SHEQ

Cutting energy consumption, using energy efficiently and reducing greenhouse gases are primary objectives for Linde.

All progress on this front helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The Linde Group’s total energy consumption includes our use of fuels and energy from external power plants, such as electrical energy and district heating.

Electricity and natural gas are our main sources of energy here, required in particular to operate our air separation and HyCO plants.

Over 80 percent of the electricity we consume is used in the course of air separation, and our HyCO plants account for around 90 percent of our natural gas consumption.

We are constantly optimising our production processes to improve the productivity and energy efficiency of our plants. Innovations and energy management programmes are the key to a more economical use of energy and lowered greenhouse gas emissions.

The Linde Group continues to pursue its goal of preventing and continuing to reduce its greenhouse gas and other air emissions wherever possible, minimising the potential impact on the natural environment and human health.

Direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions

The Linde Group employs a comprehensive avoidance strategy to reduce direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions. In plant operation, this focuses on ongoing efficiency gains and internal energy-saving projects.

We also continue to work on renewable hydrogen production and CO2 recycling methods while working to streamline our transport logistics.

At well over 90 percent of the total, carbon dioxide accounts for the vast majority of the greenhouse gases we release, so our main focus is on reducing direct and indirect CO2 emissions.

Direct CO2 emissions at Linde primarily arise from hydrogen and carbon monoxide production in our HyCO plants. There, hydrogen synthesis and the use of fuel to reach the reaction temperature required by the production process account for around 75 percent of these emissions.

Indirect carbon dioxide emissions arise as a by-product of energy procured from third parties (electricity and district heating) rather than emissions at Linde sites.

Our consumption levels here are due to the large amounts of electricity required by our air separation plants, in particular.

Other air emissions

Our production processes result in air emissions of inorganic gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur oxides (SOX), nitrogen oxides (NOX), ammonia (NH3) and volatile organic compounds (VOC).

The VOC emissions are primarily released during the painting and cleaning of metals such as gas cylinders, storage tanks and plant components. The majority of CO, NOX and SOX emissions arise from combustion processes, while NH3 may be emitted during nitrous oxide or acetylene production.

To save water, we employ water circulation systems and replace drinking water with grey water where possible.

Since sustainable and effective water management must reflect local conditions and regional impact, ensuring economical usage is primarily a local task.

Ongoing analysis of water consumption and quality and risk assessments for future supplies form the backbone of our local water management and conservation activities.

We mainly use water in product manufacturing, steam generation, plant cooling processes and office buildings. At around 80 percent, the vast majority of the water we consume is used to cool our plants, either in circulation or once-through systems.

With the latter, the water is sourced from local rivers and simply warms up a few degrees. Since it does not come into contact with any products, it can then be pumped back to the river with no further treatment at a temperature that does not pose any risk to the surrounding ecosystem. 

Where we use cooling water in a circulation system, we re-circulate the fresh or grey water several times before purifying it at our own treatment plants or at municipal or industrial facilities.

Since the water must be chilled to the required temperature prior to reuse in plant cooling, this method entails greater energy consumption.

Water emissions
We are constantly working to reduce our emissions into water. The most important indicators of our impact here are the amounts of phosphorus, nitrogen, heavy metals and organic compounds we release. Where necessary, we purify the wastewater from our production and sanitary facilities either using our own treatment systems or by sending it to municipal or industrial plants. It goes without saying that we always comply with emissions limits.

Waste at Linde primarily consists of lime slurry, oil and oleaginous materials from our plant compressors, chemicals, and metallic waste – for instance from component production.

We are making ongoing efforts to decrease the volume of waste we generate, reduce its risk potential and improve our disposal policy. Here we follow the core principles of the waste industry: prevent waste where possible and recycle in preference to disposal.

A good example of our treatment and reuse of waste is lime slurry, which arises as a by-product of acetylene production. Lime slurry is not required in manufacturing acetylene but is a valuable feedstock for other industries, such as construction. In many regions, we supply other sectors with this by-product. Currently, Linde recycles about 70 percent of the lime slurry produced at all of its facilities around the world. 

It goes without saying that waste management also encompasses storing and disposing of refuse properly and responsibly. Group-wide guidelines define minimum standards here, with legal requirements always acting as the baseline.

At the same time, we are looking to permanently reduce air and water emissions and waste levels. We transfer programmes that have successfully minimised environmental impact to projects at other sites across the globe in line with our best practice policy.

Noise protection

At the Linde Group, we aim to minimise noise emissions at our locations in the interests of both our employees and neighbours.

Compliance with legal limits is a matter of course for us here. We regularly measure noise levels both inside and outside our sites and initiate improvement measures such as the installation of sound buffers. When planning new facilities, we attempt to reduce noise emissions as much as possible from the outset.

Logistics and transport efficiency

We also aim for ongoing improvement of our transport logistics, which is of particular relevance to the environment due to fuel consumption and air and noise emissions. Our goal to increase transport efficiency is sound ecologically, but also benefits us economically.

Measures such as route optimisation, improved capacity planning and training courses in eco-friendly driving all have a positive impact on our environmental performance.