Carbon footprint of the JSW Group

Since 2017, with a view to keeping pace with its more ambitious objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and implement new guidelines on the disclosure of information related to climate change, the JSW Group has been conducting integrated calculation and reporting of its carbon footprint.

The purpose of carbon footprint calculation for the JSW Group is to monitor greenhouse gas emissions within the boundaries defined by the organization and to make efforts to optimize energy consumption, eliminate energy-consuming solutions and maximize the economic use of methane.

The main source of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the Group’s operations is methane from the ventilation of mining pits (approx. 71% of total emissions converted into CO₂e) and carbon dioxide from fuel burning processes in the coke segment.

Curtailing greenhouse gas emissions in the Group is accomplished by making the maximum energy utilization of gas through methane drainage in the mines. As a result of utilization of captured methane for the production of energy in high-efficiency cogeneration systems, in 2019 the emission of methane into the atmosphere was reduced by approx. 76.9 million m³ (approx. 3% more than in 2018). The capital expenditure projects currently underway, involving the construction of additional engines running on gas from methane drainage in the Budryk and Knurów-Szczygłowice mines with a total capacity of 48 MWe will make it possible to reduce the organization’s carbon footprint by approx. 1.6 million Mg CO₂e by 2025.

For two years we have been taking part in auctions of CO₂ emission allowances held by the Polish State Forests under the Forest Carbon Farms project. To date, we have purchased a total of 12,000 Carbon Dioxide Units. The funds designated for their purchase, in accordance with our specification, have been slated for the execution of a project in the Kobiór Forestry Region entitled “Modernization of the educational path: In the Land of the Pszczyna Bison”.

In the “JSW S.A. Strategy including the JSW Group’s subsidiaries for 2020-2030” adopted in February 2020, we defined the key directions of our efforts aimed at counteracting climate change, including: search for low-emission technological and process solutions, optimization of energy intensity of our operational activities, improved energy efficiency of our production processes in respect of machinery and equipment, continuation of efforts aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing the carbon footprint of the whole organization and our products: coal and coke.

A conscious and efficient execution of projects aimed at achieving the goals delineated in the strategy associated with increased production levels based on the use of new technologies and the application of innovative solutions in the mining and production processes contributes to achieving the organization’s goals related to demonstrating due respect for:

• science,
• non-renewable resources by using them in an efficient manner,
• natural environment,
• transparency.