Energy Management

Effective energy management can bring both environmental and economic benefits. We count on it as an important means of increasing our efficiency, thus helping us to move closer each year to achieving our climate protection targets. Our environmental and energy policy, which is publicly available, is commensurate with this. Among other things, it commits us to consistently and systematically reducing both our energy consumption and our emissions and to continuously improving our performance in the overarching areas of energy and the environment.
www.blg-logistics.com/en/sustainability

Energy planning at our individual locations is carried out by our respective on-site energy officers. In addition to systematic data capture, their remit involves regular energetic evaluations as well as documenting planned and implemented measures. All activities are monitored and managed by a central Management Accounting department. Currently, 28 locations in the CONTRACT Division are certified to ISO 50001. In the reporting year, we decided to also certify our energy management system in use within the AUTOMOBILE Division in accordance with the same standard. With this, we are continuing to drive harmonization within the BLG Group and are thus also fulfilling the obligation incumbent on us under the German Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG). Furthermore, our environmental management system has already been certified since 2014 in accordance with ISO 14001 at all our German auto terminals and transport centers in the AUTOMOBILE Division and now also at 13 locations in the CONTRACT Division.

Systematic action based on clear consumption data

We want to permanently reduce our energy consumption – and hence our greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve this, we need to clearly identify how much energy our processes and facilities consume. Our energy officers obtain the necessary information through decentralized, on-site recording, validation and evaluation. The only exception to this are sites whose energy consumption we cannot control. The consumption of all fully consolidated companies is aggregated by the central Sustainability department and used to prepare the annual energy and carbon accounting.

We are constantly working to further enhance data transparency and accuracy – also to enable us to more easily record and track the effects of actions taken. We have been supported in this for some time now by the EnEffCo energy management software, which we continued to roll out in the reporting year. This allows more detailed and largely automated recording and evaluation of our energy consumption, and consequently even more targeted identification of potential savings. Additional German sites will continue to be incorporated in 2024, enabling monitoring across locations and business divisions via user-defined dashboards. Even with partial use of the system, gaps, anomalies and also weaknesses in the previous recording procedure came to light, which optimized validation will enable us to close or eliminate in future. We will also introduce new key performance indicators and collect additional data.

Energy consumption in the reporting year

Compared with 2022, we again lowered our total energy consumption, this time by around 5.7 percent to 214 GWh, which was reflected across all energy sources with the exception of district and local heating. In addition to various measures to increase efficiency, which we explain in this section, business- and weather-related circumstances that we cannot actively influence also contributed to this. These result in natural fluctuations in energy requirements and are reflected accordingly in the accounting.

Percentage share of energy consumption 2023

broken down according to divisions and business areas

Percentage share of energy consumption 2023

broken down according to energy sources

Various levers for greater efficiency

Again in the reporting year we continued or successfully completed a number of projects. These included the ongoing conversion of our real estate and outdoor areas to energy-efficient LED lighting. At our Bremen car terminal alone, the conversions carried out in 2023 are expected to result in annual savings of around 400 MWh of electricity. Lighting retrofits on different scales were also carried out at other locations. When implementing completely new lighting concepts, as well as efficient light sources we also focus on intelligent and automated control. By checking and adapting twilight sensors, we were able to reduce the lighting duration in many places. Our newest logistics facility, C3 Bremen, is just one example of the positive impact of this measure. Here, in addition to the already lower energy requirements thanks to LEDs, we were able to save between a further 25 and 75 percent of the energy required for lighting – depending on the month – thanks to automated, demand- and location-based control.

At one of our CONTRACT logistics locations in Bremen, we have been using a built-in weighing device on our straddle carriers since 2023. Previously, the vehicles had to take a detour to weigh the load, which is no longer necessary. We initially equipped three straddle carriers with the technology, enabling us to save around 480 MWh of diesel per year.

To further reduce heat loss at one of our logistics locations in Bremen, two conventional gates were replaced by high-speed gates in the reporting year. We expect the shorter opening times of the gates to bring a saving in our annual natural gas consumption of around 300 MWh. At a number of other locations, optimizing the heating control and/or temperature settings in 2023 will result in a planned annual reduction in natural gas consumption of around 1.3 GWh.

