Beverage manufacturer C&C Group, which includes cider brand Bulmers, has announced a commitment to accelerate the reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions.
The company is working with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 35 per cent, and Scope 3 emissions by 25 per cent by 2030. It is aiming to be a carbon-neutral business by 2050 at the latest.
To accelerate emission reductions, C&C Group has contracted Irish decarbonisation firm CoolPlanet to significantly decarbonise their Clonmel (Bulmers) site's direct carbon emissions.
Using their decarbonisation software Clarity, CoolPlanet identified a number of opportunities that will deliver 42 per cent reduction in direct (Scope 1) carbon emissions at the Bulmers manufacturing facility over the next 12 months.
This will provide at least 1,882 tonnes CO2 equivalent of scope 1 carbon dioxide emissions reduction, equivalent to carbon sequestered by 2,227 acres of forests in one year.
At present, 100 per cent of the electricity used in the Bulmers manufacturing facility is provided by renewable sources. C&C Group has installed Ireland's largest rooftop solar farm providing 10 per cent of the facility’s electricity requirements while reducing carbon emissions by 4 per cent and saving 286,746kg of CO2 per year and almost 10 million kgs over the next 20 years.
As a beverage production facility, the Clonmel site uses thermal energy at a range of temperatures in many processes from pasteurisation to cleaning, making gas consumption reductions challenging to deliver.
However, using the deep insight into the site processes that Clarity delivered, CoolPlanet were able to propose a number of solutions to deliver this ambitious carbon reduction.
Apart from optimisation of existing site steam generation and distribution processes a key opportunity identified was a project to recycle and "pump" waste heat available from cooling the beverages at certain stages in the process. This heat will be reused in the beverage pasteurisation process, using a high pressure and temperature heat pump.
C&C group head of engineering Martin Doogan said "this innovative design will reduce onsite carbon emissions by up to 50%, thus significantly impacting our overall group sustainability targets, and it will materially reduce site natural gas dependency in these uncertain times".
CoolPlanet CEO Alan Keogh said the two companies have developed a close working relationship which has facilitated the development of effective decarbonisation opportunities and projects are surfaced and implemented.
