Saving energy in production

Emissions of gases like carbon dioxide (CO₂) are changing our planet’s climate and creating one of the most urgent challenges humankind has ever faced. These emissions are generated when fossil fuels are burned to create energy. Companies can contribute to tackling climate change by switching to renewable energy – and also by improving efficiency in their production processes. Here are three examples from three different continents that show how we’re cutting energy consumption at our factories worldwide.

Climate change is a crisis with potentially dramatic consequences for everybody on Earth. That’s why individuals and organizations around the globe must take decisive action to tackle it immediately. In this spirit, the United Nations has set a clear target for limiting the rise in our planet’s temperature as part of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. At Henkel, we’re bringing this to life by striving to become a climate-positive company by 2040. Our efforts to achieve this cover the entire value chain and begin with our own production sites, where we aim to cut our CO₂ footprint by 65 percent by 2025 and 75 percent by 2030 (base year 2010). We’re taking steps to cut energy consumption at all of our sites worldwide, including designing sustainable factories, making our processes more efficient, switching to renewable energy, and much, much more.

Energy-efficient design as the starting point in Kurkumbh, India

Our approach to increasing energy efficiency at our production sites begins when we design new factories. For example, our factory in Kurkumbh, India, was designed to have the smallest possible impact on the environment while meeting the highest standards for sustainability. The site layout was developed in line with lean manufacturing concepts that organize material flows in the best possible way to increase productivity, minimize waste and cut emissions. Alongside highly efficient equipment, it uses digital technology to optimize processes, and features smart systems for ventilation, air conditioning and lighting. On top of this, the roof is covered by 7,000 square meters of solar panels that generate more than 1,000,000 kilowatt hours of energy and save around 800 tons of CO₂ each year – and plans are in place to add more panels soon and to purchase additional solar power from an external provider. In recognition of its energy-efficient design, the factory is one of only a handful of chemical manufacturing sites in the world that have received the LEED Gold certificate from the US Green Building Council.