief for Automobile Magazine, questions the wisdom of emphasizing percentage improvement in gas mileage rather than absolute miles per gallon. At 21 mpg, the hybrid Cadillac Escalade 4WD represents a 29% improvement over the 15-mpg conventional model, saving nearly 2 gallons per 100 miles. But the hybrid Escalade is still a gas guzzler, and Kitman says he wishes people would see through the marketing that encourages them to buy SUVs and “crossovers” rather than ordinary cars, which are more efficient than either. Says Anair, “The scorecard shows that automakers can pair hybrid technology with advanced emission controls to help tackle climate change while reducing the health impacts from breathing polluted air.” However, he adds, alluding to the stark variation in how much hybrid technology boosted fuel efficiency, “Not all automakers are delivering on the full promise of this technology.”

Improvement in Energy Efficiency of Re-Rolling Furnaces for Stainless Steel Industry At Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India