Note 15: Energy

Energy use

Energy is important for all our operations, especially some of our Specialty Chemicals businesses, because they use energy as a major raw material for their products. Energy efficiency and carbon efficient energy use are therefore important metrics for our operations.

• Energy use per ton of production reduced to 5.6 GJ/ton. Absolute energy use was down 3 percent to 95,000 TJ, both in line with a change in product mix and volume changes
• In 2015, 38 percent of our sites improved their relative footprint with regards to energy use versus 2014
• The total cost of energy in our production was about €0.7 billion
• More details about the energy sources can be found in Note 5 of this section and on our website

We use energy scans to increase awareness and identify savings opportunities in all our businesses. During 2015, this resulted in many energy improvement projects, for example:

• In Adria, Italy, a set of old chillers was replaced by modern, high efficiency units, saving 2.3 TJ of energy and resulting in an annual saving of around €100,000
• The conversion of our new chlorine plant in Frankfurt, Germany, was completed. The new membrane electrolysis technology means the process is now 20 percent more energy efficient, with expected annual savings of more than €5 million
• Optimization of the use of hydrogen in boilers to generate steam in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, resulted in a reduction of the use of natural gas of over €100,000
• Optimization of our furnaces in LeMoyne, Alabama, in the US resulted in 15 percent natural gas savings and a reduction of 2,700 metric tons of CO₂, delivering savings of around €150,000
• In Ambes, France, a contract was concluded to use our waste hydrogen in fuel cells to generate carbon-free electricity