CO2 emission reduction potential of the EPSE™ Method

On behalf of EPSE, expert company Positive Impact carried out a calculation of the direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions of the EPSE™ Method, as well as an estimate of the scale of the climate benefits made possible by the method. The process under review was treatment pilot of the waste material produced in the Harjavalta copper park, which contains a lot of copper. In this specific case, a lot of technical data and laboratory analysis results were available.

The emissions of EPSE processing have been calculated for 1000 tons in CO2 equivalents (CO2e) and combined upstream and downstream avoided emissions. The total emissions of the processing are 28.7 tCO2e and the emissions avoided by EPSE processing are -1435.1 tCO2e, so the net emission of EPSE processing becomes -1406.4 tCO2e (1). In the picture EPSE™ Emissions of the method according to the fields of application of the GHG protocol.

The emission reduction produced by the project is the difference between the emissions of the baseline (2) and the project scenario, and according to the calculation made, the emission reduction accumulated over 10 years with the capacity of one piloting equipment (16,000 t waste material processed) is approx. 170,000 tons COe (3). The value of this in the EU’s emissions trading is approx. 1.5 million euros per year (4), says Outi Ugas, senior expert at Positive Impact, who was responsible for the calculation. Ugas emphasizes that the benefits appear so significant with the variables of a single calculation that getting additional certainty for the exact formation of emission reductions would definitely be worthwhile. Concretely, 170,000 tons of CO2e corresponds to, for example, the use of more than 63 thousand cubic meters of diesel, the annual electricity consumption of more than 33,000 homes, or the carbon dioxide emissions avoided per year for more than 46 installed wind turbines. (5)

More information:

(1) Energy consumption during the process, water consumption, process materials and transportation were included in the scope of the calculation.

(2) The baseline describes the climate effects of the situation where the EPSE™ Method is not implemented. The baseline scenario includes the estimated emissions from waste material treatment and the emissions from copper concentrate production, which are required if EPSE treated precipitate is not available. Changes at the entire industry and system level have been taken into account in the calculation with an annual correction factor of 5%. This is based on the assumption of a more general green transition, which can be seen, for example, in the reduction of fossil energy use and the enactment and implementation of new circular economy legislation.

(3) The emission reduction scenario is based on the operation of the plant according to the pilot plant used in the calculation at full capacity for 10 years, taking into account maintenance breaks and the effects of equipment renewal and maintenance.

(4) according to 2021 averages.

(5) United States Environmental Protection Agency Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.


The text is written by Anni Honkonen.