Climate
Innovations for climate protection
Bayer is taking an active and integrated approach to the challenges posed by climate change by making substantial investments in climate protection and specifically developed products and processes. In addition to fulfilling the company’s global commitment, the external link: Bayer Climate Program also unlocks new economic potential.
| Dr. Wolfgang Große Entrup, Head of Environment & Sustainability at Bayer AG and Chairman of the Bayer Climate Program |
In view of the advancing climate change and our finite oil reserves, we have no option but to use energy more efficiently and limit emissions that harm the environment. The internationally recognized climate protection target is to limit global warming to a maximum of two degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial times. To achieve this goal, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recommends that industrialized countries cut their emissions by between 10 and 40 percent by 2020 and between 40 and 95 percent by 2050 in relation to the 1990 level.
Bayer makes an active contribution to climate protection
“It’s a massive task, but climate protection cannot be put on the backburner,” urges Dr. Wolfgang Grosse Entrup, Head of the Environment & Sustainability Department at Bayer AG. Although the economic and financial crisis is exacerbating the situation, he said, we must ensure that we do not neglect to make the necessary investments.
Even in difficult economic times, Bayer remains committed to the goals defined in its Climate Program that was launched in 2007. In this way, the company is not only remaining true to its global obligations, but also viewing climate change as both a challenge and an opportunity. The Group intends to invest €1 billion in climate-related R&D and projects between 2008 and 2010. Alongside the climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the lighthouse projects constitute another key element in the Climate Program. These projects illustrate how the subgroups and service companies are contributing to climate protection and adapting to climate change.
In practice, Bayer is tackling climate change in two ways: First, by continuing to improve the energy efficiency of its own production processes and, second, by developing innovative products to boost climate protection. Materials for thermal insulation, lighter materials for the automotive industry and stress-tolerant crops are three of the key innovative approaches that Bayer is currently pursuing.
“It’s a massive task, but climate protection cannot be put on the backburner,” urges Dr. Wolfgang Grosse Entrup, Head of the Environment & Sustainability Department at Bayer AG. Although the economic and financial crisis is exacerbating the situation, he said, we must ensure that we do not neglect to make the necessary investments.
Even in difficult economic times, Bayer remains committed to the goals defined in its Climate Program that was launched in 2007. In this way, the company is not only remaining true to its global obligations, but also viewing climate change as both a challenge and an opportunity. The Group intends to invest €1 billion in climate-related R&D and projects between 2008 and 2010. Alongside the climate targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the lighthouse projects constitute another key element in the Climate Program. These projects illustrate how the subgroups and service companies are contributing to climate protection and adapting to climate change.
In practice, Bayer is tackling climate change in two ways: First, by continuing to improve the energy efficiency of its own production processes and, second, by developing innovative products to boost climate protection. Materials for thermal insulation, lighter materials for the automotive industry and stress-tolerant crops are three of the key innovative approaches that Bayer is currently pursuing.
Milestones of the Bayer Climate Program
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Image: May 2008: Foundation stone is laid for the first EcoCommercial Building in New Delhi, India Image: Vergrößern
May 2008: Foundation stone is laid for the first EcoCommercial Building in New Delhi, IndiaRoadmap for climate targets
For Bayer, climate protection starts with its own plants and facilities, with the focus being on the energy supply and optimization of production processes. In the past, for example, greenhouse gas emissions have been cut significantly through the use of electricity and steam from combined heat and power plants or gas and steam cogeneration plants. The changeover from chloralkali electrolysis to the membrane process also made a major contribution to these goals.
As part of the external link: Bayer Climate Program, new greenhouse gas reduction targets were set for the three subgroups for the time corridor 2005 to 2020 aligned to their different structures and product portfolios (see graphic below). Starting with this year’s report, the “Ecology” section of the Sustainable Development Report charts the subgroups’ progress in meeting their targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Bayer MaterialScience has set itself the target of reducing specific greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. This specific reduction target set for Bayer MaterialScience is the most appropriate unit of measurement for tracking the improvement in climate performance of the energy-intensive world-scale facilities for plastics manufacturing as production continues to grow. Bayer HealthCare and Bayer CropScience are making a contribution to climate protection by pursuing absolute reduction targets. Current estimates suggest that the greenhouse gas emissions of the Bayer Group as a whole will remain at 2007 levels up to 2020, despite the continuing rise in production
Basis for reducing greenhouse gases is in place
To achieve its climate targets, Bayer is focusing on improving energy efficiency in existing facilities and developing and utilizing innovative and extremely efficient production technologies. In 2008, Bayer MaterialScience incorporated energy-efficient and resource-friendly processes into some of its facilities at the Bayer Integrated Site Shanghai in China, and started to establish them in others. The following examples show how energy efficiency has been increased compared with existing facilities:
Bayer intends to use these investments to strengthen its market position in China, a country currently experiencing a period of rapid economic growth. However, the company is not only hoping to gain an economic advantage from these developments. In the next few years, these environmentally friendly and energy-efficient plants will also have a positive impact on the climate balance of Bayer.
