Swap to biogas permits Canadian Umicore web site to chop carbon emissions by 90%.
As Umicore strives to be a Sustainability Champion below its 2030 RISE technique, we’re rethinking and remodeling our processes to attain our Let’s Go for Zero goal of Web Zero greenhouse gasoline (GHG) emissions by 2035.
An instance of how we’re doing this may be seen at our web site at Markham in Ontario, Canada. The plant serves Umicore’s Jewelry and Industrial Metals enterprise unit, refining gold, silver, platinum, palladium and different valuable metals for jewelry, dentistry, chemical and industrial sectors.
The plant not too long ago achieved a substantial discount in its GHG emissions by changing pure gasoline with biogas for its heating wants. As a lot of the plant’s furnaces are already electrical, and with round three quarters of Ontario’s electrical energy technology coming from renewable and nuclear power sources, the plant’s use of pure gasoline for heating was one of many fundamental contributors to its carbon footprint. This had been on the thoughts of Paul Koolhaas, Managing Director at Umicore Markham.
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Paul Koolhaas, Managing Director at Umicore Markham stated:
In Canada, we’re residing with the consequences of local weather change, with devastating forest fires and melting ice caps, all of which has an impact on our wildlife.
“Nature is essential to us, so the urgency of lowering carbon emissions is high of thoughts for many individuals right here.’’
Paul says the concept for switching to biogas got here to him someday whereas driving. ‘’I used to be commuting to work, considering of how we might scale back our carbon footprint, and I noticed an workplace of Bullfrog Energy, a renewable power and biogas supplier. I contacted them and realised it could possibly be a great resolution.’’
A contract was signed quickly after, which suggests all of Umicore Markham’s pure gasoline utilization has now been displaced by biogas. It’s a matching system that injects an quantity of inexperienced pure gasoline equal to the gasoline used from standard fossil sources. This avoids the emission of 500 tonnes of CO2e per 12 months, slicing Umicore Markham’s Scope 1 CO2 emissions by 90%.
The direct displacement of fossil gasoline on this approach aligns with Umicore’s method to scale back its Scope 1 and a couple of GHG emissions. As Gert Van Hoof, Life Cycle Evaluation (LCA) and Recycling Supervisor in Umicore’s ESG staff in Brussels, explains:
Gert Van Hoof, stated:
‘We purpose to do that with three fundamental levers: to start with, we attempt to keep away from emissions the place we will; second we attempt to change sources of emissions with decrease or net-zero carbon alternate options; and lastly, we seize no matter we can not design out of our operations.
“This initiative in Markham, changing fossil gasoline with biogas, is an ideal instance of the second lever to decarbonising our personal operations.’’
The place does biogas come from?
Vitality-rich biogas is sourced from natural supplies as they decompose, for instance in wastewater therapy and landfill installations, releasing methane into the ambiance. By capturing the methane, which is 25 instances extra of a potent greenhouse gasoline than carbon dioxide, the method avoids GHG emissions.
After it’s captured, the biogas is cleaned and injected into the gasoline system. Burning biogas doesn’t add any web ‘new’ CO2 to the ambiance, as a result of the carbon within the gasoline originates naturally from the natural supplies it’s sourced from.
The biogas provided by Bullfrog Energy just isn’t piped solely to Umicore’s plant – as an alternative Umicore matches the plant’s annual gasoline utilization with the amount of biogas Bullfrog produces and injects into the gasoline grid. On this approach, the plant’s gasoline utilization can proceed precisely as earlier than, guaranteeing a seamless transition and no particular technical necessities.
It really works as an offset of the pure gasoline we use on the facility, so we buy precisely the identical quantity of biogas as we use on the plant,’’ explains Paul, including that the association matches with Umicore’s choice for suppliers which concentrate on circularity and supply low-carbon options.
This partnership permits Umicore to affix Bullfrog Energy in supporting the rising biogas sector and the round applied sciences that flip what would have in any other case change into air pollution into an power supply.
Gert says the transition to biogas was ‘’the right match’’ for Markham’s particular measurement and necessities. Nevertheless, he provides that the still-limited scale at which biogas will be sourced means it isn’t achievable for all Umicore’s amenities. ‘
’This facility is positioned near the place biogas is produced and is simply the precise measurement for the quantity that may be supplied. So, it’s a great resolution for this web site. We’re taking a proactive stance in direction of changing fossil fuels with inexperienced power options, equivalent to biogas, wherever possible when it comes to scale and placement.’’
In addition to changing carbon emissions, Paul is wanting ahead to avoiding extra emissions on the plant by specializing in power effectivity, for instance by changing home windows with high-insulation alternate options, investing in higher insulation and switching to lower-energy lighting.
‘’All of us have an element to play in tackling local weather change and attaining our web zero objectives. I’ve been anxious for a very long time about the place the world’s heading if carbon emissions don’t come down. Everybody must shoulder some weight and we will all assist one another on the street to Web Zero. We don’t have an enormous manufacturing plant right here in Markham, however I’m pleased with how we’ve dramatically lowered our carbon footprint and I’m already searching for what we will do subsequent.’’
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Swap to biogas permits Canadian Umicore web site to chop carbon emissions by 90%, January 16, 2024
