UNIONE NAZIONALE INDUSTRIA CONCIARIA - Euroleather

energy consumptionThe tanneries use mainly electric energy and heat. Theelectric power is used to operate the machinery and plants,while the heat serves to reach the process temperatures insome phases of the processing, to heat the process water andthe work environments. While the electric power suppliesare very diverse, with a generation mix of suppliers that isequally variable, the heat energy is obtained mainly by burningmethane gas or other fossil fuels. However, the tanneryis not a high energy intensive industry.Specific conversion factors enable the energy contributionsof each different source to be summed. It has beendecided to express the values measured in Tonnes of OilEquivalent per 1,000 square metres of leather produced(TOE/1,000 m 2 ) in order to calculate the average overallconsumption per unit produced.Figure 8 shows that the energy consumption perproduct unit over the eight years surveyed has changedsignificantly, varying from a maximum value ofapproximately 2.4 TOE/1,000 m 2 (measured in 2002)to a minimum value of 1.09 TOE/1,000 m 2 (measuredin 2007). Slightly higher figures were measuredover the last two year period, with the value referredto 2008 corresponding to 1.17 TOE/1,000 m 2 andthe value referred to 2009 corresponding to 1.25TOE/1,000 m 2 . The variation in the unit energy consumptionis mainly due to the energy requirementsof the production processes, but it is also influencedby the development of processes having a lowerenergy consumption and by the variable mix of rawmaterials processed and the increased efficiency ofthe machinery and plants.figure 8 - Energy consumption per product unit2002 - 2009 (TOE/1.000m 2 )32.4021.601.4011.301.20 1.201.091.171.2502002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009Source: UNIC 2009Annual valuesAverage value23