- Start-up of a production facility for methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) with an annual capacity of 350,000 metric tons; energy savings of around 15 percent
- Foundation stone laid for a production facility for toluene diisocyanate (TDI) with an annual capacity of 250,000 metric tons; energy savings of up to 60 percent
- Start-up of a hydrochloric acid recycling plant for the production of chlorine using oxygen depolarized cathode technology with an annual capacity of 215,000 metric tons; energy savings of around 30 percent
Bayer intends to use these investments to strengthen its market position in China, a country currently experiencing a period of rapid economic growth. However, the company is not only hoping to gain an economic advantage from these developments. In the next few years, these environmentally friendly and energy-efficient plants will also have a positive impact on the climate balance of Bayer.
Targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
| Global greenhouse gas emissions: Reduction 2005 to 2020 | |
| Bayer MaterialScience Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per metric ton of sales product (without NAOH, HCI, trade products) | - 25 percent specific |
| Bayer HealthCare Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions | - 5 percent absolute |
| Bayer CropScience Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions | - 15 percent absolute |
| Investment of €1 billion in climate-relevant research, development and projects from 2008 to 2010 | |
| Maintenance of 2007 level of greenhouse gas emissions at Bayer Group up to 2020 according to today‘s estimates despite growth in production. | |
Bayer Climate Check and management of energy efficiency
Using energy efficiently is key to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. With the aid of the external link: Bayer Climate Check from Bayer Technology Services, the energy requirements of 100 production facilities worldwide are being systematically analyzed up until the end of 2009, with the goal of identifying technical potential for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The Climate Footprint® is used to record the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production of a particular product. Half of the facilities have already been examined. The results show that absolute greenhouse gas emissions in existing facilities can be cut by between five and 10 percent.
However, it is not just technical measures that help cut energy consumption – it is just as important to use energy responsibly. The new lighthouse project “Managing Energy Efficiency,” which features the newly developed tool STRUCTese (Structured Efficiency System for Energy), is based on the results of the Bayer Climate Check. This tool ensures that plants stringently apply efficiency measures and that all the necessary processes are integrated into the organization. It also supplies the figures for charting the ongoing improvement in energy efficiency at the production facilities. Initially, it is to be launched worldwide in the production facilities of Bayer MaterialScience. Application has already started in pilot facilities with high energy consumption
Climate protection with nanomaterials
The field of nanotechnology also offers very promising solutions for climate protection. Bayer MaterialScience is exploiting the potential of carbon nanotubes (Baytubes®) to create extremely stable and lightweight materials, which are used, for example, in harnessing wind energy. Integrating Baytubes® into new plastics makes it possible to manufacture longer rotor blades for more efficient and higher-performance wind turbines, which, for example, can generate electricity even at low wind speeds.
Other interesting areas of application for nanotubes include energy storage and energy supply. Their excellent electrical conductivity and minute size could be used to improve the perfor mance of lithium ion batteries or fuel cells, e. g. for electric cars. Bayer is currently building the world’s biggest production facility for carbon nanotubes in Leverkusen, Germany.
The EcoCommercial Building
The Bayer external link: EcoCommercial Building concept enables the construction of climate-neutral office buildings in all the Earth’s climate zones using the best materials, systems and technologies. State-of-the-art Bayer insulating materials with an outstanding ecobalance play a key role here. They save around 70 times as much energy as is needed for their production. The foundation stone was laid for Bayer’s own EcoCommercial Building close to New Delhi (India). Thanks to its solar-powered energy system and cutting-edge storage technology, it is designed to be entirely self-sufficient in energy. This zero-emissions concept is also being implemented in the construction of Bayer CropScience’s new child care center at the Monheim site (Germany), which will be able to cater for around 60 children from November 2009.
Stress-tolerant plants for safeguarding harvests
A responsible attitude towards climate change also includes dealing with consequences that are already being felt today. The global population is continuing to grow and, with it, the demand for food, animal feed and renewable raw materials that have to be produced on a finite amount of agricultural land. As arable space is limited and it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage the existing land due to drier conditions and increasing soil salinity, innovations are required to improve crop yields. Bayer CropScience can help, for example, by developing state-of-the-art solutions in the field of plant biotechnology. In future, these solutions will help make crops more resistant to climate conditions and improve their external link: stress tolerance, thus helping to safeguard food production worldwide.
