Analysing Carbon Emissions and Global Goals in the Textile Industry
The textile sector has been labeled as ‘fast on fashion, slow on sustainability’, becoming the second largest consumer and polluter industry producing about 5+ billion tonnes of carbon emissions globally (approximately 10% of global “GHG emissions”). Increasing population and demand have paced the demand for fast fashion irrespective of the quality and thus overconsumption leading to overproduction of textile products. The global apparel market is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 8% to reach US$ 2.37 trillion by 2030 and the Global Textile & Apparel trade is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4% to reach US$ 1.2 trillion by 2030. With the increasing size of the market due to increased demand, it is observed that an average person today buys 60% more clothing than in 2000.
Textile and clothing exports have a 4% share in global exports amounting to $928.6 billion. The major producers and exporters of textile products include China, Germany, the USA, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Italy, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, with China accounting for more than 35% of the global textile and clothing exports emerging as global textile exports leader followed by Bangladesh (5.4%), Vietnam (5%), Italy (4.5%) and Germany (4.4%). The textile industry is estimated to export $1.2 trillion of goods by 2030. This ever-increasing export of textiles will increase the energy demand and “GHG emissions”. Four out of these ten countries (US, China, India, and Indonesia) are in the top 10 emitters contributing about 46% of the total “GHG emissions” of the world. The majority of these emissions come from the energy sector. Within the energy sector, the largest emitting sector is electricity and heat generation, followed by transportation and manufacturing.
Electricity Mix of top textile producers
The electricity mix in a country is a combination of different sources such as coal, fuel, renewables, and nuclear sources. But fossil fuels still dominate the total electricity mix. These 10 countries generate 64% of the fossil fuel electricity produced globally and 57% of global renewable electricity. Bangladesh (98.5%) and Indonesia (91.7%) meet more than 90% of their electricity requirements through fossil fuels. At the same time, Turkey and the United Kingdom have significantly improved their dependency on renewables by more than 20 percentage points in the last 10 years.
In absolute terms, China (25,538 TWh), India (6,105 TWh), and the United States (2,276 TWh) use the highest amount of coal to produce electricity than the rest of the countries. These three countries generate more than 75% of the electricity generated from coal. Further, the United States has the highest share of the electricity generated from gas, globally.
However, with the signing of new pacts such as the Paris Agreement which aim to limit global temperatures to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and ideally below 1.5°C by increasing the adoption of renewable energy. The share of renewables has been increasing yearly on a global level, reducing the carbon intensity of electricity production in these 10 countries. The following chart shows the change in carbon intensity of electricity production over the last decade:
The United Kingdom has tremendously cleaned up its electricity mix owing to the disappearance of coal-fired power and reduced the use of gas by a quarter. Instead, the country now gets more than half of its electricity from low-carbon sources, such as solar, wind, and nuclear. On the other hand, Vietnam’s carbon intensity of electricity mix is deteriorating year on year with an 18.5% increase in the carbon intensity of the electricity production.
Scope 2 emissions: Analysis of top textiles performers
Scope 2 emissions in the textile sector are the indirect emissions resulting from electricity consumption, heating, cooling, and steam. These emissions are considered indirect because the company doesn't directly burn the fuels that generate the energy, but instead buys it from a third party, like a utility company. The prominent sources of indirect emissions within the industry were those resulting from dyeing, printing, cutting, wadding plants, quilting, stitching, and quality control processes that required the input of electricity and natural gas.
On average, 1 cotton T-shirt requires 1.61 KWh of electricity in production, including all processes- spinning, knitting, dyeing, and garmenting, which comprises of Scope 2 emissions. Taking into the differences in the carbon intensities of the electricity grid, scope 2 emissions from producing 1 cotton T-shirt in the years 2014 and 2023 is shown below:
Over the last decade, there has been almost a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from the electricity used in producing 1 cotton T-shirt in UK, while the USA has improved by 25%, Germany by 27% and China by 16%. Italy and Turkey have improved by 13% each and India has shown a meager improvement of 4%. Though Vietnam has deteriorated its carbon emissions from electricity used in T-shirt production over the years, in absolute terms Vietnam is still better than India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and China, emitting 764 grams of CO2 from the electricity used in 1 cotton T-shirt production. Bangladesh has increased the Scope 2 emissions from the T-shirt production rather than decreasing it over the years.
