Safety & Respectful working atmosphere
Health protection and occupational safety are particularly important to us, and these are ensured through training and preventive measures.
We pay attention to our employees, create a pleasant, respectful working atmosphere and offer scope for our own work design.
Society
Entrepreneurial success and social responsibility go hand in hand. We are in dialogue with a wide variety of stakeholders. We manufacture safe and high-quality products and rely on long-term partnerships. With production facilities in rural areas, we offer qualified jobs and contribute to the development of the regional economy. Our social commitment also focuses on local projects. We rely on ethical, legal and responsible behavior, which is laid down in the Südzucker Group's code of conduct.
Greenhouse gas savings
Our focus is on reducing greenhouse gas emissions along the entire value chain. The fuel ethanol produced here already saves on average over 70% of greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuels.
Circular economy
Our biorefineries work according to the principle of circular economy and use sustainable raw materials as fully as possible. The biomass used results in numerous products that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This includes renewable fuels, but also food and feed, the latter contributing to Europe's protein supply and reducing soy imports from North and South America.
Raw materials
CropEnergies only uses agricultural raw materials of European and predominantly local origin - taking into account all quality and sustainability requirements. The agricultural raw materials must not be grown on areas worthy of protection such as forests or areas with a high level of biodiversity. More and more residues are also used for ethanol production. Their share should continue to increase in the future.
Energy
Our production is characterized by continuous optimization, efficient processes and modern energy supply systems. Combined heat and power plants and heat recovery systems lead to above-average energy efficiency. CropEnergies will increase the use of renewable energies and is aiming for climate-neutral production by 2050. Each biorefinery has planned or started site-specific measures for this.
Logistics
Even when procuring and delivering our products, CO2 emissions should be kept as low as possible. Short transport routes through local raw materials as well as the ideal location of the production sites on railway lines and waterways make this possible.
Sustainable management, i.e. reconciling ecology, economy and social responsibility, is a central element for CropEnergies. This goes hand in hand with the vision of safeguarding the well-being of present and future generations.
The biowanze model aims to contribute to the development of a sustainable circular economy for its region, the agricultural sector and the fight against climate change. Sustainability applies at all levels: social responsibility, supply chain, optimising energy use, distributed products and developing green technologies.
Renewable local raw materials are completely processed into products with high added value in order to save resources and avoid waste.
Schematic Diagram of production Process of Ethanol Biowanze
In the "Renewable Energies Directive", the EU stipulates sustainable certification of the entire value chain: seamlessly, from raw material extraction to production and delivery. All our ethanol plants are certified as sustainable under at least one of the certification systems recognised by the EU and are audited annually.
Since the site was launched, our biomass boiler - the only one of its kind in the world - has been producing the electricity and steam needed to run the entire plant. As the bran (the outer husk of the wheat) is not used in the bioethanol production process, we recover it and feed it into our biomass boiler.High-efficiency cogeneration enables us to produce more green electricity than we need to satisfy our consumption. The surplus supplies the Wanze sugar refinery outside the countryside and the CO2 liquefaction site, while the balance is fed into the public grid.
From 2021, biowanze is taking another step towards carbon neutrality by building a 2nd biomass boiler fuelled by wood chips.90% of the energy consumed on the site is green, derived from certified renewable and local biomass. The proportion of fossil energy consumed (natural gas) has fallen from 35% to 10%.
Biowanze favours a short supply radius. Subject to strict selection criteria, the feed wheat comes exclusively from Belgium (50%), France and Germany.The biomass used for the 2nd boiler comes from within a 250km radius of the production site.
In the "Renewable Energies Directive", the EU stipulates sustainable certification of the entire value chain seamlessly of biomass used for green power. All biomass (solid, liquid and gaseous) used on Biowanze site are certified as sustainable under at least one of the certification systems recognised by the EU and are audited annually.
The biowanze model aims to contribute to the development of a sustainable circular economy for our region and the agricultural sector, and to the fight against climate change.
In the "Renewable Energies Directive", the EU stipulates sustainable certification of the entire value chain: seamlessly, from raw material extraction to production and delivery. All our ethanol plants are certified as sustainable under at least one of the certification systems recognised by the EU and are audited annually.
| Certification systems | Company |
|---|---|
| 2BSvs | Ryssen Alcools SAS |
| ISCC EU | Ensus UK Ltd |
| REDcert EU | BioWanze SA, CropEnergies Bioethanol GmbH, Ryssen Alcools SAS |
