The World of Capital Carbon

Find out about his role, progress so far and plans for the future below.

Tell us about your role in Welsh Water’s journey to Net Zero and the world of capital carbon?

It all started in 2010 when I joined the Energy Team to report on carbon emissions from Welsh Water’s operations. I’ve done a few roles since then, but always with an energy and carbon reduction focus.

I’ve now moved into the Capital Delivery team, who deliver our investment programme through upgrading our network. This is important to ensure that our network and assets are resilient and future-proof, able to withstand all the changes that lie ahead because of things like climate change and increased development.

To maintain our assets, improve service and enhance environmental performance, Welsh Water is investing £1.8 billion between 2020-2025. My role is to help reduce emissions from our investment programme, which comes with a carbon cost in the form of embodied carbon; or the emissions associated with the materials we use and construction processes. The great news is that it has been widely demonstrated that cutting carbon in construction also cuts costs!

The investments delivered by our Capital Teams also impacts the other areas of the Net Zero roadmap - both positively and negatively. We aim to design energy efficient operations and replace aging assets with more efficient, lower carbon ones. This isn’t always possible with current technology when meeting building to meet enhanced quality requirements, so keeping up to date with innovation developments is also a key part of my role.

What progress has been made so far?

We’re making great progress. In the last two years, we've changed the design of the new pipes and wastewater treatment works we've built and refurbished, reducing their total carbon footprint by 28% compared to our initial designs. This is an excellent start but there is always more to do! This has largely been achieved by optimising what we need to build and re-using existing assets.

What actions are underway now?

We have carried out a review of our decision-making processes to ensure that the carbon impact of our investment is considered at each stage of the process. This is focussed on the Carbon Reduction Hierarchy: Build nothing, build less, build clever and build efficiently. We are always looking for new and innovative solutions that can deliver the same, or better, outcomes with a smaller carbon footprint.

Work is ongoing to improve our construction sites, considering how we plan, how we deploy lower emission machinery and how off grid sites are powered. Trials are underway to reduce the use of generators to power off grid sites using batteries and solar arrays to enable sites to run silently and emission free for parts of the day. Early results are promising, with some sites seeing a 50% reduction in generator run time.

What’s next?

Now that we have made progress early on in a project to get the right solution developed, we’ll be focussing more on how drive carbon out through detailed design.

We need to do more around material selection and working with our supply chain to drive the carbon out of the materials we can’t avoid using. Tracking all the carbon emitted through our investment is a big ask given the complexity of supply chains and large number of suppliers involved. We’re working through this and looking to take advantage of new digital tools where possible. We need to shout about our successes more as well!

How does this contribute to the fight against climate change?

My work is essentially about using less - delivering the same beneficial outcomes for customers and the environment using fewer materials, resources and fuel. By using less material, fewer emissions are generated from extraction, processing and transport to site. We also re-use assets and materials whenever possible to support the move a more circular economy.

The emissions that I’m seeking to avoid are almost entirely within Welsh Water’s supply chain - but they are firmly within our Net Zero boundary. This can make quantifying them much more of a challenge, but the ripple effects through the economy to help get Wales to Net Zero can be substantial.

We’re always on the lookout for win-wins where we can deliver climate resilient assets at a lower carbon cost.

Finally, what’s your favourite environmental hack?

Understand what your greatest impact is and then your personal action plan to reduce emissions will follow from there.