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Source: Knorr-Bremse announcement
MUNICH — Knorr-Bremse, the global market leader for braking systems and a leading supplier of other rail and commercial vehicle systems, is driving forward its climate action measures in the context of its new Climate Strategy 2030.
By setting its climate goals, Knorr-Bremse is contributing to the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees and aiming to halve its CO2 emissions by 2030. This 50 percent reduction is to be achieved through energy efficiency measures and the own-generation and purchase of renewable energy.
In addition, Knorr-Bremse has pledged to make its own sites carbon neutral from 2021 onwards. To do so, the Group is to maximize its sourcing of energy from renewables, while residual, unavoidable emissions are to be offset by means of high-quality climate protection certificates. For the purpose of offsetting, Knorr-Bremse has signed a cooperation agreement with climate protection organization atmosfair gGmbH.
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“Thanks to our climate action measures, last year we were able to cut absolute CO2 emissions by approximately 59 percent (2019: 10 percent) to 53,000 tonnes,” said Knorr-Bremse AG CFO Frank Markus Weber. “This is an important interim step on the way to carbon neutrality. One key factor here was the purchase of high-quality green energy certificates for all of our European, Chinese and North American sites.”
Total energy consumption at Knorr-Bremse was reduced by 4.5 percent to 406 GWh in 2020 (2019: 425 GWh). To further improve Knorr-Bremse’s energy efficiency going forward, systematic potential analyses were conducted at selected sites.
The energy efficiency measures implemented in 2020 at the sites in Acuña, Watertown, Suzhou, Aldersbach and Budapest will save 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
Activities included replacing lighting systems, as well as waste heat recovery and insulation measures. The savings equate to approximately 3.8 percent of Knorr-Bremse’s global CO2 emissions. Further energy audits are planned for 2021 to identify additional potential savings.
In its efforts to halve CO2 emissions at its sites by 2030 – emissions generated by energy consumption at its production plants around the world and by its fleet of vehicles – Knorr-Bremse is focusing on three levers.
The first concerns energy efficiency initiatives and the use of lowcarbon fuels in heating systems and the vehicle fleet.
The second involves investing in measures designed to increase the proportion of own-generated renewable energy at KnorrBremse sites.
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And the third relates to upping the share of renewable energy sourced externally through longterm power purchasing agreements, green energy products and certificates.
To view the entire announcement, click HERE.
