Reducing greenhouse gases in favour of the environment and climate is one of the most pressing challenges facing industry. However, suitable measures that cover the entire value chain are still associated with high costs. Because production, energy and information technology have to be harmonised, there are interactions that affect the identification and price of the measures. In the it's OWL project "Climate bOWL" ("Climate neutral Business in Ostwestfalen-Lippe"), partners from science and industry have now developed an intelligent assistance system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The research project with a total volume of around 3.16 million euros was completed at the end of March after a three-year term. The result is a product-specific carbon footprint tracking system that uses automated data processing to provide companies with information about their emissions and increase transparency. The project partners were Paderborn University, SICP - Software Innovation Campus Paderborn, Bielefeld University, NTT Data Business Solutions AG, GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH, Miele & Cie. KG and Phoenix Contact Smart Business GmbH. In addition to it's OWL Spitzencluster, the sponsors also included the former MWIDE.NRW, now the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia (MWIKE.NRW).
Greenhouse gas emissions occur along the entire value chain in industrial production. In order to reduce CO2 emissions, it is first necessary to identify their sources. However, due to the interactions between different industrial sectors and production processes, this step is complex and cost-intensive. The path to climate neutrality therefore requires a holistic approach that guarantees a precise assessment of greenhouse gas emissions. The interdisciplinary "Climate bOWL" project team took on this challenge. "The result of the project is a product-specific carbon footprint tracking system that generates knowledge through consistent, automatic and location-independent data management. Building on this, we have implemented the assisted development of climate protection and energy efficiency measures using a support system that allocates greenhouse gas emissions to their consumers on the basis of energy and material flow data. This allows energy efficiency potentials to be recognised and avoidance opportunities to be identified," explains Prof. Dr.-Ing. Henning Meschede, Scientific Director of the project and Professor of Energy Systems Engineering at the Faculty of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics at Paderborn University.
"A major step forward is to map this information transparently for each product and all stakeholders involved," continues Prof Meschede. There is currently no comparable solution, also with regard to the assisted derivation of suitable measures along the value chain. "The support system that we have developed in the project closes this gap and helps companies to achieve climate targets with the help of targeted efficiency measures. Climate neutrality can only be achieved if companies focus not on offsetting, but on actually avoiding greenhouse gas emissions," summarises Prof. Meschede.
Further information can be found on the project website.
The solutions developed in the project are available to interested companies via the it's OWL innovation platform.
This text was translated automatically.
