E_mg_GB_03_vorne-29_3_04

MANAGEMENT SHARE STRATEGY SPECIAL SECTION MANAGEMENT REPORT FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FURTHER INFORMATION
GEA’s spray dryers keep the air clean
Economic Environment • Situation of the Company • Organization and Structure • Risk Report • Employees • Performance of the Subgroups • Outlook
GEA’s spray dryers are also used to protect the environment. Although they are really intended to be
used to produce powder, they are also used worldwide in power plants and waste incineration plants
to clean flue gas. Absorption through spray drying is cheap, reliable and complies with the most
stringent emissions protection legislation.
Lurgi: technology for the production of alternative fuels
Lurgi’s industrial plant is used to produce bio-diesel and bio-ethanol from renewable resources such
as rape and grain. Both of these fuels are environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional gasoline
and diesel and help to drastically cut carbon dioxide emissions. Lurgi is the global market leader
in the construction of plant for the production of methanol from gas. Lurgi’s technologies are used to
process the liquid inexpensively into environmentally friendly fuels and fuel additives.
Lurgi Lentjes’ plant converts residual waste and other waste materials into valuable energy
Lurgi Lentjes builds industrial plant that is used to efficiently convert residual waste and other waste
materials into valuable energy. Proprietary flue-gas-cleaning processes ensure that statutory limits
on emissions are not exceeded.
Dynamit Nobel: innovative processes protect the environment
The companies in the mg chemical group also make a valuable contribution to protecting the environment.
Dynamit Nobel subsidiary Chemetall, for example, offers its customers innovative processes
that are designed to provide better protection against corrosion of metal surfaces and do not use harmful
heavy metals such as chrome. During the year under review, Dynamit Nobel’s plastics business
started to modernize and retool all of the painting plants at its European sites in order to further cut
the level of emissions.
Research & Development
Operating in an environment of perpetual competition, a technology-driven organization such as the
mg Group relies on innovation for its future growth and commercial success. The company therefore
invests heavily in research and development. This includes efficient innovation management and a
forward-looking culture of innovation. As a result, mg technologies ag is one of the market and technology
leaders in 90 percent of its businesses, generating almost half of its sales from products that
are no more than three years old.
The mg Group continued to spend a considerable amount on research and development in 2003,
investing a204.8 million. This was a decrease of a33.3 million on the corresponding period of last
year and accounted for 3.2 percent of total sales (roughly 3.5 percent in 2001/2002). It applied for
186 patents in 2003, having applied for 179 in 2001/2002.
In 2003, GEA spent approximately a31 million – 1.2 percent of the GEA Group’s total sales – on
proprietary research and development projects. Including development projects conducted in close
cooperation with GEA customers and in connection with specific customer contracts, the total
proportion of its sales spent by GEA on research and development comes to around five percent.
Depending on business line, GEA already generates up to 70 percent of its sales from products
that are less than three years old.
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