Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1202034
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | FEBRAURY 2020 | 27 The Knowledge: net zero tions that remove chemicals 'upstream' before going into treatment works. Cars, vans and HGVs are a vital component of most large businesses and their supply chains, these will need to quickly shi• from petrol and diesel fuels to low carbon alternatives. Northumbrian Water aims to make all new vehicle pur- chases for its thousand-strong fleet zero emissions from 2024 as part of its industry-leading commitment to become carbon neutral by 2027. Sutton & East Surrey Water is currently trial- ling 10 electric vans through an innovative 'EVs-as-a- service' arrangement with an energy supplier (see case study in panel). But renewing fleets within 10-years raises challenges. EVs require extensive charging infrastructure and there are currently no viable electric options for HGVs and freight, which may mean looking at less tried and tested solutions like LNG, hydrogen fuel cells or even biogas powered mod- els. Riley comments: "We need to work with manufacturers to assess the impact on warran- ties and the cost of operating these vehicles, discussions are ongoing with the net zero target in mind." Among the many other factors to consider in pursuit of net zero are measures to cut operational energy demand, such as new low carbon opera- tional processes and assets, re- duced pumping and treatment of surface runoff, and efforts to prevent leakage. Water has a poor track record on the latter, but one of the five Public Inter- est Commitments is to triple the rate of leakage reduction across the sector by 2030. "Carbon is so interlinked with everything that we do we need a holistic suite of policy objectives for the sector that draw links between differ- ent areas," says UK Water's Colville. "We need to think about asset planning, the consumer dimension and the supply chain. A lot of the sup- ply chain have an intention to act to cut carbon and we are in dialogue with trade associa- tion British Water and other groups to make sure we bring them along and ensure we make progress." The bottom line "Who pays?" is a tough ques- tion to answer in the context of rapid decarbonisation, and the necessary investments in new technologies, vehicle fleets, upgrades to treatment processes, etc, threaten to damage water company profits and elevate consumer bills. Ofwat's decision in Decem- ber to order water companies to spend £51bn on improving services and investment in infrastructure, as well as to cut customer water bills by an average of £50 over the next five years, may dampen some stakeholders' appetite for net zero. However, some low carbon improvements will involve minimal outlay or provide longer term cost savings by enabling more efficient opera- tions. The cost of renewable generation technologies like solar photovoltaics and wind turbines have significantly dropped and using a waste product like sewage sludge to generate biogas as an energy source is both economic and sustainable. Companies can work with suppliers to develop more efficient solutions and tech- nologies that avoid the need to build new infrastructure and plant, and investigate more economic procurement and commercial models. Liz Barber points to the success of a new sustainable finance frame- work, adopted by Yorkshire Water last year, that requires any activity to demonstrate clear environmental and social benefits before financial spend is approved. In addition, the sector-wide approach to net zero should provide opportunities to identify lowest economic cost options. For example, Com- pany A could offer to invest in a project to mitigate emissions costing £1 million, but a pro- ject proposed by Company B could cut the same amount of carbon but cost half as much. Atkins' Cox comments: "[The sector needs to] identify and cost optimised solutions for each emissions reduction pathway, including timescales, milestones, key decision points and required changes. This can then be used to create a simple strategic risk framework, underpinned by solid technical considerations and working with stakehold- ers to measure performance. However, the costs at present remain uncertain." This type of decision mak- ing will be critical to ensure the sector delivers on net zero and lowers its high emissions profile, without adversely hitting the wallets of business and consumers. Anglian and HBS complete solar project Anglian Water has installed its largest ever solar array at a Water Reycling Centre in Jaywick in Essex. The solar installation was developed with renewable energy company HBS and comprises 3,312 solar panels that will generate 36 per cent of the site's energy consump- tion and reduce carbon emissions by over 300 tonnes in the first year. At its peak, the site is capa- ble of generating almost 900 kWp, enough energy to power 200 homes.