Application of Carbon Footprint Assessment Methodology to the Case of Coated Ivory Board

The pulp and paper industry, which is closely related to national economic and social development, is an important industry but also contributes high carbon emissions. Therefore, with the advent of the low-carbon economic era, ways to reduce the carbon emissions and to bring about a low-carbon industrial transition of the pulp and paper industry is becoming one of the important academic projects. A system for carbon footprint assessment, namely the Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2050 methodology, is introduced in this paper. Based on the analysis and assessment of the carbon footprint (CO2 equivalent emissions) for the Coated Ivory Board production lines, it was used to provide a scientific basis and approach for reduction of carbon emissions and formulate the corresponding measures for carbon emissions reduction of China's pulp and paper industry. The business to business carbon footprint, for which steps of the life cycle are included in Coated Ivory Board production, was analyzed and calculated. The results showed that there were 888 kg of CO2 equivalent emissions per metric ton of Coated Ivory Board, in which the largest part, accounting for 57.5%, was associated with purchased electricity, followed by fuel oil at 40.2%, and others accounted for 2.3% of the CO2 equivalent emissions.