Sustainable into the future: How stoba wants to produce in Weinstadt in a CO2-neutral way
Climate change is impossible to ignore at this point and requires action. While other companies are only slowly addressing the issue of CO2 neutrality, stoba Weinstadt began reducing CO2 emissions ten years ago. The start was made with a photovoltaic system with an output of 99.9 kWp, which was installed on the roofs of the company premises.
Over the years, this has enabled stoba Weinstadt to collect a lot of relevant data that can be drawn on. To date, the solar cells have generated 746,848 kWh of electricity and saved 489,184 kg of CO2, which is equivalent to the CO2 consumption of an average German citizen over more than 55 years. This is an important step towards reducing the site's emissions.
The next projects on the agenda are the conversion of light sources and an intelligent lighting system. With the help of motion and light sensors, further energy savings should be possible. During the night shift, for example, the machines will only be illuminated when necessary. As soon as someone is working at the machine, it is lit up. If this is not the case, the lighting is switched off. An intelligent system also allows increased use of external light sources. For employees, this process is hardly noticeable. The light output (LUX) always remains constant, but uses the available external light output of daylight. If this is lower, the system compensates for it and automatically generates the same light output.
Need for action by industrial companies
To curb climate change, companies need forward-looking climate strategies - especially in industry, which is responsible for a significant proportion of CO2 emissions in Germany. The reduction of CO2 emissions and the use of renewable energies are of great importance here, as large quantities of CO2 are emitted, especially in the production of metals such as steel, as well as indirectly in the external procurement of electricity and heat.
stoba Weinstadt is already making a positive contribution to climate protection through the electricity generated by its photovoltaic systems and projects such as the conversion of light sources and intelligent lighting control. At its other sites, too, stoba is taking responsibility for more sustainable business practices - for example, in its work on CO2-neutral production in Backnang.
Published June 19th 2023
Categories: e-Systems, Weinstadt
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CO2-neutral production - not an easy undertaking for a production facility that, like stoba, operates with up to 7,000 kW of electricity per hour at peak times. At the same time, it is exactly this high demand for energy that calls on the industry to use more environmentally friendly ways of generating energy. In this context, the issues of CO2 emissions and energy generation are not just an increasing financial burden - customers, suppliers and society are now also demanding that their business partners act in an environmentally conscious manner and make an active contribution to climate protection. Based on these developments, stoba is now working on precisely this in a joint project with Siemens - and could thus not only have taken the step toward CO2 neutrality by 2030, but also supply charging stations for electric vehicles through its own sustainable energy generation. The corresponding concept was developed jointly, with stoba relying on Siemens' expertise and experience for implementation.
There are many good reasons to be optimistic about the future. One is that for 60 years stoba has been developing innovations for better products and processes. For 60 years we have been developing the future!
Seven young talents from the stoba training department in Backnang are IHK-certified "Energy Scouts" since this week. They have identified places in the company where energy efficiency can be optimized - and then developed corresponding proposals for solutions. The results are to be implemented this year.