There is a global industrial revolution underway to address the industrial scale challenges posed by climate change.
23% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the majority being carbon dioxide (CO2), come from industry. Approximately 25% of industrial CO2 emissions can be attributed to industries use of electricity.
According to the UN’s most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (ICCP) report, “addressing machine inefficiencies is one out of three key areas in which significant improvements can be made.”
At COP26 Sir David Attenborough opined “A new industrial revolution powered by millions of sustainable innovations is essential”
Given that approximately one third of motors are equipped with friction belt drives the performance and efficiency of many belt drives can be improved through the addition of dynamic tensioning technology. The resulting reductions in electricity consumption and associated Scope 2 CO2 emissions can be significant.
The chart below indicates energy efficiency improvements resulting from ROSTA Dynamic Tensioning Technolgy.
Many ‘small’ improvements
According to Rosta the electrical energy requirement of a single 200kW motor, running for 12 hours per day, results in approximately 403.0 tonnes* of Scope 2 CO2 emissions per year.
With ROSTA dynamic tensioning technology, the improved energy efficiency of the belt drive means the motor consumes less electricity for the machine to do the same amount of work.
In this example, annual CO2 emissions are claimed to be reduced by at least 17.2 tonnes. Putting this into context to sequester this amount of carbon would take the average lifespan of approximately 90 trees!
With average commercial electricity costs of around AUD 0.223/kWh, the efficiency improvements to this single drive are estimated to provide electricity cost savings of AUD 5,830 annually*.
ROSTA has provided a simple step by step calculator hosted on their website where you can calculate potential efficiency gains and emission reductions.