|
|
 |
| Home
> Corporate Social Responsibility > Dedication to Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection |
| |
| Dedication to Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection |
|
| |
| Plant Production and Operation |
| |
|
he main energy and resource inputs, conservation measures and recycling results as well as the volume of waste 23 from Delta's 2010 production and operations are described below : |
▍Resource Input
Delta's resource inputs are mainly used in products. These are divided into five categories: metals, plastics, chemicals, materials for packaging/transportation, and others. Due to the global financial recovery in 2010, the purchase amounts of many materials increased significantly compared to the amounts in 2009. If we calculate the intensities with group revenue, however, the intensities are lower than 2009. The purchase amounts and intensities of these materials are as below :
|
(1) Metals
We collect statistics for metals that include: iron/steel, aluminum, copper and core. These metals are used by almost all business divisions (DelSolar is the exception that it uses aluminum only). Using the amount of purchased materials containing those metals as a rough guide, the amount of metals purchased by Delta has increased every year from 2006 until 2009 when it dropped to about 97,000 tonnes. In 2010 it reached a new height of 116,000 tonnes. By category, iron/steel accounted for more than half of all metals purchased, with copper in second place.
If we factor group revenues into the calculations to evaluate our efficiency in the use of metals, as shown in the graph below, we had the lowest intensity in 2010 at 17.55 tonnes per million USD. Our efficiency in the use of metals in 2010 was the highest in recent years, which was about 12% lower than 2009.
Additionally, all business divisions use solder wire, bar and paste in welding. Total usage also increased from around 1,800 tonnes in 2009 to 2,000 tonnes in 2010.
 |
(2) Plastics
All of Delta's business divisions use plastics, mainly for cases, insulators and sockets. In 2010, Delta purchased a total of 29,000 tonnes of plastics. This was significantly higher than the 23,000 tonnes purchased in 2009. By estimating intensity, however, the result shows that the intensity of plastics has decreased compared to 2009. It was approximately 4.37 tonnes per million USD in 2010.
(3) Chemicals
All business divisions use organic solvents, which account for most of the chemicals used at Delta, including thinners, cleaners and flux. The purchased amount once dropped to 1,800 tonnes in 2009 but rebounded to 2,100 tonnes in 2010. As for intensity, it dropped from 0.367 tonnes per million USD to 0.325 tonnes per million USD.
(4) Materials for Packaging/ Transportation
Materials for packaging or transportation include paper products (paper/carton/cardboard/paper pallets), filler, as well as wood. These materials are used by almost all business divisions. Delta has increased the purchase of materials for packaging or transportation since 2006, with about 43,000 tonnes purchased last year, with paper and wood products are the main categories. Intensity however dropped to 6.51 tonnes per million USD in 2010.
(5) Others
Other major materials used by Delta include epoxy resin and asphalt. The former is mainly used by the power supply related business groups and the component business group as electronic component adhesive or insulation, while the latter is used as filler in electronic ballasts. Epoxy resin purchased in 2010 was approximately 1,400 tonnes while the purchased amount of asphalt was about 2,800 tonnes, and both significantly rebounded from 2009. DelSolar purchased about 940 tonnes of silicon wafer in 2010 for solar cell production, which increased substantially from nearly 340 tonnes in 2009.
With about a 36% increase in group revenue, compared to the financial tsunami suffered in 2009, the purchased amounts of the materials mentioned increased at a different rate while the intensities all dropped significantly. It indicates that we enhanced our efficiency in the use of these materials. We will further pursue a decrease in consumption, which also reduces costs. |
|
|
| |
▍Energy and Water Inputs
Energy used by Delta's offices and production plants include externally purchased electricity and various types of fossil fuels. Each plant varies in the types of fuel it uses. The related statistics for 2010 are as follows :
|
1. Externally Purchased Electricity
In 2010, Delta purchased nearly 508 Million KWH of electricity in total 24, an increase of about 14% over 2009. The electricity intensity, however, dropped from 91,700 KWH per million USD to 76,800 KWH per million USD in 2010. The 15% decrease is attributed to the 36% growth of group revenue in 2010.
Looking at the trend for electricity consumption at site level during 2006 and 2010, electricity consumption at most sites has fluctuated while new manufacturing sites, such as Wuhu, Slovakia plants, consumed an increasing amount of electricity. As for Taoyuan II plant, where the CCFL (Cold Cathode Fluorescent Lamp) tube production ceased in 2010, it has reduced electricity consumption the most of any site in recent years. For the DelSolar and Cyntec sites, included in our statistics since 2009, electricity intensities are relatively higher than assembly lines at the rest of Delta’s manufacturing sites, which is attributed to their highly automated production lines. If DelSolar and Cyntec’s electricity consumption and revenue were not included in the calculation, the electricity intensity for the rest of Delta group in 2010 would drop more than 18% than in 2009, and would be 12% lower than the average electricity intensity during 2006 and 2008, prior to the last financial tsunami. It shows that revenue growth exceeded the growth of electricity consumption and that group-wide electricity efficiency has increased significantly. Aiming at our five year target of a 50% decrease in electricity intensity, we will strive to maintain the trend of descending intensity.
2. Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels used at Delta mainly include liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), natural gas (NG), diesel and gasoline. These are used by power generators, boilers, forklifts and company vehicles 25. If Delta's fossil fuel consumption of recent years is converted into heat value 26, the consumption in 2010 increased 28% from 2009 mainly due to the increased natural gas consumption in employee living areas while diesel consumption accounted for the second largest growth among the fuels mentioned. Nevertheless, the intensity kept dropping to 5.14 million kcal per million USD. Heat value contributed by the relatively clean natural gas accounts for over 50% of total heat value.
