Around the world, there is an increased urgency and demand to reduce emissions as the global effects of climate change become more dire. Every sustainability strategy—from capturing CO2 and using more clean energy sources and green fuels to improving energy efficiencies—directly or indirectly links to managing emissions.
The release of controlled and uncontrolled emissions ranging from greenhouse gases to toxic leaks has been a persistent challenge for decades. Given industrial manufacturing and power generation account for nearly 50% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, these sectors’ Chief Sustainability Officers (CSO) are under significant pressure to make changes that measurably impact emissions.
Companies are substituting less carbon-intensive fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen, as well as employing renewable energy from wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal and green fuel sources. These conversions will take major investments and decades to complete but are necessary steps to truly make a meaningful impact around emissions reduction.
Rising populations and higher expectations for standards of living have put pressure on manufacturing and energy production, resulting in increased emissions. Manufacturing advancements since the Industrial Revolution have spawned increased production of fossil fuels, increased use of combustion engines, and greater demand for comfort like air conditioning and materials like textiles as well as increased waste.
The same innovative spirit that drove these technological advancements can now lead to more sustainable solutions. Let’s look at emissions reduction opportunities and technologies available today to manage emissions.
Detect, identify and prevent leaks of fugitive emissions
One of the sneakiest forms of emissions is known as “fugitive” emissions, when containment of toxic gases and liquids is lost due to leaky valves and tanks, corroded piping or faulty mechanical connections. Top of mind is methane, a potent greenhouse gas that is responsible for much of global warming. On the bright side, preventing methane emissions is one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to reach climate targets. Without warning and often with delayed detection, the biggest sources of methane and other industrial fugitive emissions are often hidden in plain sight: 60% come from valves, followed by flanges and pumps, pressure safety relief valves and tanks.
To prevent these emissions, Emerson’s advanced pressure relief and blow down valves are engineered to protect against pressure build up that, if not managed properly, will result in discharged gases and liquids. Today’s new valve technologies also automatically seal leak points at valves, piping connections, mechanical seals and other equipment to reduce fugitive emissions. Emerson’s enhanced valve designs, including highly efficient stem sealing systems, higher flow capacities and packing for temperature variations, meet or exceed the most stringent fugitive emissions requirements. Finally, advanced monitoring of pressure relief valves, packing friction and storage tanks helps prevent fugitive emissions from occurring.
Measurement technologies, such as ultrasonic and wireless gas monitoring, combined with advanced software provide a cost-effective approach with a big return on insights critical for pinpointing emissions. One Emerson customer, Denka, saw a 7% reduction in steam loss by using acoustic sensors to “hear” steam leaks throughout its plant.
Produce fewer emissions through lower carbon intensity sources
Companies are substituting less carbon-intensive fuels such as natural gas and hydrogen, as well as employing renewable energy from wind, solar, hydroelectric and geothermal and green fuel sources. These conversions will take major investments and decades to complete but are necessary steps to truly make a meaningful impact around emissions reduction.
In Utah, Emerson is collaborating with Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas to optimize performance and reliability, enable predictive and AI-driven maintenance strategies, and automate operational decision-making at the Intermountain Power Plant. Mitsubishi turbines will replace a coal-fired plant and use 30% green hydrogen and 70% natural gas to generate electricity—eventually shifting to 100% green hydrogen. This transition will allow gas turbines to produce electricity with zero carbon emissions.
Run processes more efficiently for greater energy usage and fewer emissions
Industrial manufacturing operations are enormous consumers of energy, often in the form of fired heating processes. Burners, boilers and furnaces ignite fuel and oxygen to provide heat for material conversion, steam production and more. Like a poorly tuned automobile, these processes can not only consume a lot of fuel but can also generate enormous amounts of emissions due to combustion inefficiencies. Automation technologies are available today to optimize combustion processes—from increasing boiler efficiency, measuring oxygen and carbon dioxide for better fuel consumption, to optimizing flue gas treatment—all of which reduce emissions.
Technology investments go hand in hand with decarbonization. Decarbonization does not mean sacrificing profitability.
At Colgate-Palmolive, pneumatic sensors and integrated software monitor compressed airflow in real time to identify leaks, optimize pneumatic processes and improve airflow efficiency of manufacturing lines. It has already seen a 15% reduction in energy usage on several toothpaste and toothbrush packaging lines and expects even greater energy savings as the technology is rolled out more widely.
Capture, store and convert emissions to useful resources, like hydrogen
While emissions management technologies provide immediate, scalable opportunities to make a significant impact, companies can invest in more transformative improvements such as carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology for longer-term gains.
CCUS processes extract point-source carbon emissions and sequesters them underground. The technology has the potential to remove 90% to 99% of an industrial facility’s carbon emissions. It also supports scaling up production of low-carbon hydrogen by converting emissions into the alternative fuel source.
According to the International Energy Agency, CCUS is the only group of technologies that contributes both to reducing emissions in key sectors directly and to removing CO2 from the atmosphere to balance the emissions that are the hardest to prevent—a crucial part of reaching the net-zero emissions goals that a growing number of governments and companies have set for themselves.
At the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s Al Reyadah project, Emerson technologies are helping the first commercial-scale carbon capture plant in the Middle East remove 800,000 tons of CO2 a year from the iron and steel industry.
No doubt, technology investments go hand in hand with decarbonization. Decarbonization does not mean sacrificing profitability, however. While meeting emissions targets is a top priority, advanced automation technologies also play a huge role in protecting safety, improving plant profitability and decreasing operating costs.
