Decarbonising our Industry

• Decarbonisation is becoming a top priority for buyers and consumers
• Shell Energy’s report has highlighted a range of energy-saving and emissions-reduction solutions
• A 2022 Cohort Business Decarbonisation Pathway has been developed

Just this year, Shell Energy released a report – Advancing Renewables in the Manufacturing Sector. The projects aim was to develop a web-based, digital, education platform that shared data, analysis and insights generated from energy assessments at twenty manufacturing sites in Queensland, with the idea to help overcome investment barriers that exist for the uptake of renewable energy and energy productivity improvement initiatives in the manufacturing sector.

The report highlighted many key energy-saving and emissions-reduction solutions, some easier to implement than others, below is a snapshot of some of these solutions:

• Electricity and gas efficiency can save between 10-15% consumption:
  • Lighting upgrades
  • Variable Speed Drives
  • Heat (and cooling) recovery
  • Burner controls
  • Compressed air
• Electrification of gas based process heat
• Onsite renewable energy generation (solar + BESS)

At Hetech we have been committed to decarbonisation and reducing our carbon footprint, last year we began to change the way we consumed energy, reducing our carbon footprint by installing a huge 70KWh solar panel system! Since installing the solar panels, we are now operating at energy neutrality. On average that’s 42 tonnes of CO2 that we are saving each year. Another focus has been on Design for the Environment (DfE), an initiative that looks at the lifecycle of a product, this includes three stages:

1. Production

When efficient manufacturing processes are used in production, more sustainable products can be made. The use of the right materials is a big part of this phase. A reduction of the variety of materials used can reduce pollution, energy consumed, and the cost of production.

2. Consumption

Products are designed to use only enough power in its current state. This can be achieved by utilizing sleep modes, using batteries that lose energy slowly, combining functions in the integrated circuits, turning off segments of the circuit that are not in use, etc.

3. Destruction

At the end of their lifecycle, electronics must be thrown away, reused, or recycled. However, most electronics are not repairable, making them difficult to reuse. DfE eliminates the effect of this on the environment by recycling the components in factories to create new raw materials.

A 2022 Cohort Business Decarbonisation Pathway has been developed, the government-funded business growth and capability-building initiative’s aim is to enable Australian SMEs to future-proof their business by identifying decarbonisation pathways and becoming net zero certified. Involvement in this project can provide eligible businesses with access to industry networks, expert resources and up to $20,000 (matched) grant funding to progress your business goal.