Professor Mark Jolly Archives

Energy Benchmarking of Manufacturing Processes in Foundation Industries

Energy Benchmarking of Manufacturing Processes in Foundation Industries

As industry increasingly looks at ways to reduce their environmental impacts, manufacturing processes have come under greater scrutiny. The manufacturing sector accounts for 38% of global energy consumption and 25% of global CO2 emissions, much of which comes from process energy and electricity consumption. To reduce these emissions, it is imperative to find ways to reduce the energy consumption in manufacturing either using more energy-efficient equipment and processes or by moving towards to renewable energy. In order to identify areas of inefficiency and which changes will have the greatest impact, benchmarking energy consumption, or determining the “best practices”, in manufacturing processes is a critical step. By comparing energy utilisation data to industry standards or to similar operations, manufacturers can get a greater understanding of their energy consumption and determine the areas to tackle first for the greatest effect. External benchmarking, against other companies within the same sector, and internal [...]

Joanna Johnson2024-01-19T14:28:03+00:00January 15th, 2024|

Potential for energy savings and carbon dioxide emissions reduction in the cement industry

Potential for energy savings and carbon dioxide emissions reduction in the cement industry

TransFIRe researchers have undertaken a literature review to compare cement production practices, in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions, in order to identify approaches that are the least energy and emissions intensive. Cement production accounts for 7% of global carbon dioxide emissions, 3 to 4% of green-house gas emissions, and 7% of global industrial energy use. Demand for cement is also continuously increasing due to the rising worldwide population and urbanisation trends, as well as infrastructure development needs, with a further global increase of 12- 23% from its current level expected by 2050. Following the net-zero carbon 2050 agenda, both energy and emissions must be significantly reduced and, in order to do so, it is essential to understand the manufacturing processes involved and the accompanying energy utilisation and CO2 emissions. The literature review considers both the different types of cement production routes and the different production stages involved, [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-12-11T15:25:15+00:00December 11th, 2023|

Saica site visit

Saica site visit

TransFIRe members paid a visit to Saica Paper this week to find out about their operations and to look for potential collaborative opportunities. Saica are a leading manufacturer of high-performance and 100% recycled papers for corrugated cardboard in Europe and the US. During the visit, Sanjoo Paddea gave a talk on the overall TransFIRe project, Natanael Bolson gave some insights on resource flows for the paper industry, Dr Lampros Litos MIET talked about waste valorisation and Simon Curling talked about his work on coatings for paper packaging with Wipak and re-pulping with Pulpex and others. As part of the presentations, TransFIRe highlighted that best practices in the paper industry could reduce the carbon footprint and energy emissions by up to 50% and we hope to be able to help identify ways in which Saica can move towards this.

Joanna Johnson2023-12-08T12:04:06+00:00December 8th, 2023|

Make sustainable manufacturing the heart of the UK’s net zero transformation

Make sustainable manufacturing the heart of the UK’s net zero transformation

The UK’s net zero future will depend on making things in sustainable ways, with close attention to the whole cycle: the materials we use, the energy and carbon emissions involved in processes, and the opportunities for re-use, re-manufacturing and (last of all) recycling. But for the time being the manufacturing sector in the UK — the sector that globally generates around a third of all carbon emissions — is mired in old ways. The sector has become stuck within a wasteful system based around imports of products and materials, and exports of materials that could have been re-used or recycled. There is still a take-make-dispose mindset. We have industries without the means or motivation to move away from energy intensive, carbon-heavy processes. And while the UK’s carbon footprint is ‘off-shored’ to other nations, increasingly important materials, resources and business opportunities are draining away; consumers are misled over the actual [...]

Joanna Johnson2023-07-17T12:51:56+00:00July 17th, 2023|

Spotlight Interview with Professor Mark Jolly

Spotlight Interview with Professor Mark Jolly

Can you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about your role within TransFIRe? I'm Mark Jolly, Professor and Director of Manufacturing and Materials at Cranfield University and I've been in post for about three and a half years. I'm actually a metallurgist by background and worked in industry for many years before moving into academia. After spending some time at Birmingham University, I moved to Cranfield about 10 years ago and became more and more interested in energy and sustainability. This led me to co-write and co-create the idea for the Transforming Foundation Industries Research and Innovation Hub, or TransFIRe. My role in TransFIRe is really to get foundation industries and academics together, to get them to work in the same direction and think in the same way, to help reduce carbon emissions and get to the Government targets of net zero by 2050. The programme is [...]

David Fryer2023-02-13T13:58:17+00:00February 13th, 2023|