31.01.2018 change 31.01.2018

Researchers from the University of Lodz help European companies reduce CO2 emissions

Photo: Fotolia Photo: Fotolia

Companies that want to increase their energy efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions can participate in the "Trainergy" project. It is implemented by an international consortium whose leader is the Faculty of Management of the University of Lodz.

The volume of carbon dioxide emissions varies depending on the degree of industrialization in a given region. According to Eurostat, in Poland in 2015 CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion (responsible for 70% of all emissions) increased by 1.6% compared to the previous year. Poland is the fifth largest CO2 emitter in Europe after Germany, Great Britain, Italy and France.

The effects of excessive CO2 emissions have and will have an increasing impact on many sectors of the economy, and thus on the quality of life of societies. The sectors that will be affected most by the impact of climate change include agriculture, forest management, marine ecosystems, energy and tourism. Negative impact will also be felt in the case of infrastructure and water resources.

"Hence the need to take action also in enterprises, in order to both increase the awareness of the problem, as well as offer a specific set of solutions for use in a given organisation" - explains Dr. T. Bartosz Kalinowski from the Faculty of Management, University of Lodz.

EU policy focuses on introducing pro-environmental solutions at the national level and in individual organizations. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one of the priorities. An EU trade system in operation since 2005 covers the rights of 11,000 installations (about 750 installations in Poland) in the industrial and energy sectors.

The leader of the international project "TrainERGY-Training for Energy Efficient Operations" is the Faculty of Management of the University of Lodz. The project presents a unique approach to solving difficult environmental issues and responds to the growing expectations of entrepreneurs regarding the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, in both individual companies and entire supply chains.

The companies participating in the project can benefit from free advice from an international team on the development and analysis of CO2 emission maps, says project manager Dr. T. Bartosz Kalinowski from the Faculty of Management, University of Lodz. The also have an opportunity to determine the CO2 emissions of their own supply chain. Enterprises receive detailed recommendations for further steps that they should take in order to increase their energy efficiency.

The analysis may influence environmental decisions taken in the company. According to Dr. Kalinowski, depending on the results, a company may reduce CO2 emissions by introducing improvements to processes such as changing the mode of transport, replacing a given component with one that's more environmentally friendly, including energy from renewable sources, shortening the supply chain, using energy-saving light sources or changing production technology.

The "Trainergy" project has been created in cooperation with the University of Sheffield, where a tool has been designed that allows to calculate the volume of emissions throughout the supply chain, taking into account the processes involved. The application used for this purpose is called SCEnAT (Supply Chain Environmental Analysis Tool: http://www.scenat.com/). The system supports environmental decisions in the supply chain. The tool was met with great approval in the British, Polish, Greek and Italian markets.

All organisations interested in submitting to such an analysis may apply to take part in the project. Preferred participants are manufacturing companies with the largest carbon footprint. Companies are required to prepare a set of data covering various parameters of production processes, including energy consumption, water consumption, method and distance in the transport process or the amount of generated waste. A map of emissions is prepared based on these data, allowing to pinpoint the places that require improvement.

More information about the project and a virtual training platform can be found at: http://www.trainergy-project.eu/.

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