MARCH 2020 ENERGY SAVINGS
SUSTAINABILITY SPECIAL
BY NIK HOLLAND, MANAGER – OPERATIONS AND REGULATORY INTELLIGENCE, KINECT ENERGY GROUP
For the ‘net zero’ dream to become a reality,
the time to act is not in 30 years, it is now.
Meeting government targets will require
a complete overhaul of many industrial,
commercial and domestic energy systems;
and while this transition can be achieved,
it won’t happen overnight.
While such extensive targets doubtless present
challenges, the move to become a low-carbon
economy also brings a wealth of opportunity for
businesses to become leaders in areas such as
manufacturing zero carbon materials and products,
low-carbon power creation and storage and
off ering a plethora of low-carbon services from
transportation to agriculture.
A key element of achieving net zero targets is
for frameworks to be established to expand the
UK’s market for low-carbon goods, services and
infrastructure, and to encourage collaboration
between government and industry to identify
opportunities to expedite emissions reduction.
The future of heating
Many businesses may have already set their own
emissions targets – a proactive approach that will
support competitiveness among nations looking
to stake their claim to the zero-carbon economy.
Policies are likely to focus on transitioning away
from fossil fuels towards renewable power sources
and implementing tough new strategies on
transport and waste.
Decarbonising heat is one area where
manufacturers in particular will need to consider
alternatives to combustion. The introduction of
heat pumps to replace conventional boilers has
been mooted by the government as being part
of a solution; however, for high temperature
applications, heat pumps will not be suitable.
Indeed, even with many existing space heating
systems (both domestic and commercial), heat
pumps may not prove to be suitable as a drop-in
replacement for a traditional
gas or oil-fi red boiler.
Building designers will need
to incorporate much larger heat
emitters (for example, entire
fl oors via underfl oor heating)
into new building designs to
ensure they are able to accept a
heat pump as the heating source.
Low-carbon heat networks
are likely to be extended within
cities as new district heating
systems become planning
necessities. In addition, pilot
projects such as the groundbreaking
H21 Leeds City Gate
scheme (www.h21.green) are
investigating the possibility of
using hydrogen as an alternative
to natural gas. Whilst hydrogen
would also solve the problem
of providing carbon-free high
temperature heat to industrial
process, no means of large-scale
hydrogen production currently
exists and questions remain
around effi ciency and how such
installations would be powered.
Going green
Increasing our capacity to
generate and store power from
renewable sources such as solar
and on/off shore wind is vital.
The optimisation of renewable
sources may need to transcend
national borders to ensure
users have access to the best
priced renewable power whilst
increasing overall generation
and storage diversity, necessary
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 27
Pavel Ignatov /stock.adobe.com
For the industry to reach net zero within the 30 year target, it must be taking action today
Nik Holland says
that industry
must now be
working to a
carbon zero plan
to maintain a stable grid.
The new Resources and
Waste Strategy will see the
increasing roll-out of initiatives
such as extended producer
responsibility schemes, new
product standards and more
effi cient design to encourage
businesses and individuals
to repair faulty goods and
equipment in preference to
discarding and replacing,
supported by so-called ‘right
to repair’ legislation.
There is little point in
denying that the challenge
posed by net zero to industry
is enormous. Every aspect
of manufacturing, from raw
material extraction through
processing, distribution, product
use, to ultimate disposal is
intrinsically linked with fossil
fuels. Within 30 years that link
must be broken.
Embracing this transition will
require expenditure, an ability
to turn traditional thinking on
its head, experimentation and
almost certainly some pain.
Those industries that do will
discover new techniques, new
products and new markets.
Meanwhile, those that resist
may stagger on for some time
but will ultimately be forced to
change by social pressure and
legislation – at a higher cost than
those taking early action. For the
stubborn, when it does come,
that cost may be too high.
THE
COUNTDOWN
TO NET ZERO
/(www.h21.green)
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
/stock.adobe.com