The Austrian paper industry has set itself the goal of becoming the first industrial sector in the country to become climate-neutral well before 2050 and is also benefiting from a multi-year research collaboration with the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT). At Austropapier's annual press conference on 23 April 2024, Veronika Wilk, Senior Research Engineer at AIT, presented the industry project DekarPIO - Decarbonisation of the pulp and paper industry using mathematical optimisation.
At over 16.5 TWh, the Austrian pulp and paper industry has a particularly high energy requirement for its production. In the industry project DekarPIO, the AIT Center for Energy and the AIT Center for Technology Experience developed a calculation tool and guidelines for decarbonising the industry in cooperation with project partners from the paper industry and representatives of the industry association. The calculation tool enables companies to better evaluate the framework conditions and the use of technology for decarbonisation qualitatively and quantitatively depending on the location and to compare different scenarios with each other.
The central question of the research project is how current supply concepts for sites using fossil fuels can be turned into CO2-free concepts in the future.
Taking into account the processes, energy sources and raw materials used, the calculation tool makes it possible to map, parameterise and calculate the energy supply for each site. Renewable electricity, waste heat integration, alternative fuels such as renewable gas and residual materials, (high-temperature) heat pumps or the utilisation of deep geothermal energy are used as climate-neutral alternatives. The user-centred design and creation of a clear interface that is easy to use was also important in the development of the tool.
Decarbonisation guidelines
As part of the project, decarbonisation guidelines will be created for the participating plants. A guideline for the decarbonisation of the entire Austrian industry will be derived from the individual guidelines using the calculation tool. The results and possible efficiency measures identify possible immediate measures, the need for further research, the development of a technology strategy and define an implementation strategy.
Veronika Wilk, Senior Research Engineer at the AIT: "The Austrian paper industry has embarked on a consistent path of decarbonisation and is making great progress on its way to climate neutrality. Thanks to our joint research project DeKarPIO, the industry will be able to identify additional potential and further minimise emissions."
The project is funded by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) through the Collective Research programme. The DekarPIO project started in 2021 and will run until 2024.
More than 280 experts are working on this energy system of the future at the AIT Centre for Energy. The topic portfolio is based on three central systems: Public Energy Supply Systems, Industrial Energy Systems and Cities & Built Environment.
The AIT Centre for Technology Experience deals with fundamental questions of interaction between people and technology. The focus is always on the users. The centre supports companies and the public sector with the latest scientific approaches and methods in designing a unique user experience for their products, technologies and services. Possible qualities and forms of interaction are analysed in an interdisciplinary way and new methods and tools are developed. www.ait.ac.at/technology-experience
More information on DECARBONISATION OF THE INDUSTRY - NETZERO: https://www.ait.ac.at/en/solutions/decarbonisation-of-the-industry-netzero