Environmental management
Energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions
Energy model
The production process of casings is a continuous process throughout the year that requires substantial energy, especially in the drying processes of casings. As far as possible we incorporate high efficiency technology and cogeneration to obtain this energy.
In our fight against climate change, we are continuously investing in improvements to reduce energy consumption and to make the most of the different ways in which this energy is present in our processes. Viscofan's strategy for reducing overall CO2 emissions includes using heat, even in the effluents from our production processes, and replacing systems requiring elevated amounts of energy with more efficient systems.
Specifically, the Viscofan Group has cogeneration plants that allow greater efficiency from an environmental point of view with savings in CO2 emissions, cost savings, and ensuring the continuity of the energy supply. These facilities are located in Cáseda (Spain), with an installed capacity of 48MW; in Zacapu (Mexico), with 0.6MW; and in Weinheim (Germany), with 8.7MW.
Energy consumption
The Viscofan Group has established the energy intensity indicator for analysing the efficiency of harnessing the different forms of energy throughout the organisation. The calculation was made on baseline of 100 for 2016, dividing consumed energy in absolute terms by metres of production.
The internal energy consumption expressed in Giga Wh and the energy intensity, with a 100 baseline year of 2016, is the following:
| Energy consumption within the organization | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Internal consumption in KWh /Metres produced | 2.294 | 2.276 | 2.158 |
| Energy intensity. Base 100 year 2016 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Internal consumption in KWh /Metres produced | 100 | 98 | 94 |
Emissions
The breakdown of direct and indirect CO2 emissions and their intensity is as follows:
| Tn | |||
| CO2 Emissions Tn | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| Direct | 386.221 | 378.128 | 375.561 |
| Indirect | 154.580 | 164.138 | 154.144 |
| TOTAL | 540.801 | 542.266 | 529.705 |
| Base 100 year 2015 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| CO2 Emissions intensity /Metres produced | 98 | 97 | 95 |
Moreover, with the intention of improving management and analysing polluting gases, information started to be collected in 2018 from the EHS corporate department regarding other emissions, at a consolidated level. This is the case of nitrogen oxide (NOX) emissions; the number for 2018 and 2019 is as follows:
| Tn | |||
| Other emissions | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 |
| NOX | 657 | 643 | n.d. |
Initiatives aimed at reducing emissions:
Below is the figure of equivalent tons of CO2 avoided by using cogeneration compared to that theoretically emitted to obtain the steam obtained in cogeneration using conventional boilers in the plants at Cáseda (Spain), Zacapu (Mexico) and Weinheim (Germany):
| Tn | |||
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | |
| CO2 avoided by energy optimization | 90.531 | 91.715 | 96.938 |
Thanks to co-generation installed in Spain, Germany and Mexico, it is worth noting that over the last 10 years the Viscofan Group has managed to avoid the emission of nearly one million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.
In particular, the use of cogeneration as energy and heat generation sources entails a reduction in emissions compared with other conventional steam generation systems. The avoided CO2 emissions in Cáseda, for instance, were 29%.
Contribution to SDG.13 Climate action
In 2019, a heat recovery system for the boiler was installed at the Zacapu plant (Mexico), enabling savings to be made in both CO2 emissions and gas consumption. It is also planned to renew Cáseda's cogeneration engines in 2020 adapted to use biogas or hydrogen as soon as this supply is available.
Since October 2019, the electrical energy of the centres located in Tajonar, Cáseda and Urdiain has been classified as green energy, which means that 100% of this energy is of renewable origin and high efficiency cogeneration. Our commitment is to ensure that by 2020 the electricity for these centres is also green energy.
As a result of all these initiatives, the Viscofan Group is committed to reducing CO2 emissions per million meters produced. In this sense, a reduction of 3% in CO2 intensity per million meters produced compared to the previous year is expected within the 2020 objectives.