Raising awareness throughout the organization

Once again in 2023, we kept our employees informed about ways to use energy efficiently through various formats ranging from training to posts in our digital channels. For example, right at the beginning of the year, we used our BLG employee app under the heading “Fit for the winter” to inform about practical measures that can also help reduce heating requirements in the home. Information on the progress of individual measures such as the expansion of the charging infrastructure for employee cars or other energy-related topics of personal interest was also shared through this or similar channels.

We also foster a regular dialog on the topic of energy management and efficiency with the energy officers at our individual locations, for example by providing targeted information on new legal regulations or potential savings. Conversely, the energy officers have the possibility to raise energy-related questions or topics of concern. This is one of the ways in which we promote the direct exchange and transfer of knowledge between the locations.

To further raise and sharpen the awareness among our administrative staff of the contribution each and every one of them can make on a daily basis, we continue to offer an e-learning module on environmental and energy management. As many as 1,400 employees have successfully completed the online training to date. With this, we aim to ensure that everyone at BLG is aware of our environmental and energy policy and the related corporate objectives.

Relying on clean energy

Our first photovoltaic system with a generator area of 430 square meters and an output of 74 kWp has been producing electricity on the roof of the technical building at the AutoTerminal Kelheim for the processes there since 2019. A second, much larger system with a generator area of 2,000 square meters and an output of 400 kWp was installed on the roof of a multistory car park at the same location a few years later. Three additional storage batteries allow us to store up to 210 kWh of surplus power for later use. The system not only covers the energy requirement for lighting the car park, but also supplies 55 wall boxes for charging e-cars. Since 2020, a PV system has also supplied our Waiblingen site with renewable electricity. Most recently, our fourth and largest PV system to date on the roof of our new C3 logistics facility in Bremen, with an output of around 9 MWp, was connected to the grid in October 2023. Our commitment to clean energy and sustainability was recognized with the special “Energy Efficiency” award of the German mobility industry and the Mercedes-Benz Supplier Award 2023 in the Sustainability category for the C3 logistics center. Through additional measures such as an integrated energy concept, we are striving to achieve a Platinum Sustainable Building Certificate from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen – DGNB, as well as “climate-positive” status for the site.

In total, we were able to cover around 450 MWh of our electricity requirement with the PV systems at our locations in the reporting year. We are currently reviewing installation possibilities at other locations.

However, irrespective of this, even in the future we will not realistically be able to cover all of our electricity needs at our locations with local PV systems. So as to nevertheless guarantee the supply of our facilities with 100 percent green electricity, we have set ourselves a clear goal: From 2025, we will procure 100 percent of our third-party electricity from renewable sources.

100 %

of purchased electricity from 2025 will be green

Our Sustainability Targets

In a step designed to further improve the sustainability credentials of the C3’s heat supply, we are planning to install an air-to-air heat pump there. The installation is scheduled for completion in fall 2024. Combined with the PV system, we are thus creating a sustainable, low emission possibility to heat the facility. This concept can also serve as a blueprint for other locations.

Specific diesel consumption of own automobile transport fleet (Germany)

liters/100 kilometers

Our company BLG AutoTransport offers transport services for new and used vehicles and in the reporting year operated its own fleet of 182 trucks in Germany, all of which meet the EURO 6 standard. In 2023, we added 23 efficient new commercial vehicles to our fleet. After recording a minimal increase in average diesel fuel consumption in 2022 for the first time since 2014, consumption levels, at 29.6 l/100 km, remained unchanged in the reporting year. As the above-mentioned new trucks were not purchased until the end of the year, the expected efficiency increase was not yet reflected in the reporting period.

The electrification of heavy goods vehicles will become increasingly relevant also for us in the future. After first successfully testing an electric tractor unit in normal operations in 2022, we did so again in the reporting year. We subsequently calculated a business case and began preparations for regular operation. However, the lack of funding in Germany has meant we have had to put the project on ice for the time being. The same applies to the AUTOMOBILE Division, where we also looked closely at using e-trucks in the car transport business area. For the reasons stated above, however, the latest procurement of new vehicles did not include e-models.