Future Trends - Projections
With just six years remaining to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030, countries are actively working to enhance their electricity mix by integrating renewable energy sources. By 2030, China aims to generate 33% of its total energy from non-fossil sources, while Bangladesh and Vietnam target 30%, Italy 55%, Germany 80%, India 50%, Turkey 30%, Pakistan 60%, Indonesia 23%, and the UK 70%. The USA plans to transition entirely to renewables by 2035.
Considering these goals, it is projected that by 2030, the Scope 2 emissions from producing a single cotton T-shirt in the UK will be reduced to 270g of CO2—a 29% decrease from current levels. In contrast, the same T-shirt is expected to generate Scope 2 emissions of 487g, 494g, and 506g in Italy, the USA, and Germany, respectively. China, India, and Turkey are projected to reduce their emissions by 11%, 12%, and 8.5%, respectively, by 2030, while Indonesia are anticipated to see only a 2% reduction. Pakistan, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, however, are expected to continue their upward trajectory in carbon intensity within their production processes.
Based on the above analysis, it can be concluded that Europe presents a promising opportunity for textile production due to the significant improvements in its electricity mix and ongoing efforts to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. The UK, in particular, stands out with its ambitious goal to reduce its grid emission factor to below 100g CO2/kWh by 2030—an 88% reduction in CO2 emissions—and to reach net-zero by 2050, making it an attractive destination for producers. Germany and Italy are also leading the way in Europe, with both countries expected to produce about 500 g of Scope 2 emissions for the production of a single cotton T-shirt by 2030, which is comparatively less than other major textile producers.
AI is the way forward
Companies accounting for Scope 2 emissions in their production have to adopt alternative measures to reduce their overall “carbon emissions”. Firstly, it is important to know the extent of the problem which is possible through “carbon accounting” at each stage of the manufacturing process and supply chain of textiles. Choosing the right software for high-intensity calculations using thousands of data points is crucial while starting their sustainability journey. Greenstitch comes to aid here.
Greenstitch is the AI automated “sustainability platform” that is specially designed for textile, clothing, and fashion companies. It has automated the data collection and “Scope 1, 2 and emissions” calculation at each stage of the life of a product. The process of entering data into the software takes two weeks and then it is ready to use. Further, primary data gaps are filled through the existing ERPs & inventory databases, such as Ecoinvent, and Base Empriente which leads to smooth analysis. Moreover, the software can integrate previous sustainability reports and datasets of the company making it easier for future analysis and providing 10x faster results with audit-grade accuracy. GreenStitch follows globally recognized standards and frameworks such as the GHG Protocol, SBTi, TFCS, UNFCCC, GRI, PEF protocol, Higg, and CDP. It also helps in downloading reports compatible with various regulations such as BRSR, CSDDD, and CSRD reporting in one place.
References
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- Ritchie, H. Rosado, P. 2022. Fossil fuels. Our World in Data. Accessible at: https://ourworldindata.org/fossil-fuels
- Imran, S., Mujtaba, M., Zafar, M. M., Hussain, A., Mehmood, A., Farwa, U. E., Korakianitis, T., Kalam, M., Fayaz, H., & Saleel, C. A. (2023). Assessing the potential of GHG emissions for the textile sector: A baseline study. Heliyon, 9(11), e22404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22404
- Wiatros-Motyka, M. et, al. 2024. Global Electricity Review 2024. Ember Institute. Accessible https://ember-climate.org/app/uploads/2024/05/Report-Global-Electricity-Review-2024.pdf
- Akhtar, Sana & Baig, S.F. & Saif, S. & Mahmood, A. & Ahmad, Sajid. (2017). Five year carbon footprint of a textile industry: A podium to incorporate sustainability. 16. 125-132. https://www.neptjournal.com/upload-images/NL-59-18-(16)D-495.pdf