Directly at the sugar factory, biogas is physically used as process heat, reducing the amount of conventional natural gas used in the public power supply. The percentage of renewable energies in gas consumption at VAUDE in 2014 was 100%.
Because our waterproof bags production facility burned down in April 2015 due to lightning strike and was temporarily moved to a rented building, we had to use the (non-renewable) energy provided by the landlord for electricity and heating. This is one reason why our percentage of renewable energy fell to 92% in 2016.
In order to evaluate our thermal energy consumption independently from outside temperatures and the duration of the heating season, we align our consumption figures with the regional degree days for Ravensburg (GTZspez). This was 3,613 for 2016 according to the Ravensburg Energy Agency.
This resulted in higher weather-adjusted heating energy needs than our actual consumption – we used less energy for heating than what would be predicted from the outside temperatures.
Since 2014 we have used solar thermal energy in a buffer tank for hot water, reducing our use of gas. We only supplement with gas when the cloud cover is too great and when a large number of employees take hot showers after their bike-commute to work or after sports. In 2016 we produced 590 kWh of solar energy.
| GRI: | G4-EN3 |
