SKF Foresees Large Energy Savings and CO2 Reductions

As part of it's BeyondZeroTM sustainability programme SKF has implemented a number of actions to reduce CO2 emissions and save energy in its factories. The application of new technologies is also taking place, and one example has shown the potential to save as much as 60 GWh per year for one manufacturing operation, when applied across the Group's factories. That is equivalent to the total energy consumption of 72,000 Swedish households for one month. Already in 13 factories energy savings of 24 GWh have been made by installing more energy efficient pumps and motors, new heating and energy recovery systems, new exhaust systems, recovering what would be 'waste heat', reducing compressed air usage and installing energy efficient lighting. Most savings will come from improvements in the production lines where reducing the use of compressed air offers the biggest opportunity. But there are also large savings to be made in machining and assembly where factory audits have shown that savings of 5% of the total energy consumption can be made in each factory, and a series of actions are now in place to achieve those savings. One example is the replacing of pneumatic cylinders on positioning machines with SKF electromechanical actuators where the energy saving per machine is 35%. The expected total savings will be made systematically as the changes from new, more energy efficient processes and increased focus on energy conversion efficiency are made across the Group's factories. Due to the need to make the changes while continuing manufacturing, the improvements have to be made sequentially and are expected to deliver 15% saving of SKF's current total energy consumption within 3 years. That is equivalent to the total energy consumption of 380,000 Swedish households for one month. New technologies will contribute heavily to the future savings. Results from new heat treatment technology installed in Gothenburg have shown a significant reduction of distortion and this means less energy is required to produce the final product. The saving potential across the Group is estimated to be up to 60 GWh per year, which is >2% of the Group's current energy consumption. CO2 reductions have been part of sustainability actions for a number of years and the recent complete switch to 'green' energy at the Gothenburg plant has given a 60% reduction compared to the use of non-green energy.