Nantamol Limphitakphong

Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions and reduction from the petrochemical industry in Thailand

This study aims to determine the baseline and indicators for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation measures used to reduce GHG emissions in Thai petrochemical plants. The results demonstrate that petrochemical production between 2005 and 2010 had an annual energy requirement in the range of 120,000–170,000 TJ. The proportions of energy consumption for the petrochemical industrys upstream, intermediate and downstream groups were 75%, 14% and 11%, respectively. The amount of GHG emissions from the petrochemical industry during 2005–2010 was approximately 8000 to 12,000 kt CO2 eq./year. This value represents approximately 3% of the total GHG emissions of Thailand. The upstream petrochemical industry accounted for the highest GHG emissions of 62%, whereas the intermediate and downstream groups were responsible for 21% and 17%, respectively. The carbon intensities of the upstream petrochemical products for the olefin and aromatic groups ranged from 1.104 to 1.485 t CO2 eq./t and 0.420 to 1.125 t CO2 eq./t, respectively. For the intermediate and downstream petrochemical products, the carbon intensities ranged from 0.396 to 1.209 t CO2 eq./t and from 0.096 to 0.477, respectively. The likely reason for the decrease in carbon intensity from 2005 to 2010 is that the industry sector implemented measures to improve energy conservation and updated production processes. The most significant potential for GHG emissions reduction was found in fuel conservation measures, steam conservation measures and electricity conservation measures.

Evaluation of the environmental impact of portion bag for food packaging: a case study of Thailand

This study applied life cycle assessment methodology in evaluating environmental impact of portion bag. The objective of this study was to identify the hotspot of environmental impact through life cycle of portion bag. The options were proposed for improving environmental performance of the product. The system boundary was defined as cradle-to-grave which included the ethylene production, LDPE and LLDPE resins production, portion bag production, disposal, and transportation. All materials and emissions were calculated based on 1 piece of portion bag which weighed 2.49 g. IMPACT 2002+ was used for assessing environmental impact on SimaPro V8.2 software. The result found that the most of environmental impact was generated from LDPE and LLDPE resins which was used as raw material for producing portion bag. After normalization, non-renewable energy showed the highest potential to concern. This impact related directly to the natural gas drilling, ethane production, ethylene production, resin productions, and energy in all process. In conclusion, it should be suggested that the selection of bio-material for producing portion bag can play an important role to reduce the environmental impact. The research demonstrates the possible way and benefits in improving cleaner raw material and suitable way of products end-of-life for producing green portion bag in the future.

Scenarios of Municipal Solid Waste Management for Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emission: A Case Study of Supermarket in Bangkok, Thailand

As a consequence of rapid urbanization and population growth, many cities have faces issues of waste management. Landfill approach is generally decided for handling most of municipal solid waste, resulting the impacts of environment especially land occupation and global warming. As commercial building plays an importance role not only for economic value but also for environmental aspects, a supermarket located in community mall was selected as a case study towards sustainable cities. This study was aimed to investigate the current MSW management system of supermarket in order to quantify its environmental performance and to propose suitable options for improving municipal solid waste management. The findings revealed that at the business-as-usual, 397 tCO2e was emitted annually from landfilling waste of a supermarket in Thailand. However, if waste management has improved by recycling plus bio-gasification approach, not only 374 tCO2e/year will not be emitted from landfilling, but 243 tCO2e/year also be reduced due to the activities in relevant to recycling and bio-gasification process. Moreover, applying such approach provides benefit in economic term about 18,321 USD a year. The results of this study could inspire another commercial buildings or others sector to adopting waste management practices together for creating a network of sustainable cities through suitable waste management system.

Reusing Rockwool Insulation Waste as Plant Substrate: A Case Study of Flase Heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia Humb.)

Nowadays, petrochemical industry in Thailand has growth tremendously which resulting in an increasing of waste generation. Insulation is one types of petrochemical waste that normally disposed to landfill. In this study, therefore, the utilization of rockwool insulation waste was examined in order to reuse as plant substrates for growing Flase Heather (Cuphea hyssopifolia Humb.). Rockwool insulation waste was simulated as plant substrates by mixing with soil at different ratio, whereas a commercial rockwool was used as a control. During the experiment period of 60 days, nutrients were not added into the plants. Leaching test of rockwool insulation waste before and after the experiment illustrated that such waste could be classified as non-hazardous waste since its heavy metals in leachate before planting were less than the standard announced by Department of Industrial Works in Thailand. On the other hand, the heavy metals concentration in leachate after planting and in the plant were under the standards as well. In addition, an analysis of surviving rate and growing rate demonstrated that an optimal condition of using rockwool insulation waste as plant substrates should be a mixture ratio of rockwool insulation waste and soil of 3:1. To sum up, the reuse of rock wool insulation waste as plant substrate would make a range of benefits on economic, social, and environmental aspects.

Greenhouse Gases Reduction Assessment from Energy Efficiency Improvement: Case Study of Power Generation and Distribution

Electricity industry is one of the most important industries that contributes to Thailand’s economic growth. Power generation requires a huge amount of energy and emits a great number of greenhouse gas emission. Reducing energy consumption by improving its efficiency will be beneficial in both economic and environmental aspect. In this study, ten measures related to power generation and distribution system were assessed and analyzed its emission reduction via clean development mechanism and evaluated its cost effectiveness by using the net present value method. The findings revealed that changing a burner with better efficiency was the best implemented measure providing a great point not only on total energy saving but also on gross emission reduction and on earning back the investment. The results in term of intensity of energy saving and emission reduction, however, demonstrated that replacing an old transformer with a new high efficiency one was the most effective measure because using it for a long time period results in high value of no load loss. The information regarding the potential of greenhouse gas emission reduction on the energy efficiency improvement of each measure would be a useful information for decision makers or other parties in power sector to understanding and planning the suitable strategies in the future.