Study on the opportunity of carbon footprint reduction through energy measurement by implementing good operating practices in PVC flooring mat manufacturing industry

This paper outlines the carbon emission reduction opportunities through energy measurement by implementing good operating practices and good housekeeping in PVC floorcovering mat industry in Perlis, Malaysia. The baseline data was obtained through the energy audit to identify the area to be improved. Cleaner Production (CP) options through good operating practices and good housekeeping were suggested to be implemented in the area of concern. The performance of the suggested CP was analyzed in terms of (1) energy efficiency, (2) carbon emission reduction and (3) cost-saving according to the payback period. The results show that the CP option of utilization of rest time of intensive mixer has contributed to the most energy saving of 8.18%, followed by steam pipe insulation, 2.9%; steam trap maintenance, 0.95% and steam pipe leakage maintenance, 0.15% with the total CO2 emission saved of 185,573 tCO2/year corresponds to the overall energy save of 5.2%. Through the comparison between the estimated values and the measured values based on energy baseline model, it was found that the CO2 intensity had decreased by 21.8%. The finding shows that there exists a significant opportunity to reduce CO2 emissions through energy measurement in PVC flooring mat manufacturing industry by the implementation of good operating practices and good housekeeping.