How smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence can benefit the environment

There is more than one way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from manufacturing.

Using digital data in manufacturing to reduce carbon emissions

Since 1765, Vol. An industrial revolution transformed our economy by changing the way goods were produced and manufactured through the use of coal. After this, the second industrial revolution was powered by natural gas in 1870, followed by nuclear energy in 1969.

Currently, we are driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution as we see a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources such as solar and wind. These revolutions show how quickly manufacturing’s reliance on energy is changing. Currently, Industry 4.0 is helping the manufacturing industry reduce greenhouse gas emissions caused by the use of renewable energy.

Industry 4.0 is changing the way production operates, however, the use of renewable energy is a by-product of the digital revolution. The driving force for changing Industry 4.0 comes from the accelerated development of digital technology.

Industry 4.0 is creating cyber-physical systems that can network production processes to achieve value creation and real-time optimization. The main factors driving this revolution are advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Artificial intelligence involves complex algorithms that use data collected from cyber-physical systems, enabling “smart manufacturing.”

The impact of Industry 4.0 on manufacturing will be astronomical, as operations can be automatically optimized to improve profit margins, and the use of artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing can also reduce emissions.

The first step to reducing emissions is always understanding. In order to reduce emissions from the production process, companies must first understand their emissions. Therefore, quantifying a baseline for greenhouse gas emissions is crucial. Smart manufacturing can streamline this process by automating the collection of utility data such as electricity, gas and water.

Additionally, AI-based tools can help establish Scope3 emissions in a company’s supply chain. Smart manufacturing processes will embody digital twins in the Internet of Things, so the entire supply chain can be modeled in the digital twin, simplifying data collection.

Once the baseline is calculated, smart manufacturing can use methods such as digital twin optimization and predictive maintenance to reduce emissions. Each approach highlights the future of smart manufacturing. First, digital twin optimization enables virtual copies of industrial processes that can be easily optimized for the most efficient performance. Digital twins allow for more testing and iteration, creating smart strategies based on profit and carbon reduction strategies. And predictive maintenance can save costs and carbon emissions by avoiding unnecessary maintenance tasks.

Predictive maintenance is growing in popularity because it saves companies the cost of performing scheduled maintenance or repairing damaged equipment. AI-based tools use machine learning to understand how historical sensor data maps to historical maintenance records. Once a machine learning algorithm is trained using historical data, it can successfully predict when maintenance is needed based on real-time sensor readings from the plant. Predictive maintenance accurately simulates the wear and tear of machinery currently in use.

We need to think about reducing demand, such as reducing energy demand, reducing the use of resources such as materials and water, reducing all these types of demand will reduce our carbon emissions. Of course, we want to see effective maintenance plans, such as reducing time spent and spare parts used, improving maintainability, reducing downtime, optimizing the use of human resources, etc.

Industrial Synergy

In terms of sustainability, one option is to use materials that are considered waste from an industry, but it Can become used material in another industry. This also applies to energy, where process materials may be lost from a manufacturing facility and these materials may be captured and used to heat the process or areas adjacent to the facility. This is industrial synergy. Using or repurposing wasted materials is part of the circular economy. Materials are no longer considered waste but rather resources, and industrial synergies are not just about recycling, reusing and repurposing within one's own business, but taking into account the wider community and even wider aspects.

For this reason, collaboration with people outside your business or even your town is necessary.

There are many measures to promote industrial collaboration. These measures improve industrial waste management systems and divert waste from landfills. These initiatives can also create jobs, but they require the approval of a diverse network of participating companies and senior management.

National Industrial Symbiosis Plan

The world’s first national industrial symbiosis plan is the National Industrial Symbiosis Plan. It originated from three pilot schemes in Scotland, the West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside, and to date, 20 countries around the world have adopted this model nationally or regionally. Participating businesses diverted 47 million tonnes of industrial waste from landfill and generated £1 billion in new sales. Carbon emissions were reduced by 42 million tonnes and money was saved through lower disposal, storage, transportation and procurement costs.

The Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Program is based on a facilitated approach to industrial symbiosis. WISP was launched in 2013 by the Western Cape Provincial Government of South Africa. It has an internationally synergistically trained team who are dedicated full-time to building industrial symbiosis networks. They can uncover underutilized resources and bring business opportunities to businesses.

Community Resource Information Support Platform CRISP is an innovative project aimed at designing and piloting innovative resource utilization software. Therefore, using digital data to reduce carbon emissions is in line with industrial synergies.

Synergies can also lead to integration with smart manufacturing that uses renewable energy and does not use fossil fuels. This could provide a clearer picture of the potential for clean manufacturing and step-changes in low-carbon urban planning.

In the context of urban industrialization, not only smart manufacturing is crucial, but the city where the industry is located is also crucial. Through innovative change, cities and industries alike are providing solutions for deep infrastructure and systemic carbon reduction. In the urban context, industrial change can lead the way for urban development, and the adoption of smart technologies can provide solutions for reducing greenhouse gases within cities.

Cities account for approximately 70% of global greenhouse gas emissions and therefore make a significant contribution to climate change. According to the relevant regulations of the European Commission, greenhouse gas emissions in cities can be monitored and reduced by upgrading urban transportation networks, upgrading water systems, environmentally friendly water treatment facilities and energy-efficient buildings.

The Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations recognize that cities and their contribution to climate change must be reshaped and adapted to provide opportunities rather than threats. However, the complexity of cities requires insights through many governance approaches to identify areas that require change.

Manufacturing provides environmental and social opportunities for continued growth and development of industry. From an economic perspective, the impact of industrial manufacturing has had huge historical benefits on urban development, from employment opportunities for urban workers to the creation of goods and services that bring value to communities and infrastructure.

In adapting current manufacturing processes within the industry, the benefits to cities are substantial and provide environmental, social and government opportunities to demonstrate a more conscientious and sustainable lifestyle .

Urban aspects such as public transportation, building construction and road infrastructure can be adapted and developed in line with manufacturing. Workers who travel by car can reduce emissions and their own living costs by using changes to low-carbon infrastructure such as trams, buses and trains. Develop cities around smart manufacturing, and pollution and congestion will become a thing of the past.

However, it is crucial that in order to achieve fundamental change in cities, we must recognize the level of collaboration between public, private and civic actors in society. Acknowledging this is the first step in developing and creating new potential pathways for future urban models, dovetailing with manufacturing facilities, factories and industrial units. ​

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