“Saving energy does not only benefit the climate, it benefits the company”
Hans Keuken is speaker at the Food Factory Event this 17th of November.
In 1999 he founded the Process Design center, a firm specialized in energy saving processes for companies. “In total, we may have saved more energy than all energy consultants in the Netherlands,” says Keuken. How? By focusing especially but not exclusively on the big emitters.
At the moment, Process Design Center is in the lead of a big project called Project 6-25. This project has as their goal to reduce Dutch CO2 emissions by 6 Mtons by the year 2025. Today, the total CO2 emissions of the industry in the Netherlands are 53 Mtons. The way the 6-25 project will tackle the problem is through energy savings. Think of technologies with technologies related to heat integration, waste heat utilization, heat pumps, efficient separation, efficient drives, digitalization and e-boilers.
Project 6-25 experts deliver this advice to the industrial CO2 emitters of the Netherlands, starting with the top 100. “The 20 biggest emitters already emit 80% of the total industrial emissions,” states Keuken. “If you want to make a real impact, that’s where you have to be.”
Tata Steel and Shell are on the top of this list. It isn’t the companies that come to Process Design Center, but the Center that approaches the former with solutions. “Often, companies need a helping hand in becoming more environmentally friendly.” Not only do they lack sufficient manpower and expertise, but they also lack the financial means. “To think that big companies in the industry have enough financial resources to invest in ways of saving energy is a common false assumption.” Project 6-25 not only comes with solutions but also helps financing it. We focus on projects with a pay back of five years.
“The energy crisis of today leads to the government checking up on the industry. There are budgets for helping the industry to become more sustainable. However, this will also lead to inspections of energy intensive factories and lots of administrative matters. In order to make this process much easier for the companies, we are here.”
At the Future Factory Event this 17th of November, Keuken will reveal processes that the food ingredients companies can apply to save energy. “Saving energy does not only benefit the climate, it benefits the company.”
Hans Keuken
Founder Process Design Center