Companies need to cut down greenhouse gas emissions (credit: image adapted from Fagreia on Shutterstock)
Credit: This article is based on the scientific article “An approach to reducing the greenhouse gas footprint in the manufacturing industry: Determinants for an economic assessment of industrial decarbonisation measures” by Stefan M. Buettner and Diana Wang. (Full citation and link available at the end of the article)
In light of the current climate crisis and the more frequently occurring extreme weather events, greenhouse gas emissions are often discussed. A greenhouse gas consists of molecules that absorb infrared radiation. As infrared radiation contains heat, these molecules contribute to warming up the atmosphere and our planet. This warming up, which is called global warming, has far-reaching consequences, for example affecting mountains (further reading: 4 Ways Mountains Are Affected By Anthropogenic Climate Change).
Because of these far-reaching consequences, it is essential to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we emit into the air. This can be done in many different ways, by both individuals and companies.
While individuals often don’t set goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the good news is that companies more and more often do. They set net zero emission goals by a certain year. A net zero emission goal means that they strive for balancing out the amount of greenhouse gases they sent into and extract from the atmosphere.
These net zero emission goals can be achieved by companies in many different ways. Some of these solutions are simple and obvious; some of them appear more complex and demanding. For example:
- Calculating emissions caused by energy use is easier than calculating emissions caused by processes. This is because for energy use, only the energy source such as solar energy or fossil fuels needs to be considered. For processes, also emissions produced in the process need to be measured, for example by farting cows.
- Making investments to reduce emissions that can be paid off within the next three years is easier than making investments that take longer to pay off.
Also, how companies do things differs a lot. So which strategy is most effective in reaching net zero emissions differs between companies as well. This is how companies can reach their net zero goals, taking economic factors into account (note: these principles can also be applied in daily life):
Greenhouse gases are emitted before and during pro, and after production (credit: adapted from mentalmind on Shutterstock)
Before production
The first way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions involves changing what is fed into the production process, without affecting the effectiveness of production.
One example of changing what is fed into the production process is buying energy from other sources. For example, instead of buying electricity based on fossil fuels such as natural gas, electricity can be bought based on fuel produced by microalgae (further reading: How Microalgae Can be Used As A Great Alternative To Fossil Fuels). This usually doesn’t require any initial financial investment. But running costs may be higher because, to this date, tariffs for renewable energy are slightly higher than for conventional energy. This hopefully changes soon. But the good news is that ongoing energy-related emissions are reduced to (almost) zero.
Another example of changing what is fed into the production process is using waste instead of raw materials. In this case, the result of the production process is the same or similar, but with the use of different input materials. This can reduce greenhouse gas emissions because more can be produced with the same amount of raw material. For example, in the construction industry, crushed glass waste can be used instead of natural sand (further reading: 7 Alternative Ways to Recycle Glass Waste). In this case, CO2 emissions are for example reduced by shorter transportation routes.
A third example of changing what is fed into the production process is using self-generated renewable energy. Examples of self-generated renewable energy are electricity from solar panels or warm water heated up with heat waste. When choosing another energy source, a one-off investment is needed to implement the required technology, maybe install energy storage equipment, and switch off previously used energy sources (further reading: How Energy From Renewable Sources Can Be Stored). After that, maintenance costs are usually low if not zero and the positive effect on greenhouse gas emissions is high.
Companies can decide to produce their own electricity (credit: fotohunter on Shutterstock)
During production
The second way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions involves changing the production process itself.
One example of changing the production process is making production more energy efficient by either using less energy or wasting less while keeping product quantity and quality constant. This can often be achieved with one-off investments, for example by buying a more energy-efficient machine. But also improvements are possible without investments in devices and tools, for example when awareness campaigns inspire employees to switch off lights and devices when not in use. The more consistent the increased efficiency is, the higher the long-term benefits.
Another example of changing the production process is causing fewer greenhouse gases to be emitted during production. In this case, the result is the same but achieved through a different route. For example, in the dairy industry, cows can be fed seaweed instead of grain and hay to reduce methane emissions through farting. In this case, changing the process is inexpensive, but can be expensive in other situations. For example, when new machines need to be built and when the production process has to pause to be able to install new devices. But costs can be reduced when this is done when maintenance is due. After changes have been made, ongoing emissions during production are permanently reduced.
The production process can be changed so that the process becomes more energy efficient (credit: natatravel on Shutterstock)
After production
The third way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions involves offsetting the remaining greenhouse gases that were emitted before and during production. Offsetting means investing in initiatives that contribute to removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This means emissions are not avoided, but the harm they can do is reduced or prevented.
One example of offsetting emissions is investing in climate protection projects. Climate protection projects are involved in activities that remove greenhouse gases from the environment, for example by planting trees. After companies have invested, these projects can remove more greenhouse gases. This creates ongoing costs, as the company’s emissions remain the same.
Another example of offsetting emissions is buying carbon credits on the stock market. One carbon credit is equivalent to 1 tonne of greenhouse gases. As credits are generated by climate protection projects, these credits can be scarce. As a consequence, the scarcer these credits are, the more expensive they become. This means that buying carbon credits involves recurring costs that differ over time.
Carbon credits can be bought to offset CO2 (credit: Tasha Vector on Shutterstock)
Another example of offsetting emissions is investing in capturing, storing, and using greenhouse gas emissions. This means that emissions are captured during production, then stored, and eventually used elsewhere after production (further reading: It’s Getting Hot: 19 Strategies That Can Help Our Planet To Cool Down). As this form of compensation is not always allowed and is applied rarely to this date, little information is available about one-off investments and ongoing costs. And this also very much depends on how much greenhouse gases are stored and used, and the distance between the location where emissions are captured and stored and the location where these emissions are used.
Conclusion
So, companies can reach net zero goals by changing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere before, during, and after production. Before production, they can do so by for example using buying electricity from renewable energy sources, using waste instead of raw materials, and using self-generated renewable energy. During production, companies can for example make the production process more energy efficient or change how a product is produced. After production, companies can for example invest in climate protection projects and carbon credits, or capture, store, and use greenhouse gases elsewhere. What method is achievable may differ between companies, as one-off investments and ongoing costs differ between varying circumstances.
How we can take action
Here are practical ideas of what you and I can do to reduce greenhouse gas emissions:
- Going through these methods again and think of how you can apply these methods to your daily life
- Reducing meat and dairy consumption by eating vegan or vegetarian meals
- Traveling by train instead of car or plane
- Repairing and reusing objects instead of buying them new (further reading: 9 Ways Repairing Bikes Contributes To A More Sustainable Future)
- Buying local products instead of products produced far away
- Reducing food waste
- Reducing paper use, for example by showing tickets on a phone instead of printing them
Which one of these can you implement in your daily life? And do you have further ideas of what you and I could do? Thank you in advance for putting them into practice and sharing them in a comment to this question to inspire all of us.
Additional content
Visual abstract (click on the image to increase its size):
Credit
This article is based on:
Buettner, S. M., & Wang, D. (2022). An approach to reducing the greenhouse gas footprint in the manufacturing industry: Determinants for an economic assessment of industrial decarbonisation measures.
