• About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
Tuesday, March 28, 2023
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
News Ukraine
-1 °c
Kyiv
2 ° Thu
6 ° Fri
9 ° Sat
8 ° Sun
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Tech

    Betterment Moves Beyond Robo-Advising With Human Financial Planners

    A Digital Media Startup Growing Up With Millennial Women

    Bill Gates’ iconic donkey game arrives on iPhone, Apple Watch

    Indonesia’s Largest Fleet Of Taxis Teams Up To Beat Ride-hailing Apps

    Trump Didn’t Record Comey, White House Tells House Intel Panel

    Uber’s Turbulent Week: Kalanick Out, New Twist In Google Lawsuit

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    MONATIK – safety eyelashes |  official video |  (from d / f "The eternally dancing man")

    MONATIK – safety eyelashes | official video | (from d / f "The eternally dancing man")

    #TeamMONATIK​​​ – The Voice of Ukraine 2021 |  Knockouts |

    #TeamMONATIK​​​ – The Voice of Ukraine 2021 | Knockouts |

    MONATIK – safety eyelashes |  Official Lyric Video |

    MONATIK – safety eyelashes | Official Lyric Video |

    MONATIK – INTRO (Musical "RHYTHM") |  YUNA 2021 BACKSTAGE |

    MONATIK – INTRO (Musical "RHYTHM") | YUNA 2021 BACKSTAGE |

    Forever dancing man |  How an exclusive screening of the film was created at the NSC Olimpiyskiy |  1.06.2021

    Forever dancing man | How an exclusive screening of the film was created at the NSC Olimpiyskiy | 1.06.2021

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  CLIP PREMIERE 2021 |

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | CLIP PREMIERE 2021 |

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  Lyric/Karaoke Version |

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | Lyric/Karaoke Version |

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  BACKSTAGE

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | BACKSTAGE

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  Official Reminder |

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | Official Reminder |

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Health
    • Travel

    Republican Senator Vital to Health Bill’s Passage Won’t Support It

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Barack Obama and Family Visit Balinese Paddy Fields During Vacation

    Melania Trump’s Mail Suit Suggests Desire To Monetise First Lady Role

    This Secret Room In Mount Rushmore Is Having A Moment

    A Digital Media Startup Growing Up With Millennial Women

    India Is Bringing Free Wi-fi To More Than 1,000 Villages This Year

    Indonesia’s Largest Fleet Of Taxis Teams Up To Beat Ride-hailing Apps

    Johnny Depp Jokes About Assassinating Trump, Then Apologizes

    Uber’s Turbulent Week: Kalanick Out, New Twist In Google Lawsuit

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
  • Home
    • Home – Layout 1
    • Home – Layout 2
    • Home – Layout 3
    • Home – Layout 4
    • Home – Layout 5
  • Ukraine
  • Politics
  • Business
  • World
  • Tech

    Betterment Moves Beyond Robo-Advising With Human Financial Planners

    A Digital Media Startup Growing Up With Millennial Women

    Bill Gates’ iconic donkey game arrives on iPhone, Apple Watch

    Indonesia’s Largest Fleet Of Taxis Teams Up To Beat Ride-hailing Apps

    Trump Didn’t Record Comey, White House Tells House Intel Panel

    Uber’s Turbulent Week: Kalanick Out, New Twist In Google Lawsuit

    Trending Tags

    • Sillicon Valley
    • Climate Change
    • Election Results
    • Flat Earth
    • Golden Globes
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Mr. Robot
  • Entertainment
    • All
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    MONATIK – safety eyelashes |  official video |  (from d / f "The eternally dancing man")

    MONATIK – safety eyelashes | official video | (from d / f "The eternally dancing man")

    #TeamMONATIK​​​ – The Voice of Ukraine 2021 |  Knockouts |

    #TeamMONATIK​​​ – The Voice of Ukraine 2021 | Knockouts |

    MONATIK – safety eyelashes |  Official Lyric Video |

    MONATIK – safety eyelashes | Official Lyric Video |

    MONATIK – INTRO (Musical "RHYTHM") |  YUNA 2021 BACKSTAGE |

    MONATIK – INTRO (Musical "RHYTHM") | YUNA 2021 BACKSTAGE |

    Forever dancing man |  How an exclusive screening of the film was created at the NSC Olimpiyskiy |  1.06.2021

    Forever dancing man | How an exclusive screening of the film was created at the NSC Olimpiyskiy | 1.06.2021

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  CLIP PREMIERE 2021 |

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | CLIP PREMIERE 2021 |

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  Lyric/Karaoke Version |

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | Lyric/Karaoke Version |

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  BACKSTAGE

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | BACKSTAGE

    MONATIK – JOMO |  Kindle |  Official Reminder |

    MONATIK – JOMO | Kindle | Official Reminder |

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Health
    • Travel

    Republican Senator Vital to Health Bill’s Passage Won’t Support It

    Rap group call out publication for using their image in place of ‘gang’

