Environment Optimising our energy usage Our production machines are electric powered, which is why electricity accounts for the largest proportion of our total energy consumption. It also takes a lot of electricity to generate the air pressure needed for our pneumatic processes. To keep any associated emissions to a minimum, all Julius Blum GmbH sites in Austria have been powered using Austrian hydropower since 2018. Austrian hydropower has among the lowest emissions of any energy source because 100% of the electricity is generated by hydropower plants on the river Danube. To further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels – notably natural gas for heating – we are also using energy-efficient building design to cut our heating requirements and increasing our use of waste heat wherever possible. By introducing other heating systems, we have already succeeded in reducing our natural gas consumption but are not yet in a position to move away from natural-gas heating entirely. We are therefore endeavouring to make our existing systems more efficient. This includes optimising the heating systems and gas boilers at our plants and also upgrading production processes that are powered by natural gas, e.g. epoxy coating and remelting of zinc as part of our closed-loop material cycle. We remain in constant dialogue with our system partners and are continually looking for ways to reduce our energy consumption or replace fossil-fuel sources entirely. Sustainability is also a major factor in Blum’s transport operations. In 2019, we passed a resolution to convert our fleet of internal trucks (for in-plant transport) from diesel to biogas. Since then, each time one of our diesel tractor units has reached the end of its standard lifespan, we have swapped it for a modern gas-powered model. These new trucks run more quietly and also produce significantly fewer nitrogen-oxide and soot emissions than their diesel counterparts. The aforementioned resolution also stipulates that the new trucks must run on biogas sourced from the local region. This biogas consumption can be seen in the table above. In switching to green electricity sources and biogas, we have taken some important steps away from fossil fuels. These nonrenewables do continue to make up a small proportion of our energy mix; they are, however, outweighed by renewables, which at 79.59% account for the majority of our total energy consumption. As a business, our energy intensity, i.e. our absolute energy consumption in relation to our turnover, stands at 0.093 kWh per euro. ➔ GRI 302-3, GRI 302-4 40 © Copyright by Blum
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