We’re climate neutral

The warming of our planet is progressing at a dramatic pace. The higher temperatures rise, the more cooling is needed, and the refrigeration industry is currently one of the main drivers of climate change. Consequently, in addition to the use of sustainable and energy-efficient refrigeration technologies using natural refrigerants, we are also committed to attempting to reduce our own corporate emissions.

Climate neutrality by 2030? Experts agree that we need to act NOW if we are still to have a chance of meeting the critical 1.5 degree warming mark set as a target in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement.

Efficient Energy GmbH is leading by example and in 2020 became one of the first companies in the refrigeration industry to achieve climate neutrality: Certificate of climate neutrality (PDF) and from 2022, the clean tech company will produce its eChiller product series as climate-neutral refrigeration machines Certificate of carbon neutral products (PDF).

 

Climatepartner carbon neutral comany Efficient Energy

 

Climatepartner carbon neutral products Efficient Energy

 

In cooperation with Leaders for Climate Action and Climatepartner, we calculated the CO2 emissions output by our business activities, offset them by supporting a climate protection project and took measures to reduce emissions. But that, of course, is not the end of the story – we see climate neutrality as an ongoing process in which we strive for continual self-improvement and will remain true to this Green Pledge.

1Calculating our carbon footprint

To reduce our emissions permanently, we firstly took the step of calculating our business activities’ carbon footprint. The calculation and analysis help us understand the areas which account for the lion’s share of direct and indirect emissions and where action needs to be urgently taken.

Our sources or direct emissions, such as those for water and electricity consumption, our vehicle fleet, IT infrastructure and the consumption of office supplies, were compiled for 2019, 2020 and 2021. Since 2019 this let us place our overall corporate emissions at 915 metric tonnes of CO2 for 2019. A more detailed breakdown shows the prime sources of emissions in our company as being: energy consumption; mobility and our IT infrastructure.

2Compensating our carbon footprint

After determining our CO2 emissions, the next step was to offset them in the framework of a climate protection project.

Efficient Energy compensated 915 metric tonnes of CO2 since 2020

This is equivalent to offsetting a distance of 2,84,631 km by car, the melting of 2,745 square meters of summer ice in the Arctic, or the annual CO2 sequestration of 73,200 beech trees.

Move the slider to get even more comparisons for the emissions we offset.

What are climate protection projects?

Additionally to avoiding and reducing corporate emissions, offsetting them is an essential part of holistic climate protection. CO2 distributes itself evenly throughout the atmosphere, leading to a uniform concentration of the greenhouse gas around the globe. Consequently, as a company that unavoidably produces emissions locally, it makes perfect sense for us to offset these in another part of the world in the framework of a climate protection project.

By saving CO2 emissions, climate protection projects make an important contribution in the fight against global warming, while simultaneously promoting sustainable development in the project countries. Additionally to protecting the climate, climate protection projects also contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The climate protection projects must meet strict criteria and be audited and certified by impartial organisations. This ensures and confirms that the climate protection projects are, indeed, beneficial for climate protection, i.e. that they irrefutably realise additional climate protection measures, and that the resulting reduction of CO2 in the atmosphere can be clearly measured.

Efficient Energy is promoting hydropower to preserve the habitat of mountain gorillas

3Reducing our carbon footprint

Determining the company’s emissions and offsetting them are of course important, but avoiding emissions is the real goal.
Based on the calculation and identification of the main sources of emissions, the measures implemented to reduce emissions in 2021 included the following:

  • Switch to green electricity
  • “Trains over Planes” business travel policy prohibits domestic air travel within Germany. Colleagues must travel by train instead.
  • Green laboratory air conditioning – the laboratory is cooled with an eChiller refrigeration system using water as a refrigerant.
  • Efficient Energy is a participating member of Leaders for Climate Action (LFCA).
  • Efficient Energy CEO Georg Dietrich became climate neutral after calculating and offsetting his own personal carbon footprint.

 

The above measures alone will allow us to avoid over 40 percent of our CO2 emissions in 2021.

4Outlook: climate neutrality as an ongoing process

Where do we go from here? As the pioneer of Clean Cooling Solutions, it’s the natural next step that we, too, should take all possible measures to stop climate change. It’s important for us to identify and analyse further measures to reduce CO2 emissions and then, of course, to implement them.

This page always shows the current status of our implemented climate protection measures. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding climate neutrality at Efficient Energy, our Climate Protection Officer would be happy to answer them.

Efficient Energy’s Climate Protection Officer

For questions or suggestions regarding climate neutrality, please do not hesitate to contact: