Sarlin services produce measurable reductions in climate impacts – biogas pumping plants, Sarlin Balance and more

We care for our shared environment and are continuously working to improve it through our services. To accomplish the above, we must know our company’s carbon footprint and carbon handprint – calculated data about our company’s climate impacts.

The carbon footprint and handprint of Sarlin Oy Ab were calculated by Mitro Misenko in his Master’s thesis, published in Aalto University in 2023. The thesis analysed both the carbon footprint and the positive climate impacts of Sarlin’s key technologies, our carbon handprint. The thesis is available in the Aalto Thesis Database.

The calculations, based on the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, showed that Sarlin has carried out positive actions to reduce its operational carbon footprint and to increase its carbon handprint. The key technologies we offer can reduce greenhouses gases significantly compared to other commonly used solutions. In this article, we explore the solutions that are proven to help our customers reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Learn more about the carbon footprint and handprint calculations:

Compressed air equipment is among the major consumers of energy in industry – on average, compressed air consumes up to 10 per cent of all the energy spent by industrial facilities. Many systems are made up of compressors from different brands and suppliers with no centralised control.

Sarlin Balance allows central management of compressed air systems and maintains a uniform pressure level throughout the system. The Balance system provides unified universal control for all compressor brands. On average, Sarlin Balance has allowed customers to save up to 30 per cent in energy compared to compressed air systems without Sarlin Balance.

How Sarlin Balance works:

• We install sensors in different parts of the compressed air system to achieve real-time system-wide monitoring.
• The monitoring allows us to generate an even pressure level across the whole system to eliminate wasted energy.
• With Sarlin Balance, energy consumption can be monitored and optimised at the system level.
• Any deviations in consumption are easy to see.

Table: Compiled global data for all Sarlin Balance systems in use. The emissions have been calculated with an assumed rate of 10 per cent, but the average reductions of Sarlin Balance are between 15 and 30 per cent.

Biogas pumping stations are essential for making biogas safe for use. Biogas is an environmentally friendly circular energy source that is produced by the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter such as household biowaste or agricultural waste.

Biogas must be processed correctly to avoid the release of methane into the atmosphere and make it environmentally friendly to use.

Methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas, contributes a significant portion of the energy content of biogas. This is why recovering methane from locations such as landfills is essential for avoiding its release into the atmosphere.

Sarlin biogas pumping stations can collect, dry, pressurise and purify the biogas produced by decaying organic matter as well as make it safely available for energy production or fuel use.

Biogas processing plants reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create useful fuel out of renewable biogas.

The environmental impacts of biogas pumping stations were taken into account in the calculation of Sarlin’s carbon handprint. The calculations compared the stations to the free atmospheric release or flaring of the methane.

Flaring is a method for burning biogas in the atmosphere, which may be used for reasons of safety or maintenance.  For example, landfills who are required by law to collect the biogas produced in their area may use flaring to control the amount of gas. Sites such as these can flare away their biogas or exploit it in different processes. We monitor the system to make sure that the collected gas is flared or used in microturbine plants that burn the biogas to produce combustion gases for electricity generation.

The comparison showed that biogas pumping stations

• reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, and
• enable the use of biogas as fuel.

Table: Methane quantities. CO2 emissions can be reduced significantly by burning the methane at the plant instead of releasing it freely into the atmosphere.

Gas is produced at landfills by organic waste, released from the soil into the atmosphere. This gas is collected, filtered and processed to isolate methane from the gas mixture.

The methane content of the gas received from the landfill’s collectors is measured by the system’s sensors, and the actual methane volumes used in this calculation were derived by taking the measured percentage from the total volume of gas and converting the result to mass.

The mass of methane was further used to calculate and compare the effects of the same amount of methane being released freely instead of burning it. The carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) based on methane (CH4) quantities, if released freely into the atmosphere, were based on the assumption that 1 kg of CH4 is equal to 84 kg of CO2.

The following table shows the result of the carbon handprint calculation, which includes the technologies mentioned above. The data shows our continued success in reducing total emissions.

Table: Reduction in total emissions.

The second portion of our environmental impact assessment is the carbon footprint calculation, which gives us data about the environmental impacts of our operations. This information allows us to reduce our operational emissions. The figures used to calculate the carbon footprint were reported by service providers. For example, our energy consumption figures come from Oomi Energia, whose electricity powers our offices. Table: Carbon footprint of Sarlin operations.

Observations from the carbon footprint calculations:

• Better route planning can reduce the distances driven by maintenance personnel without compromising service quality.
• We can use alternative fuels with lower emissions in our vehicles, including biofuels, renewable fuels and electricity.
• We can improve our energy efficiency by preferring renewable energy, for example.
• The carbon dioxide emissions of our heating will be reduced significantly over the next few years as our district heating provider, Vantaa Energy Ltd, is continuously reducing its emissions and aiming for carbon-negative operations by 2030.

In addition, we have previously set goals for energy savings, CO2 emission reductions, and new projects, most of which must be based on solutions that use renewable energy.

The results show that we are taking the right steps to protect the environment. Our work for a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly world continues through our services and in our own operations.

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