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Company / Organisation

Syngenta

Rosentalstrasse 67

4058 Basel

Website

https://www.syngenta.ch/

Syngenta

Measure

Out of the box thinking

Description of the measure

Chemical processes can be quite energy intensive. To save energy, a team in our biggest crop protection production plant in Monthey (VS) set out to explore the big question of what parameters could be changed in the production process and implemented in winter 2022/23 to continue to deliver the same high-quality products, but significantly safe energy in the process. They are working on: 1) Reduction of steam consumption in the production process; 2) Reduction of electricity during production; 3) Reduction of solvent use.

Description of the intended effect

As an example, in one building, the reduction in steam consumption for a high energy production process leads to an annual saving of 200 tons of steam. A temperature increase of 5°C in the processing of some products from -29°C to -24°C reduces electricity consumption by about 3%. The optimization of the solvent regeneration process leads to a 60% reduction in solvent. This will result in savings of 53 tons of steam for solvent regeneration processes the only five months.

Further information

www.syngenta.ch/syngenta-spart-energie


Measure

Increasing the energy-efficiency of equipment in Kaisten & Stein

Description of the measure

Our plant in Kaisten (AG) has the highest levels of automation and the highest per capita production output of all Syngenta plants. By upgrading older, energy-intense motors to new, energy-efficient models in winter 2022/23, we were able to significantly reduce our energy consumption during chemical production processes. In our greenhouses in Stein (AG), we further generate savings by upgrading older lighting systems to LED lights.

Description of the intended effect

Further energy efficiencies will contribute to additional electricity savings in the future. At the Kaisten site, continuous improvements have already led to a reduction of energy consumption by factor 0.8 since 2011 per ton of a crop protection product manufactured. During the same time, annual production output has increased by a factor of 1.5 between 2011 to 2021.


Measure

Energy savings at the Basel Headquarter and all administration buildings

Description of the measure

In all buildings dedicated to administration across the country, we reduced the room temperatures by 1.5 to 2 degrees. Where safety permits, lighting at all sites will also be reduced. Ventilation systems in the office complexes at the Basel site are being switched off for five hours during the night. Further, additional solar panels will be installed on the roof of our Basel HQ in 2023, which will generate electricity used to run the site, i.e. running the lifts and heating the tap water in the bathrooms.

Description of the intended effect

We continuously invest in modernization and automation of lighting and heating systems to sustainably reduce our energy consumption in all Syngenta administration buildings. While these savings may be on a smaller scale compared to the amount of energy used in production processes, they all add up. In addition, we’re actively promoting small behavioral changes with our employees, such as switching off computer screens with the main switch as opposed to leaving them in standby mode at the end of the day.

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