Energy and emissions

Used and sealed surfaces

During the year under review, Linde Material Handling occupied a total of around 2 million m2 of sealed land (incl. buildings 1.1 million m2) and unsealed land (0.8 million m2) with production, administrative, and sales and service locations in 13 countries.

Energy consumption

Direct energy consumption1,2
(properties, production, etc.)

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Direct energy consumption (properties, production, etc.) (pie chart)

1 Quantity in terajoules
2 with rounding differences

The area of energy is also a cost factor and a variable for environmental impacts. Increasing energy efficiency is one of the most important corporate targets – at the production level and within the company itself. The amount of energy consumption overall (direct and indirect) at our locations and for transport amounted to around 1,070.7 terajoules. Direct energy consumption at our locations accounted for 466.1 terrajoules, and 314.2 terrajoules were expended on transport. 62% of the energy used in our buildings is derived from natural gas, and diesel is used almost exclusively for transport. Indirect consumption includes purchased electricity and amounts to around one quarter of the total requirement.

Using energy more efficiently

Direct energy consumption1,2
(transport, business trips, etc.*)

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Direct energy consumption (transport, business trips, etc.) (pie chart)

1 Quantity in terajoules
2 with rounding differences
* only the Company’s own vehicles or those controlled by the
Company; only internal transport processes and business trips,
not shipment

Certifications offer evidence-based insights into areas of weakness and issues offering potential for optimisation. For example, progress in lighting technology today offers a variety of opportunities to reduce electricity consumption. This is particularly relevant because – to take just one example – the energy requirement for lighting at one of our German production locations represents a proportion of 20% of the total energy requirement.

This is not just a substantial cost factor in an energy-intensive company like Linde. High levels of consumption also impact negatively on the environment by using up resources and generating associated emissions, even though these do not occur directly within the Company. In 2014, Linde therefore started to convert all the production locations throughout the world to energy-efficient lighting.

This fact is also considered for the construction of the factory in Stribro (Czech Republic). Potential savings of 60% have been estimated for lighting energy at the Fenwick location in Châtellerault. The project being implemented here over a period of three years was launched in 2014. Around 650 mercury lamps of 400 watts each are being replaced with 200-watt halogen-metal vapour lamps, that can be dimmed.

Indirect energy consumption1,2
(overall)

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Indirect energy consumption (overall) (pie chart)

1 Quantity in terajoules
2 with rounding differences

A further very promising project has been brought on stream in France, where the Company has been cooperating with systems provider Schneider Electric to have start-stop solutions installed for truck production in automated operation. When there are breaks in production, at night or at weekends, the energy consumption is significantly reduced further in stand-by mode. Projections anticipate that the investment will have paid for itself by the savings in energy costs within the space of around two years.

Linde is also playing a proactive role in working towards the improvement of energy efficiency at the paint facilities. Older equipment is being phased out and replaced by new systems which use less electricity and have low service requirements. Opportunities for savings are also being identified for commuting journeys by employees, albeit without restricting mobility. One of the ways these savings are being implemented is to restrict vehicles at the Essen service site to a maximum speed of 130 km/h if they are only used for business purposes. Linde Service in Sweden has introduced a dedicated vehicle guideline with reduced CO2 emission values which automatically lead to lower consumption.

Emissions

Emissions of greenhouse gases result from the use of energy described above. They are recorded and presented in accordance with the internationally acknowledged rules of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol). The emissions of volatile organic compounds are mainly generated in the paint facilities.

Emissions of greenhouse gases1

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Emissions of greenhouse gases (pie chart)

1 Quantity in kilotonnes

Other emissions into the air1

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Other emissions into the air (pie chart)

1 Quantity in kg