U.K. Paper Mills Emissions Continue to Fall

 

Figures recently released by the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) confirm a continued fall in emissions from U.K. paper mills. Official 2014 emissions data have just been released and the downward trend in emissions from the sector has continued—2014 emissions being 13.5% lower than those in 2013 and an impressive 42% lower than in 2008. While some of this reduction can be attributed to lower production, the great majority has been delivered by investment in new power generation and a continued focus on energy efficiency. 

    

Allowing for changes in production levels, the figures show that the amount of EU ETS reported carbon dioxide emitted by U.K. paper mills (per metric ton of production) has fallen by a third in just seven years – from 0.64 metric tons of carbon dioxide per metric ton of product to 0.42 metric tons.

 

Papermaking is intrinsically energy intensive, and mill operators are constantly seeking ways to incrementally improve efficiency to remain competitive—energy inefficient mills cannot compete with more efficient competitors, the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI), Brussels, Belgium, notes. All mills, it adds, have energy managers and initiatives to identify and deliver energy savings through the use of new pumps, improved lighting, better process controls and the like.

  

As well as these incremental changes, U.K. mills are big users of highly efficient Combined Heat and Power (CHP) plants, making much of their own electricity and using heat wasted in conventional power generation. Since 2008, a number of mills have invested in new CHP, with all sector CHP now being either gas or biomass powered. All old coal CHP plants have now been decommissioned. This investment in new gas and biomass powered CHP has seen hundreds of millions of pounds invested by the sector, resulting in greatly reduced EU ETS emissions.

EU ETS points out that with such continued success in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, it is especially frustrating to note that the sector remains short of EU ETS allowances. The EU ETS scheme recognizes that energy intensive European industrial operations cannot remain competitive if competitors outside of the EU do not face the same carbon costs. Accordingly, EU ETS provides that mills should be granted free allocations (set by the most efficient sites) to avoid carbon leakage. 

However, the agreed number of free allowances has been slashed to ensure member states can continue to sell a large number of allowances to raise revenue. In the U.K., the effect of this reduction (or cross sector reduction factor) has resulted in mills receiving around 100,000 fewer allowances than it was agreed they need, with the shortfall increasing each year. The CPI has consistently called for this issue to be urgently addressed by government.

    

Equally serious, is that EU ETS now provides zero free allocation for electricity generation, acting as a barrier to new CHP and a penalty on existing plants. While the U.K. Government has sought to address this issue by offering compensation to some, but not all, installations, such compensation is guaranteed only in the shorter term and misses a real opportunity to incentivise on-site power generation, EU ETS notes.

             

CPI Director General David Workman said that "these figures show that U.K. paper mills are more than playing their part in reducing emissions and helping the U.K. reach climate change related targets. However, government must also play its part by setting long-term stable policies to ensure that U.K. installations can remain internationally competitive while continuing to decarbonize. We look forward to working with a new government to take forward the sector 2050 Roadmap just published.

 

"Don’t forget," Workman continued, "that more than half of the paper used in the U.K. is made elsewhere, with associated emissions not being counted in the U.K.  We’d much rather see the paper used in the U.K. being made in highly efficient U.K. mills, providing jobs and creating wealth here. Since 2008, our production has fallen by around 600,000 metric tpy. Nonsensically, emissions associated with imported paper simply aren’t included by government in U.K. emissions data."