Reducing energy use and CO2 emissions
We use energy in all of our processes - blending, roasting, packing and transporting our products – as well as within our many locations and offices around the world.
We monitor the energy consumption of our manufacturing facilities, checking for ways to reduce energy use where we can. For instance, we review the use of energy-intensive equipment, and identify and repair energy waste, such as compressed air and steam leaks.
We apply new technologies and carry out efficiency audits to minimise energy use in roasting and packing. Our factory in Jundiaí (Brazil), built in 2005, uses 20% less energy than its predecessor. Our recently built instant coffee factory in Joure, in the Netherlands, is 40% more energy efficient through the adoption of state-of-the-art drying technology. Another example, also in Joure, is the installation of a new Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO) – afterburner which has cut gas consumption by 23% compared with conventional methods.
However, one of the challenges we face in reducing our energy consumption is a shift in our product portfolio towards products that are more energy-intensive to manufacture, for example liquid and instant coffee.
Since 2005, energy use per tonne has been cut by 9%. We are using 15% less energy to produce roast and ground coffee and tea and 5% less to produce liquid and instant coffee.
Most of the energy we use is natural gas for roasting coffee in our manufacturing processes. Our aim is to use renewable energy wherever viable and in 2011, renewable resources already accounted for 10% of our global energy demand. An excellent example of progress is our liquid and instant coffee factory in Joure, the Netherlands. Here, we use spent coffee grounds and biogas as the primary sources of energy for the factory, thereby reducing consumption of natural gas by 5.9 million cubic meters in 2011.
In our largest coffee factory in Jundiaí, Brazil we plan to switch to using biomass for roasting of our coffee which will reduce our global natural gas and greenhouse gas emissions significantly.
