Environmental Protection

Energy Consumption

Important information on "Environmental Protection" can also be found in our Annual Report.

Our production volume fell by 0.7% in 2018. Energy consumption increased slightly over the same period, however. Although total energy input fell by 1.8%, the equivalent primary energy consumption stated below rose by 0.5%. As a result, the specific energy consumption figure went up by 1.2% compared with the previous year. Compared with the base year 2005, this represents an improvement of 35.7%. Our energy efficiency system STRUCTeseTM significantly contributed to this achievement.

Equivalent primary energy consumption comprises the fuels used directly at Covestro for generating energy (primary energy) plus externally sourced energy (secondary energy), such as electricity, steam, and refrigeration, calculated to reflect the energy required to generate them.

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Energy Consumption

 

  

 

  

 

 

  

2017

  

2018

1 Liquid fuels from combustion for operating vehicles are only partially included.

2 E.g. hydrogen

3 Secondary energy consumption for electricity is based on the raw material mix of the country concerned.

4 Sum of all individual energy figures translated into primary energy at our main production sites, which account for more than 95% of our energy consumption. Secondary energy usage is recalculated to equivalent primary energy consumption at all sites based on specified factors aligned with figures (literature values) for best-in-class energy generation plants operating at maximum efficiency.

5 Sum of the key products at our main production sites, which account for more than 95% of our energy consumption

6 Specific energy consumption: quotient of equivalent primary energy and in-spec production volume at our main production sites (1 MWh = 3,600 MJ)

Primary energy consumption for the in-house generation of electricity and steam (net, TJ)

  

7,731

  

6,438

Natural gas

  

7,785

  

7,223

(Natural gas sold to external third parties)

  

(453)

  

(83)

Coal

  

0

  

0

Liquid fuels1

  

129

  

156

Waste

  

1,513

  

764

Other2

  

–1,696

  

–1,705

 

  

 

  

 

Secondary energy consumption (net, TJ)

  

49,949

  

50,190

Electricity3

  

24,014

  

24,458

(Electricity sold to external third parties)

  

(1,081)

  

(1,390)

Steam

  

25,046

  

23,937

(Steam sold to external third parties)

  

(523)

  

(569)

Steam from waste heat (process heat)

  

417

  

1,298

Refrigeration energy

  

472

  

497

(Refrigeration energy sold to third parties)

  

(119)

  

(128)

 

  

 

  

 

Total energy consumption (TJ)

  

57,680

  

56,628

 

  

 

  

 

Equivalent primary energy consumption4 (in TJ)

  

75,202

  

75,553

 

  

 

  

 

Production volume5 (million metric tons)

  

14.97

  

14.87

 

  

 

  

 

Specific energy consumption6 (MWh per metric ton of product)

  

1.40

  

1.41

Covestro developed STRUCTese™ (Structured Efficiency System for Energy) which compares actual energy consumption in production with the realistic potential optimum. Eliminating inefficiencies results in permanent energy savings. STRUCTese™ comprises many different analysis, monitoring and benchmarking steps that can be used to identify potential improvement measures, which are known at Covestro as STRUCTese™ projects. The system, which has been gradually rolled out since 2008, is now used in 58 energy-intensive production facilities worldwide and will be implemented in other facilities going forward.

Every year, projects are implemented under STRUCTese™ that bring about lasting, annually recurring energy savings. For instance, over 60,000 MWh of energy was saved thanks to the greater use of waste process heat at several separate projects in Shanghai, China. In addition, optimizing processes in local nitric acid production resulted in reducing the amount of steam by the same order of magnitude. Thanks to these successful projects alone, around 24,000 metric tons less CO2 were emitted at the site than with the previous production methods. Various other projects were carried out in 2018 resulting in annual savings totaling 139,000 MWh of primary energy and 30,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions. Combined, all the projects implemented since the introduction of STRUCTese™ in 2008 result in lasting annual reductions totaling 1.98 million MWh of primary energy and 633,000 metric tons of CO2.

These energy savings become particularly evident when viewing the significant fall in specific energy consumption in production since 2005 (see chart).

Development of Specific Energy Consumption

(Change in specific primary energy consumption per metric ton of product, compared with the baseline year, in %)1

Development of Specific Energy Consumption (line chart)

1 (equivalent primary energy consumption/production volume) / (equivalent primary energy consumption 2005/production volume 2005) - 1