Industry (Indtech)

Emissions from the industrial sector account for a large share of total emissions globally, in the EU and in Sweden. The International Energy Council estimates that the industrial sector accounted for around 40% of total global emissions in 2019.

In the EU, the sector accounted for about one fifth of emissions and in Sweden about one third. Within the Swedish industrial sector, production processes in the traditional basic industries - such as iron and steel, minerals, refineries, and pulp and paper - are particularly emission-intensive.

Although industry reduced its total emissions between 1990 and 2019, its share of Sweden's total emissions increased from 29% to 32% during the same period. The Government's industrial strategy The Industry of the Future - a strategy for green and digital transformation from 2022 highlights the goal that the industry of the future in Sweden will be a world leader in innovative and sustainable industrial production of goods and services. The strategy states, among other things, that green and digital transformation in industry needs to take place along the entire production chain and throughout the country, so that more companies can benefit from the increasing diversification of value chains as well as digital and circular production and product design.

Example 1: Optimization and sensor technologies deliver energy savings in the industrial sector
Challenge: In 2019, the pulp and paper industry in Sweden emitted almost 1 million tonnes of CO2e, which corresponds to 5% of the industrial sector's emissions and just under 2% of Sweden's total emissions. The Swedish Energy Agency's 2021 Industrial Energy and Climate Transition Programme states that the pulp and paper industry, steel and metal works, and chemical industry subsectors together accounted for 75% of the industrial sector's final energy use in 2018. The program will contribute to fulfilling the Agency's vision for research and innovation in the industrial sector and help achieve, among other things, the goals of 50% more efficient energy use by 2030 and zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. The promotion of energy- and resource-efficient production processes is highlighted as a key focus area. The forest industry's roadmap for fossil-free competitiveness - which includes the pulp and paper industry - also emphasizes the need for continued resource and energy efficiency and that the forest industry's long-term ability to create climate benefits is determined by the development of industrial production.

Solution: Implementing technology and digitalization in industry has great potential to contribute to the climate transition by streamlining production and manufacturing processes and reducing energy and resource use.

Programming and coding company Prototyp, together with partners, has developed technical solutions to streamline the industrial process at one of Stora Enso's production facilities, Skoghall Mill, which manufactures packaging materials. The aim is to maximize the utilization of the facilities and save energy in the long term. Using a large number of sensors in different parts of the manufacturing process, the work of different parts of the system can be read, for example whether they are working too hard, too little or at the wrong intervals. In order to translate the advanced data read by the sensors into information that can be easily interpreted, Prototyp developed a so-called "proof of concept" in the form of a web app that easily visualizes how different components and devices work. The solution makes it possible to identify which parts of the plant are not working efficiently or are using too much energy, for example. Based on this information, the various parts of the system can be optimized so that a significantly smaller amount of energy is required to produce Stora Enso's products. With the help of this technology alone, Skoghall Mill is estimated to be able to make energy savings of between 25-50 GWh annually, corresponding to about 3-5% of annual consumption. At the same time, the quality variation of some products produced by the mill is reduced by up to 50%, which means more efficient and resource-saving production.

Technology: Sensor technology and digital data processing Partners: Prototyp, Stora Enso, Chalmers and Tekniska Högskola.