EUROMAP study highlights that energy savings of 20 per cent for plastics and rubber machinery are realistic
27 Sep 2011
Frankfurt, 26.09.2011 - It is the EU Commission's declared objective to cut European energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2020. This target is endorsed by Europe's plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers - and it is achievable. This is the conclusion drawn by a study commissioned by the umbrella association EUROMAP entitled "Energy Efficiency: European Plastics and Rubber Machines well placed". "The suppliers of technology at any rate have the technical ability and the will to do it," says EUROMAP President Bernhard Merki.
Half of plastics processed by extrusion
Some 50 million tonnes of plastics and a million tonnes of rubber are processed in Europe every year (2008). Roughly one half of this is processed in extruders and around one quarter by injection moulding. The remainder is divided between blow moulding, thermoforming and other processes. Some of the machinery currently in use in Europe is as much as 20 years old. High-speed machines tend to have a shorter working life, while complex installations are used for appreciably longer than 20 years.
Machine-related energy consumption approximately 22.8 terawatt hours
Energy consumption is estimated on the basis of the European machine population in 2010 and the average specific energy consumption per unit of processed material. This gives an annual machine-related energy consumption of 22.8 terawatt hours (TWh). Total energy consumption by the converters where these machines are used is around three times as high at 66.5 TWh. Apart from machines, this figure includes the firms' entire production and management infrastructure, in other words such consumers of energy as heating, cooling, compressed air, etc.
Energy consumption for melting heat for the moulding process around 8 TWh
About one third of machine-related energy consumption is a constant which is required simply for the process of melting plastics (enthalpy). This energy consumption cannot therefore be reduced - not even by using more efficient machines.
New technologies are much more energy-efficient
Starting from these facts, the study shows that it will be possible to cut machine-related energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2020. Most of this saving will come from making greater use of energy-efficient technology combined with new drive designs, further increases in the productivity of plant and manufacturing processes, and from integrating multistage processes into new operations. At the same time, obsolete technology will be steadily replaced by new plant. Modern injection moulding machines already use 37 per cent less energy on average, with twice the output rate, than similar plant made in 1990.
Potential saving of 4.5 TWh in 2020
When applied to all machine technologies, the reduction in machine-related energy consumption achievable with these measures will make for potential savings of 4.5 TWh in 2020 as compared to 2010.
For further information contact:
Thorsten Kühmann, Secretary General, EUROMAP
Tel.: (+49 69) 6603-1831. Fax (+49 69) 6603-2831
E-Mail: euromap@vdma.org
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