ABSTRACT
Decarbonisation of the fashion industry critically depends on accurate knowledge of energy consumption in manufacturing. Most of the energy consumed in the fashion industry is within these activities, with most industry data indicating that over 95% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are in Scope 3, which means in manufacturing processes not directly owned by fashion brand and largely outside of direct control. This in itself presents a major challenge for the industry, since in order to invest in new technologies to enable decarbonisation, the fashion industry needs to dramatically change its historic cost-focussed relationship with textile manufacturers.
In this chapter the use of energy in manufacturing is analysed, and it is explained why materials and wet processing (preparation, dyeing/printing and finishing) are the two largest contributors to energy consumption and therefore GHG emissions. The energy consumption associated with different materials is described, including an explanation of the difficult area of ascertaining energy consumption and GHG emissions from raw materials extraction. The energy consumption associated with the four tiers of manufacturing is dissected to provide a quantitative analysis of where to focus in manufacturing to decarbonise. The chapter provides a semi-quantitative basis from which the fashion industry can assess, and benchmark its manufacturing operations in order to reduce energy consumption and therefore reduce GHG emissions.