    Barack Obama and Family Visit Balinese Paddy Fields During Vacation

    Melania Trump’s Mail Suit Suggests Desire To Monetise First Lady Role

    This Secret Room In Mount Rushmore Is Having A Moment

    A Digital Media Startup Growing Up With Millennial Women

    India Is Bringing Free Wi-fi To More Than 1,000 Villages This Year

    Indonesia’s Largest Fleet Of Taxis Teams Up To Beat Ride-hailing Apps

    Johnny Depp Jokes About Assassinating Trump, Then Apologizes

    Uber’s Turbulent Week: Kalanick Out, New Twist In Google Lawsuit

    Trending Tags

    • Golden Globes
    • Mr. Robot
    • MotoGP 2017
    • Climate Change
    • Flat Earth
No Result
View All Result
News Ukraine
No Result
View All Result
Help Ukraine - Donate now!
Home Business

How German industry plans to cut its gas consumption | Business | Economy and finance news from a German perspective | DW

by Michael ZSU News
August 1, 2022
in Business
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Ola Källenius exudes confidence in crisis. Recently, the head of Mercedes-Benz announced that the company was preparing to reduce its natural gas consumption in Germany by as much as 50%.  

“We’re in a position to implement these measures this year,” the CEO said in a call with investors.   

Källenius is confident the company can replace potential gas supply shortfalls with green power from renewable energy sources if necessary. The automaker also plans to reduce its overall energy consumption and, if worst comes to worst, replace gas with oil. Mercedes-Benz has already cut its gas consumption by a tenth so far, Källenius calculated.  

“We don’t know what will happen,” he said of the uncertainty surrounding gas supplies due to the war in Ukraine. In an emergency there are many possibilities: even the paint shop at the company’s plant in near Stuttgart could make do without gas altogether. 

Gas demand in Germany’s automotive industry is relatively modest, however. That’s especially true when compared to the chemical, steel, glass and paper industries that, together with aluminum producers, are the largest industrial gas consumers in Germany. 

Mercedes S-Class vehicles on the production line in Sindelfingen, Germany

Mercedes-Benz is cutting its dependency on gas at its production plants

Energy-intensive chemicals 

The main plant of BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, located in Ludwigshafen, alone consumes as much energy per year as Denmark. Germany’s neighbor to the north is regularly cited as a role model because it generates around 80% of its energy requirements from renewable sources like wind. But Denmark on its own wouldn’t be able to power even this one plant.

BASF Chairman Martin Brudermüller expects production at the Ludwigshafen plant to continue even if the German government restricts gas consumption through its emergency gas plan. BASF hopes to receive enough gas to maintain operations at a reduced load, Brudermüller said in July. In April, he’d originally said operations in Ludwigshafen might have shut down in a pinch. At BASF’s second-largest German site, in Schwarzheide in Brandenburg, the company could generate 100% of its electricity and steam needs with oil, he said. 

When it comes to production outside of Europe, a possible gas shortage at home would hardly have any impact, he said. BASF maintains sites in the US as well as Malaysia and China, for example, where a whole range of chemical products are produced.

Contingency plans for aluminum  

But the situation for Germany’s aluminum industry isn’t as simple. The uncertainties surrounding gas supplies have the energy-intensive sector preparing for extremes.  

“Companies are preparing for the worst-case scenario by drawing up emergency plans,” Hinrich Mählmann, president of the German Aluminium Association, told Reuters news agency in an interview at the beginning of July. The main issue, he said, was deciding which gas customers would be cut off first and who would follow. If things get worse, at some point the plants would have to be shut down completely, he said.  

Aluminum in a Trimet Aluminum warehouse in Essen, Germany

Aluminum is needed in products from pharmaceutical packaging to batteries

“The contingency plan then consists of managing liquidity in such a way that the companies survive for at least for a little while,” he said. “But even that period is limited.” 

The aluminum industry in Germany is made up of around 240 companies with over 60,000 employees and annual sales of just under €22 billion ($22.5 billion), according to recent figures. 

Access to gas is of enormous importance for the industry and its production processes, Mählmann emphasizes. The products undergo several heat treatments. This includes melting during recycling or heating during processing. Gas cannot be replaced easily or quickly.

A member survey conducted by the German Aluminium Association showed that nine out of 10 companies would not be able to switch to another energy source if gas were no longer available in the short term. Reducing the gas supply by 30% would already bring production to a standstill for half of the companies. 

Which companies are crucial? 

Energy-intensive industries are currently positioning themselves for a gas emergency and stepping up their lobbying efforts in case gas has to be rationed.  

