Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
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42 | APRIL 2020 | WWT | www.wwtonline.co.uk The Knowledge: net zero of emissions across the sec- tor's supply chains, which will require joint action even beyond 2030. As an outline the challenges for the next decade are: Process emissions – Emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide, have long been recognised as a problem in waste and sludge treatment but are difficult and expensive to measure, and methods of capture and control are not well understood. As a result, these emissions have stayed flat over time and the Govern- ment estimates they account for around four million tonnes of CO 2 equivalent. Some improvements from the move to advanced anaerobic diges- tion and tighter secondary treatment control have been seen but more fundamental changes would be required to reduce these emissions. This contrasts with other areas of waste management, for exam- ple landfill, where Government policy drove a steep reduction in methane emissions from the late 1990s. These process emissions are a unique indus- try problem which no-one else will be equipped to tackle and, as most companies choose to purchase renewable-backed electricity, they become the most important source of direct operational emissions in the sector. The challenge is that reducing emissions in this area is likely to require new approaches, new sci- ence and investment without direct economic return. New projects led by UKWIR and institutions such as Aston and Brunel Universities, as well as collaboration with other parts of the world, will be crucial in understanding how to tackle this problem. The approach of the economic regulator to in- vestment to tackle the problem will also be crucial over the coming decade. Transport – The UK has struggled to decarbonise transport but electric alterna- tives for cars and small vans are available now. The chal- lenge will be decarbonising heavier vans and heavy good vehicles like tankers. Techni- cally feasible alternatives to these vehicles are further away and whilst hydrogen or even green gas might provide the solution, there will be risks and big dependencies on mar- kets and the supply chain. Energy use – Renewable- backed electricity can now be procured from energy suppliers and leveraging market power in this way to drive lower-carbon energy generation is certainly a vital step for the sector. However, to credibly contribute to the UK's decarbonisation, the sector must continue to find ways to use less energy and to generate more from renewable sources of energy. There are two major challenges here. Firstly, ever-higher treatment standards, especially for wastewater effluent quality mean more energy or chemical intensive treatment solutions are required. Secondly, efforts to balance supply and demand both locally and nationally, in a context of population change, could require huge amounts of water pumping. Even with well-designed, ef- ficient systems, moving more water means greater amounts of energy are required. Carbon emissions in the supply chain – Whilst the direct operational carbon footprint of the sector has been declining, there are a range of indirect emissions in the supply chain which are not measured and controlled di- rectly by the water companies. For example, the Treasury's 2013 Infrastructure carbon review highlighted the high carbon-intensity of construc- tion activity across society. The water sector requires large quantities of material and construction activity to provide and maintain its infrastructure. Decarbonising this activity is a challenge and the whole supply chain plays a role, from design stage through to com- missioning. Managing carbon in these activities hasn't become business as usual anywhere in the world. Simi- larly, production processes for chemicals and other materials and goods on which the sector relies must decarbonise. The main arguments against water companies taking more action in this area have been that companies have a limited span of control, activity will cost more and this will introduce additional administrative and decision-making complexity. The exigencies of keeping costs low and solutions certain means many activities in the sector rely on tried and tested carbon-intensive solutions and there's low appetite to make this more difficult. To solve this, the industry, its supply chain and designers must find ways to decarbonise their own activities. The role of the water companies in this space will be an area of debate for years to come. A roadmap for implementa- tion of net zero is currently being developed by trade body Water UK in collabora- tion with consultants Ricardo and Mott MacDonald. This will be released later this year and will set our clear bounda- ries for the goal and provide further focus on all the areas discussed above. In conclusion, the water sector has a good track record of focus on climate change over the last 10 years but has tricky challenges to face over the next decade to get to a credible zero carbon position. The reduction in carbon footprint since 2010 shows off some of the most positive hallmarks of the sector. With the support of investors and regulators and with wider changes across the economy, these ambitious aims can be met. How quickly will partly depend on whether the companies, stakeholders and regulators choose to invest customers' money from bills in tackling this vital problem or whether the sector takes a following, rather than leading, role and follows the short-term economics. With water companies now committed to deliver net zero carbon by 2030, water industry professionals will be revisiting every aspect of their businesses - from fleets to energy providers, and treatment processes to pumping systems - as they seek to drive down operational emis- sions and develop sustainable net zero operations. Water & Wastewater Treat- ment (WWT), the UK's leading water media brand, will be track- ing the strategic, operational and technical solutions to these urgent challenges in 'Journey to Net Zero', an exclusive series of specialist events and exclusive content. JOURNEY TO NET ZERO JOURNEY TO NET ZERO Net operational greenhouse gas emissions from water and waste companies in England, Scotland and Wales over the last 10 years Financial Year Net Operational Emissions - UK Water and Waste companies Industry total (excluding northern ireland water) - in tonnes of CO2e 2009-10 4,298,797 2010-11 4,340,618 2011-12 4,085,184 2012-13 4,130,599 2013-14 3,833,392 2014-15 4,040,079 2015-16 3,824,700 2016-17 2,667,591 2017-18 2,667,591 2018-19 2,219,656