Bayer CropScience is also already supplying innovative crop protection agents that help to safeguard or increase crop yields, even under stressful conditions. One example is Nativo®: It protects grain, vegetable and fruit crops against diseases that can be caused by fungal pathogens and lowers the plants’ susceptibility to stress caused by excessive heat and a shortage of water.
Climate protection – A social responsibility
Bayer is pursuing varied and highly promising approaches to tackle climate change, but the company is aware that effective climate protection can only be achieved if all sectors of society pull together. This is why Bayer is seeking to ensure ongoing dialogue with a range of stakeholders and raising awareness of climate change both inside and outside the company through the provision of considerable information material, its own climate protection website and numerous events. For example, the “Bayer Climate Fellowships” scholarship program organized by the external link: Bayer Science & Education Foundation provides support for particularly committed young people with a gift for natural sciences.
Our employees’ contribution
The external link: Bayer Climate Program will be particularly successful in the long term if it enjoys the active support of all its employees around the world. This necessitates not only their support for large-scale Group-wide projects, but also a willingness on the part of every individual to get involved. Employees can find ideas about how they can play a part by referring to the Bayer intranet, for example. Bayer employees share tips on how they can make a contribution to climate protection in the section “Climate tip of the week.” What’s more, for the first time in 2008, Bayer has also nominated employees in India, China and the United States as “Climate Champions.” Their task is to demonstrate commitment to implementing and developing the Climate Program in their regions.
CURRENTA launched its own climate protection program at the beginning of 2008. Suggestions for improvement submitted by employees in a special campaign led to the identification of potential energy savings of €1 million. This equates to an annual reduction of around 15,000 metric tons of CO2.
The new “external link: Business Travel” model has also proved very popular. To limit the number of business trips, which naturally impact on the climate, employees are increasingly opting to use telepresence systems (high-quality video conferences).
Bayer is pursuing environment and resource-friendly concepts for its data processing systems. The external link: Green Bayer Data Center program launched by Bayer Business Services aims to improve energy efficiency by 20 percent from 2009 to 2012. To achieve this ambitious target, the subgroup intends, among other measures, to cut the energy consumption of its cooling systems and computers dramatically.
Through external link: new directives on the use of vehicles with consumption-optimized engine technology and alternative drive concepts, it was possible to cut average CO2 emissions per kilometer by more than five percent for all new vehicle registrations compared with 2007. This commitment shows that climate protection is clearly seen as a joint task at Bayer.
“We are confident that we have set the right course with our integrated approach to the Climate Program,” says Wolfgang Grosse Entrup.
Recognition for Bayer’s commitment to the climate
Independent institutions have also affirmed Bayer’s commitment to climate protection. In 2008, Bayer was the only European company in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry listed in the Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index for the fourth time in a row Image: link . In June 2008, Bayer was also presented with the Environmental Award from the Federation of German Industries (BDI) in the category “Environmentally Friendly Technologies” for its new chlorine production process Image: link .
“Bayer’s expectations of Copenhagen”
- A new, fair agreement on climate protection worldwide
- The active participation of all countries in tackling climate change
- The early implementation of measures to limit the adverse effects of climate change
- Rules for the essential marketbased transfer of technologies to developing countries with the protection of intellectual property
- Avoidance of competitive distortions and carbon leakage
Bayer sees itself not only as a problem-causer but above all as a problem-solver. With the Bayer Climate Program we are helping to meet the present challenges.
| Professor Kornelis Blok, Professor of Science, Technology and Society at the Copernicus Institute of Utrecht University, the Netherlands; member of the Scientific Committee for the Bayer Climate Award; Managing Director of ECOFYS |
Front-runners need to invest steadily in new sustainable technologies and options, and also in research and development, to build up further knowledge.
ECOFYS is proud to have supported Bayer in the development of its policy on climate change – a major area for sustainability – and will continue to do so.
In times of crisis it is a pitfall to stop investing. Companies will have a hard time regaining their ‘sustainable spirit’ after an interruption. Moreover, I am sure that sustainable companies will gain an increased market share. So saving money on sustainability solutions now will cost later.
One new challenge in the coming years for companies like Bayer will be involving the whole product value chain. More material-efficient products and more efficient production processes require collaboration with both suppliers and customers. Such chain integration is complex, but it opens up an entirely new perspective on sustainability.