Working for the climate
We have set ourselves ambitious goals: Phasing out coal before 2030, 50 percent CO₂ reduction in 2030 compared to 2018 and CO₂ neutrality by 2050 at the latest. Our employees in the “GoGreen” project are ensuring that all production sites are converted to climate-neutral production.
In a first step, we have examined the potential of different technologies in the field of renewable energies and evaluated their possible application in our factories. As a second step, we will now adapt the selected technologies to the local conditions in the factories. Which renewable energies are available in the local environment of a factory? What special challenges arise on site?
The project phase, in which we test the most promising technologies live on site in production, is particularly exciting.
Highly efficient energy use
In addition to introducing new technologies and switching to renewable energies, we are constantly working to reduce energy consumption. Because even renewable energies are not available to our world in unlimited quantities.
We need heat and electricity, and thus energy, to evaporate the approximately 75 per cent water from the sugar beet and to crystallise the sugar. Our boilers for generating steam are mainly gas-fired. The steam generates electricity via a turbine and is then used several times in the evaporation and cooking process to heat thin and thick juice. This combined heat and power system used in our sugar factories is particularly efficient. At 85 per cent, the efficiency of energy utilisation is significantly better than in conventional power plants (maximum 50 per cent).