“The Federal Network Agency has surveyed the major gas end users and drawn its conclusions,” said Mählmann. But in the event of a gas shortage, which companies would ultimately be classified as system critical by the powerful agency?

“If an undoubtedly system critical manufacturer of aluminum packaging for the pharmaceutical industry doesn’t get its preliminary products, called slugs, it won’t be helped. In the same way, an electric car manufacturer cannot sell a car without an aluminum battery box,” Mählmann said. 

Bottles at the Veltins brewery in Grevenstein, North Rhine-Westphalia

Germany needs about 900 million new beer bottles a year to keep the beer flowing

‘No gas, no beer’ 

German brewers are also preparing for the worst.  

“If Russian gas fails to arrive, we would have a considerable problem,” Michael Huber, head of the privately owned Veltins brewery in Germany’s Sauerland region, emphasized in an interview with German daily Handelsblatt. 

“No gas, no beer,” is how the brewery boss summed it up.  

“Brewhouses need a lot of energy and are mainly operated with gas,” said Huber. “Veltins has purchased a five-week supply of oil so it can switch from gas to oil in an emergency.” But brewers are extremely dependent on upstream suppliers. “The glass industry, for example, cannot operate without gas,” he said. “Veltins alone needs about 50 million new bottles every year. The whole industry needs about 900 million new beer bottles to keep the bottle recycling program going.” 

Moving to oil, moving abroad 

Wiegand-Glas, a glass maker in the state of Thuringia, has already set course for switching from gas to oil. In addition to investments in technical implementation, this also required new approval procedures. 

Going forward, the glass industry manufacturer will be able to heat its melting tanks at the Grossbreitenbach plant near the Bavarian border with light heating oil, instead of just natural gas, like it used to. The required emissions control permit was issued by the state energy ministry in Erfurt. 

As early as spring the glass manufacturer had said that it was preparing for a shutdown scenario.  

“In the worst case scenario, we are currently looking at how we can shut down the furnaces ourselves in a controlled manner,” Managing Director Nikolaus Wiegand warned at the beginning of April. 

In 11 tanks, the company keeps thousands of tons of glass at temperatures around 1,600 degrees Celsius (2,900 degrees Fahrenheit) around the clock. If gas flows were to dry up overnight, the glass would cool and harden, the entrepreneur said. The melting tanks would be ruined — a loss of millions. 

Perfume bottles from Heinz-Glas, one of only two cosmetic glass producers in Germany

If producers cannot make their specialized products in Germany, they will go elsewhere

“Overall, we in the German glass industry are working at maximum productivity,” said Carletta Heinz a few months ago, in a video title “Red alert” made together with local politicians, trade unions and other entrepreneurs. Heinz is the owner and CEO of Heinz-Glas, which is known for producing glass bottles for international cosmetics and perfume companies. 

Heinz employs 1,500 people in the Rennsteig region between the Thuringian Forest and Franconia, and 3,500 worldwide.  

She expresses the bitter realization that doesn’t seem to have reached many people in Germany: “If the industry can no longer produce here, the demand doesn’t fade. What we produce here will simply be manufactured in other countries, under worse and less sustainable conditions.” 

This article was originally published in German.



Source

Tags: alternastivesenergyGerman industrygermanyindustryjobsRussian gas
Help Ukraine - Donate now!
Michael ZSU News

Michael ZSU News

Next Post
German long-range MARS II MLRS are in Ukraine already – Ukrainian Minister of Defence

German long-range MARS II MLRS are in Ukraine already – Ukrainian Minister of Defence

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Al-Qaeda Releases Video It Claims Is Narrated By Leader Al-Zawahri, Intelligence Group Says

Al-Qaeda Releases Video It Claims Is Narrated By Leader Al-Zawahri, Intelligence Group Says

3 months ago
0
Amazon also plans to cut jobs in the coming year

Amazon also plans to cut jobs in the coming year

4 months ago
0

Popular News

    Connect with us

    Category

    • Business
    • Entertainment
    • Fashion
    • food
    • Gaming
    • Health
    • Lifestyle
    • Movie
    • Music
    • National
    • Politics
    • Sports
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Ukraine
    • World

    About Us

    ZSU News is an Independent News Website and contains news from multiple sources so you could get better look at the situation in world.

    • About
    • Advertise
    • Careers
    • Contact

    © 2022 ZSU NEWS - English News Worldwide and Ukraine.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • Politics
    • Ukraine
    • Business
    • World
    • National
    • Entertainment
    • Gaming
    • Movie
    • Music
    • Sports
    • Fashion
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Tech
    • Health
    • Food

    © 2022 ZSU NEWS - English News Worldwide and Ukraine.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In