54 Ecology Energy consumption Energy consumption Bützberg site There were no changes in the proportionate energy consumption at the Bützberg site. Heating consumes the most energy at 50%, followed by transportation at 30% and electricity for plant operations at 20%. If we take a closer look at the development of these areas, we see that heating energy consumption, adjusted for heating degree days, remains very stable. We were able to further reduce the consumption of fuel oil as a back-up and safeguard in the event of a failure of the wood-based heating system. We generated over 95% of the heating energy at the Bützberg site during the reporting period in a CO2-neutral manner from our own wood waste. In terms of fuels, as expected, consumption has returned to pre-Covid levels. Significantly reducing this consumption will only be possible by switching to electric vehicles. In the case of vehicles weighing less than 3.5 tonnes, the technology has now advanced to such an extent that such vehicles represent real alternatives for many applications. The affordability and economic aspects of electric vehicles have also improved. Whenever we purchase vehicle replacements, we firstly check whether an electric vehicle would make sense and are convinced that we will be in a position to report on our initial experiences in the next two years. With regard to electricity consumption, we analysed our consumers in response to the large escalation in energy prices in 2022 and attempted to identify potential savings. This has been achieved successfully with our lighting, for example. We were able to do away with all of the decorative exterior building lighting, dispense with illuminating our exhibit at night, and have reduced security lighting to a minimum. As a result of this, after an increase in 2021, we were able to reduce our electricity consumption in the following year to below the level of the 2020 pandemic year. It is our intention to continue working on this over the coming years. Scope for additional savings remains in wood chip extraction systems and in the lighting of production work areas. The exploitation of this potential has been incorporated into our targets for the next reporting period. Energy source Unit 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Girsberger AG, Bützberg Heating oil MWh 132 119 152 103 80 99 Wood MWh 1,919 2,015 1,965 1,761 2,048 1,928 Electricity MWh 850 812 795 755 817 749 Diesel MWh 1,224 1,209 1,146 1,047 1,126 1,193 Petrol MWh 65 92 84 74 96 110 Girsberger GmbH, Endingen Natural gas MWh 821 737 784 817 856 859 Electricity MWh 181 196 204 189 207 202 Petrol/diesel MWh 662 671 633 515 Diesel MWh 537 474 Petrol MWh 30 110 Water consumption Girsberger AG, Bützberg General m³ 1,482 1,487 1,297 1,194 1,215 1,202 Irrigation m³ 638 1,393 776 804 387 913 Process water m³ 2,281 2,999 2,538 942 1,547 351 Girsberger GmbH, Endingen General m³ 750 698 683 746 657 761
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