Successful CO2 Reduction Interview: Currenta’s In-House Climate Protection Program is Producing Results

The chemical park management company Currenta is a joint venture which was set up by Bayer and Lanxess. The company launched the A++ Efficiency Class climate protection program in April 2008. Currenta manages it’s “chempark” with sites in Leverkusen, Dormagen and Krefeld-Uerdingen, and it sees the program as an opportunity to substantially reduce carbon dioxide emissions. PROCESS asked Dr. Klaus Schäfer, Chairman of the Executive Board at Currenta, about some of the details.

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PROCESS: Dr. Schäfer, how does the A++ Efficiency Class program work, and what reaction have you gotten to the program from your employees and customers?

Dr. Schäfer: The program has been a big success. We have already achieved half of our CO2 emission reduction targets. Our employees have shown great commitment in identifying additional opportunities to increase efficiency. Our customers are naturally very pleased when we pass on savings in the form of lower prices. However at the end of the day, we all benefit when we protect the environment and conserve resources. After all, this is the only world we have. At Currenta, we accept our share of the responsibility.

PROCESS: You have made it clear that the goal of the program is to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. That is politically correct, but do your customers not give higher priority to efficiency, energy consumption and cost reduction?

Dr. Schäfer: The Currenta A++ Efficiency Class climate protection program is primarily aimed at reducing our annual CO2 emissions by 200,000 metric tons between now and 2012. We intend to achieve this by making specific improvements in our power generation operations at the chempark sites and by reducing our own consumption. Of course we want to achieve this by increasing the efficiency of our systems. Our customers also benefit if Currenta can reduce its power generation costs. We pass these savings on to our customers, unless the savings are offset by higher raw material prices.

PROCESS: In what way do companies at chempark benefit from the climate protection program?

Dr. Schäfer: To take one example, we staged an energy forum last autumn for companies that have production facilities at our sites. The list of topics included operational energy management in the chemical industry, new energy-efficient technology and the latest scientific findings on energy conservation. As you can see, Currenta, acting in its role as the chemical park management organization, is concerned about more than just its own CO2 emissions. Our company is committed to sustainability, and we support our customers and partners on this vital issue. Our goal is to make chempark the most attractive chemical site in Europe, and our efforts to boost energy efficiency will undoubtedly make us more attractive.

PROCESS: What projects have you already completed? What exactly have you achieved?

Dr. Schäfer: If you are looking for a concrete example from the past, I could cite optimization of the exhaust gas incinerator at chem-park in Dormagen. Among other things, installation of a new thermoreactor and new steam boiler technology has enabled us to reduce our CO2 emissions by more than 17,000 metric tons a year. Energy efficiency and climate protection were important issues at Currenta well before 2008. Prior to that, we took a close look at our operations to identify optimization potential, and we introduced improvements based on what we found.

A review of the years 2005–2007 shows this very clearly. We implemented more than 100 improvements which reduced our CO2 emissions by more than 90,000 metric tons. What has changed is the fact that climate protection has now been elevated to the strategic level. Reduction of energy consumption is one of the goals which the corporate management team sets for each of its business units. We want to reinforce this mentality throughout the company, and make it one of the major factors to consider in the decision-making process. We are conducting a wide-ranging communications campaign to support the program and keep everyone up to date with the latest status and success stories. We ran a competition in 2008 where we invited our employees to submit suggestions on ways to save energy. We received around 360 suggestions on ways to improve energy efficiency.

PROCESS: What else is in the pipeline between now and 2012?

Dr. Schäfer: I do not see any more major projects. We have already addressed the projects which offer a major payback, and we are making our contribution to a reduction in CO2 emissions. A number of smaller items, which are derived from our engineering project lists and employee suggestions, are next on the agenda. We plan to install new, more efficient compressors and additional heat exchangers to extract more heat from waste water. We will be making changes to our basin biology systems at chempark Leverkusen, and we will be redesigning our service water pump systems. We will also continue to move forward on more conventional issues such as exploitation of inverter technology, optimization of our building heating systems and a reduction of energy consumption in the office.

PROCESS: Apart from the A++ Efficiency Class program, why should companies want to locate at one of the three chempark sites? What advantages do you offer them?

Dr. Schäfer: We would like to make chem-park the most attractive chemical production sites in Europe. Besides striving to achieve cost leadership, Currenta sites offer a range of other attractive features. including a comprehensive safety framework, sustainable supply and disposal, related products, infrastructure, logistics services and a central location in one of Europe’s major chemical production regions. Companies that locate at our chemical parks benefit from synergies with more than 70 partners at the site. We also offer many opportunities for collaboration with business development partners, universities, research institutes and other entities which drive development in the wider social context. Last but not least, the Currenta team takes its role as a service provider very seriously. Our activities are focused on the business success of our customers rather than our own success.

Dr. Schäfer, thank you very much for taking part in this interview.

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