Analysis of emissions in foundries with carbon footprint calculator
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Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Insinööritieteiden korkeakoulu |
Master's thesis
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Author
Date
2023-01-23
Department
Major/Subject
Mechanical Engineering
Mcode
Degree programme
Master's Programme in Mechanical Engineering (MEC)
Language
en
Pages
62+5
Series
Abstract
The issue of CO2 emission mitigation is one of the essential topics which unite not only European countries but also the entire world. Since current negative climate changes mostly appear from industries, they are those who are required to take actions to reduce the harmful effects on the environment without a decline of the economy growth. Casting industry is among the weighty CO2-emitting industrial areas, therefore its every action in the direction of sustainability plays a vital role in carbon emissions reduction. However, there is a lack of the data available for analysis of a foundry in accordance with the main casting stages. The purpose of the study is to collect such data from several random foundries of Finland and several countries of Europe and Asia and consider their origin according to casting stages. Additionally, the objective is to evaluate the global situation, compare the emissions between the foundries of different countries and analyse possible causes of the differences. The literature review of the work covers renewable energy sources, casting processes and carbon footprint in foundries. Additionally, it includes the findings regarding circular economy approach and the requirements in terms of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the most recent regulations of the EU law (CO2 emission regulations). Emission calculator (Löytynoja, 2021) was used as a base of the practical part of the work. Since only main stages of casting were necessary for analysis, a simplified version of the calculator was created. The most remarkable result of the study was that regardless of the specific climate conditions of Finland, which require extra electricity and heating energy, still Finnish foundries demonstrated the lowest carbon emissions compared to other participants of the study, which were Germany, the Czech Republic, and China. In terms of metal scrap usage, Finland also showed more sustainable approach compared to other countries. As for possible further corrections of the current situation in Finnish industry, including foundry industry, it could be suggested to enhance the renewable energy usage in terms of wind power and bioenergy.Description
Supervisor
Orkas, JuhaniThesis advisor
Sappinen, TommiKeywords
CO2 emissions, casting industry, renewable energy, circular economy, sustainability
