Environmental considerations
GHG reduction objective, while helping themselves, by improving the efficiency
of energy use in their operations.
The CFA monitors environmental issues. As well, a major lobbying effort was
made to have spent foundry sand classified as engineered and inert fill
in landfill sites. It can now be used as daily cover.
As an industry sector participant
in CIPEC, the CFA is working to help Canada meet its international climate
change commitments.
Two recent independent studies concluded that the Canadian
foundry industry is generating less than 1% of Canada’s total carbon
dioxide emissions – a
chief contributor to global warming. One should not dismiss the low figure;
it represents a huge amount – about 6 million t – of the carbon
dioxide gas being emitted every year.
global sense, it is irrelevant that the emissions reductions occur at the
electrical generating station rather than at the site of the efficiency
improvements.
Improved energy efficiency reduces greenhouse
gas emissions in two ways:
- Energy efficiency measures for on-site combustion
systems (e.g., furnaces, boilers, cupolas, heat-treating ovens) reduce
emissions in direct proportion to the amount of fuel not consumed. - Reductions in consumption of electricity
lead to reductions in demand for electricity and, consequently, reductions
in emissions from thermal electric
power generating
stations.
For an example of how to calculate the amount of reduction in major
greenhouse gas emissions resulting from your energy efficiency projects, look
up Appendix
5.4, "Calculating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions."
Foundries must also
pay attention to the composition of their air emissions. The newly released
(March 2001) air quality standards in Ontario set tougher
limits to be met. Projects designed to meet emissions standards can be capital
intensive. A project, spawned by a regulatory requirement, can be easier to
justify
by combining it with an energy management project that reduces energy usage.