Reducing energy consumption and switching to renewable energy sources are two of the most effective strategies for companies to achieve carbon neutrality. According to the European Environment Agency, they’re not only key to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, they’re also an effective strategy for enhancing energy security. That’s because renewable energy sources such as wind and solar don’t run out in the same way as fossil fuels such as oil, gas and coal.
In line with our environmental ambitions, Stahl is committed to increasing the share of renewables in our energy mix. In fact, we’ve set an ambitious target to have self-generated renewable energy capacity at six of our sites by the end of the decade, as outlined in our ESG Roadmap to 2030.
2022: a year of progress
Over the past two years, we’ve made significant progress towards this goal, completing three major solar energy projects at our sites in Brazil, Mexico and India. In June 2022, we inaugurated a solar energy plant at our Mexican production site, the second site after Brazil to use this form of energy generation. With 1,016 solar modules and eight inverters, providing an installed capacity of 554 kWp (kilowatt peak), the Mexico site aims to source 52% of its electricity from solar power.
A new ground-mounted solar array at Stahl's Kanchipuram site in India was also completed in October 2022. Together, these two projects helped increase the share of renewable energy in Stahl's overall energy mix to 42%, up from 38% in 2021.
In addition to our on-site solar installations, we're finding more ways to increase our use of clean energy. In May 2022, Stahl's Centre of Excellence in León, Mexico, installed two roof-mounted solar water heaters. The following month, Stahl Italy began using a new solar-powered heating system for two of its buildings. These small but important developments mean that hot water for sanitation in laboratories and other facilities can be heated without the use of a gas boiler.
Reducing our emissions, year on year
Our renewable energy projects are part of Stahl’s wider climate commitments as we work towards ambitious emissions reduction targets to help combat climate change. We submitted our targets to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), and these have been validated. This confirms that our targets are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Our first target is to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 42% in absolute terms by 2030, compared to the base year of 2021. This target requires us to reduce direct emissions from fuel combustion at our facilities and in our vehicles, as well as GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity used at our facilities. Increasing the use of renewable energy at our sites will be key to achieving these targets, as will investing in energy-saving equipment to help us reduce our overall energy consumption.
Emissions intensity versus absolute emissions
When measuring our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, we make a clear distinction between relative and absolute emissions. Absolute emissions simply represent the total amount of GHGs emitted by Stahl’s activities. We calculate this total by using emission factors. These values tell us the expected amount of greenhouse gases emitted per unit of energy consumed. For example, if we use 100 MWh (megawatt hours) of natural gas, we know that this will generate approximately 18.1 tCO2e (tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent).
Meanwhile, emissions intensity measures the amount of GHGs emitted per tonne of product manufactured. This is based on an average value for all our products, as some will naturally be more emissions-intensive than others. To calculate emissions intensity, we first need to work out how much energy it takes to produce one tonne of product. Then, as before, we use the emission factor of the energy source used (such as natural gas), to calculate the emissions intensity per tonne of product. This method allows us to better measure the impact of emission reduction strategies.
Between 2021 and 2022, Stahl reduced its emissions intensity by 3%. This means that one tonne of product manufactured in 2022 resulted in 3% less GHG emissions than in 2021. However, it’s also important to focus on reducing absolute emissions. That’s because it’s possible to reduce your emissions intensity and still emit large amounts of GHGs. By working to improve the energy efficiency of our operations and transitioning to cleaner energy sources, we can make significant progress towards building a cleaner coatings industry and a healthier future for everyone.
Read Stahl’s 2022 ESG Report to learn more about the steps we’re taking to meet our near-term emissions reduction targets.
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