Sustainability

Energy has become the central topic in the world economy. The Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations' general agreement on climate change, envisages the industrialized countries reducing their annual emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% by 2012. Other countries are following suit - because every gram less of greenhouse gas which is pumped into the earth’s atmosphere helps to protect our environment. Biofuels make a contribution here through their special characteristic: when they are used to produce energy, they only release as much carbon dioxide as was bound while the plant grew.

In producing biofuels we only use raw material from areas for which no rainforest was destroyed. Here we support efforts to introduce certificates that verify that no damage has been done to the environment and that are valid worldwide. Furthermore, we are concentrating on raw materials which are not taken directly from the food production chain. In the bioethanol segment this means predominantly sugar-based raw materials, in particular sugar cane. In comparison to other raw materials, sugar cane evinces an excellent greenhouse gas balance and is fully competitive with gasoline from fossil energy sources. With our focus on Latin America and South East Asia, we are also concentrating on countries where sufficient agricultural land is available to permit not only enough food to be produced but also to grow biomass for generating energy.

In the interests of the sustainable production of biofuels, MAN Ferrostaal also checks whether technological ideas are feasible. As soon as the necessary technology is available, we want to expand our range to include biofuels of the second generation. Large-scale utilization of waste products which do not compete with food production will then be possible.