Read the DyStar Sustainability Report 2011...

Energy
Energy consumption has a direct bearing on the level of greenhouse
gas emissions and the cost of manufacturing goods in our plants.
Therefore, energy efficiency is a crucial area of focus within DyStar. Reducing
energy consumption would not only lower our greenhouse gas emissions,
it would also save costs on energy bills.
Energy is also consumed when our customers use our products such
as dyestuff for textile processing. We see this as an opportunity to develop
products that save energy for our customers as well.
Our approach is to continuously improve energy efficiency in own
plants as well as invest in developing products and services that lower
our customers’ energy consumption. Our customers, for example, have
benefitted from DyStar’s Sera® Eco Wash process that helps them save
water and energy.
Improving overall energy consumption in our plants presents challenges
unique to the dyestuff industry. Challenges arise from a complex product
mix that we are required to produce to meet our customers’ needs.
The amount of energy required to produce different dyes varies
significantly from product to product.
Since demand for textile and apparel products is influenced by fashion
trends, the product mix that we may be required to produce to meet
market demand varies from year to year. This in turn may affect the
overall amount of energy consumed by DyStar plants.
At DyStar, production plants account for the bulk of the total energy use.
Energy is needed to run processing equipment in our plants such as
mixers, reactors, pumps, dispersers, spray dryers, milling lines, blenders,
boilers, incinerators and wastewater treatment plants. Energy is also
used for general lighting and air-conditioning in production plants,
laboratories, the corporate headquarters and our offices around the
world, as well as for running the vehicles owned or leased by the company.
38 2011 Sustainability Report - DyStar Group
Our plants use both direct and indirect energy. Purchased electricity
and steam are the main forms of indirect energy used at DyStar plants
and offices. Direct energy used in our operations mainly includes natural
gas, Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), Compressed
Natural Gas (CNG), diesel and petrol.
In 2011, DyStar consumed 265 million kilowatt hours (kWh) indirect
energy. Production plants accounted for 96% of the total indirect energy
consumption. In absolute terms, the indirect energy consumption in
2011 was slightly higher than the 252 million in 2010. This was largely
due to three factors. Firstly, our Leverkusen-based plant operated for
nine months in 2011 as against six months in 2011. Second, our production
volume was a little higher in 2011 than in 2010. Finally, the product mix
was different in 2011 compared to the previous year.
Indirect energy intensity per tonne of product was 2,722 kWh in 2011
as against 2605 kWh in 2010.
CNG remained the main source of direct energy, primarily used in our
production plants. Other sources of indirect energy included natural
gas, LPG, LNG, petrol, diesel and ethanol. Overall consumption of direct
energy in 2011 was 14.6 million gigajoules, down from 15 million
gigajoules in 2010.
We first started collecting global energy data in 2011 for the year 2010.
Now with 2011 data available, we have a better view of our energy use
and complexities involved. 2011 was also the year when we started
launching more focused energy efficiency programs that are likely to
start producing results from 2012.
Some of our plants have already started seeing results of these initiatives.
For example, the DyStar site in Wuxi, China managed to reduce electricity
consumption per tonne of product in 2011 by 11% from the 2010 level.
The facility achieved this by restructuring the manufacturing process
in the dry mixing section by reducing the number of process steps
involved, and by further optimizing the wet milling process towards a