Clariant’s plants primarily need energy in the form of steam, electricity and natural gas. Electricity is mainly used for drives in electric motors in mixers, pumps, and other process engineering equipment. The measurement and control technology, as well as the lighting, require electricity. Clariant uses natural gas for heating dryers, firing crack furnaces and generating electricity and steam in its own power plants. Clariant uses steam to heat reactors and separators, such as distillation columns. The resulting condensate is, whenever possible, used for heating purposes. Across the group, Clariant records the total energy consumption, independently of whether it has been internally produced or externally procured. Small energy procurements such as transport services during business trips are not recorded. In Clariant’s overall energy balance, these numbers are insignificant.

Direct energy consumption, i.e. the use of primary energy sources, takes place at Clariant’s sites and mainly for process heat and steam generation purposes. The main primary energy source is natural gas; coal is only being used as an energy source in some locations in China and Indonesia. The indirect use is from the consumption of electricity and steam from external sources in lieu of Clariant’s own energy generation. Clariant procures a mix of energy from various sources, with this mix varying greatly from country to country. Clariant endeavours, however, to increase the share of energy obtained from renewable sources on an ongoing basis.