Our latest Ecotextile Talks podcast explores a new report from the Apparel Impact Institute that provides an energy sourcing roadmap for textile supply chains to reach net zero
YORK – In our latest podcast, our host Philip Berman is joined by Pauline Op de Beeck, climate portfolio director at the Apparel Impact Institute (Aii) to discuss the organisation’s new report on how the textile industry can reach net zero by 2040, and wet processing expert Phil Patterson, who outlines a new benchmarking tool he’s helped create with the Aii to aid the industry’s use of its new roadmap.
Asked about the report, ‘The low-carbon thermal energy road map’, Op de Beeck tells Berman that the textile industry is now at a critical juncture. “The only way to get to net zero is by electrifying,” she says. “But there is so much work that needs to be done to help us to get there, and I’m just really excited to see all of that happen once we’ve published this report and the sector starts working on it.”
Patterson agrees. “People know that renewable energy and electrification are the ultimate destination,” he tells Berman. “But the key thing with a roadmap is the timing. This is why it’s important to provide some guidance on how to actually achieve that ultimate goal.
“This is first time anybody has ever done anything like this with regards to energy consumption and emissions.”
During the podcast Berman and his guests unpack the report in detail, asking how it can help the whole supply chain, from textile manufacturers through to brands and retailers.
We hear about the huge amounts of heat required in current textile processing, most of which is generated as a result of burning fossil fuels.
A crucial issue in tackling this problem successfully, says Op de Beeck, is alignment. “You have different brands with different levels of maturity in their target setting and their strategy on how to achieve,” she explains, stressing that a key route to achieving net zero lies in having industry alignment on when and how that should take place.
Op de Beeck and Patterson both agree that the current knowledge gap in the textile industry is less a question of ‘what’ needs to be done, but more about ‘when’ it needs to be done.
“In the roadmap we were able to study energy prices forecasting, what the trends are, and what the availability is likely to be,” Op de Beeck says. “So this energy landscape is information that maybe not that everyone is aware of, and maybe not in the context of how this relates to ‘my decarbonisation strategy’.”
With a discussion on how energy efficiency and energy sourcing key are both to the road to net zero, we also hear how the Aii report focuses primarily on the latter.
“The report focuses on the sourcing of renewable energy,” Op de Beeck explains. “There is already a wealth of knowledge on energy efficiency and reducing energy demand.
“That’s not to say that those activities don’t need to increase because they definitely do and it’s a key part of the journey to electrification – and the report recognises that as a key first step. But the real focus is on the transition of the fuel source.”
Subscribe to Ecotextile Talks podcasts and radio shows by following us on Apple, Spotify and Amazon Music. Why not have a look around our complete podcast archive here.