3. Water
Attributed to the broader coverage of this year’s statistics and growth in the number of employees, Delta's total water consumption reached its peak of about 6,500,000 KL in 2010. Water consumption intensity has continued decreasing and was lower than 1000KL per million USD for the first time, tracking back to 2004.
Delta's diamond-rated green plant in Tainan has provided an energy efficient, water-saving, and comfortable workspace, and the plant’s employees give very positive feedback. New Delta plants and offices around the world are all incorporating green building design concepts. By increasing natural lighting, natural ventilation, insulation and using energy or water-saving equipment throughout the buildings, comfort is maintained while realizing the goal of environmental protection 27. As for existing offices and plants, we have worked to reduce their energy / resource consumption and environmental impact through energy management, water-saving initiatives and increasing the use of renewable energy. These initiatives have included :
1. Energy Management
For Delta, operational risks associated with climate change mainly include changes in regulations , potential energy taxes, carbon taxes, and implementation of efficiency standards, which may cause a rise in operating costs. Extreme weather conditions including torrential rainfall, blizzards, droughts, etc. may also affect business operations. Since purchased electricity accounts for the largest portion of energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions (over 90%), we have currently placed improving electricity intensity as the priority in combating the costs described above. Beginning in mid-2009, the Delta headquarters, the Delta Foundation, the China and Thailand regional headquarters together introduced energy management concepts at our five major sites located in China and Thailand. These plants together accounted for nearly 85% of Delta's total electricity usage. By starting with these key plants, we hope that the PDCA cycle will make the energy factor a part of everyday operations at Delta, and transform the focus from past emphasis on equipment upgrades to comprehensive managerial energy-saving behaviors.
Energy management at Delta has gradually hit on the right track after the “learning by doing” stage. There exist internal platforms or channels to discuss or share experiences between Delta’s plants in terms of planning or installing software / hardware, or allocating available resources. With the pass of the ISO50001 standard, we will have a formal standard to follow for future practices 28. After reaching our short-term goal of reducing the overall electricity intensity of the Delta Group by 10% in 2010 compared to 2009, by combining smart meter and monitoring systems, as well as external consultancy, we will set a more challenging five-year goal to drop our electricity intensity by 50%. We will seek to maintain or reduce total electricity usage and expand to the management of fossil fuels and the rest of Delta’s sites.
Apart from energy saving, maintaining energy quality and ensuring a reliable energy supply for the plants are also important tasks for energy management. China’s Twelfth 5-Year Plan has laid down very specific energy-saving requirements. Preparing for energy-related legislation or regulations passed by local governments will be another important component to energy management.
2. Electricity-Saving Initiatives
Electricity saving initiatives include improvements to air-conditioning and lighting, installation of timers and converters, and other measures. Based on measures initiated at Delta plants in 2010, a savings of about 6,300,000 KWH of electricity per year was projected—this meant avoiding the release of about 6,600 tonnes of CO2e into the atmosphere. At the Dongguan site, where an energy management system was first introduced in Delta, a significant drop in electricity intensity was attributed to increased production output and electricity was saved by using converters in air-conditioning systems and plastic injection machines, by optimizing management and adding timers to the ventilator system, as well as by replacing air-handling units, and more. We believe that future energy saving projects can be more cost-benefit effective once energy management systems are run at the sites.
3. Solar Power Application
Delta has installed solar panels and solar water heating systems in our plants. This is the main type of renewable energy currently in use at Delta. Solar panels are installed at Taipei headquarters, Taoyuan plant 2, the Tainan plant, the Thailand plant, the Taningen plant (Germany), the Rudrapur plant (India), offices in California and North Carolina in the U.S., as well as DelSolar’s Wujiang plant. Solar water heating systems are installed at Taoyuan plant 2 and the Tainan plant in Taiwan as well as the Dongguan and Tianjin plants in China. Generally speaking, the electricity generated by solar panels provides only a limited amount of electricity compared to what Delta purchases externally—just more than 270,000 KWH 29 in 2010 despite a significant increase from 170,000 KWH from 2009, while solar water heating systems contribute a significant amount of heat value that serves to replace the use of fossil fuels. In 2010, for example, the amount of heat value generated was nearly 2,400 Mkcal, equivalent to around 7% of that provided by fossil fuels. Together with the electricity generated by solar panels it helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 1,500 tonnes CO2e.
4. Water Management
We used the World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) “Global Water Tool” 30 to conduct a preliminary self-assessment to analyze whether Delta’s manufacturing sites are facing water shortages. The result showed that our primary production lines in Mainland China are not located in “water stressed” areas but that the sites in Taiwan and Thailand are, which we will pay close attention to as we begin to consider Delta’s overall water management measures.
As for total water saved by all measures initiated in 2010, it was projected to be about 70,000 KL for one year. |
|
|
| |
▍Emissions
Emissions produced by Delta offices and production line operations in 2010 consisted mainly of greenhouse gases, flue gases, waste water, domestic and other wastes. These are described below :
|
1. Greenhouse Gases (GHG)
CO2 emissions associated with externally purchased electricity accounted for over 95% of Delta’s total CO2 emissions. For the plants that had not undergone GHG emission verification, we therefore used the consumption of fossil fuel and externally purchased electricity to estimate GHG emissions 31.
The GHG emission and intensity trend for Delta between 2006 and 2010 is shown in the graph. Delta's total emissions in 2010 are around 430,000 tonnes of CO2e 32, a 12% increase from 2009. The amount of GHG emissions per million USD of output, however, has dropped significantly to about 65.12 tonnes of CO2e.
Similar to our electricity and fossil fuel usage in 2010, the amount of GHG emissions rose in 2010 while the intensity significantly decreased. It indicates that Delta’s efficiencies in the use of energy, and GHG emissions were much better than in 2009.
2. Flue Gases
With assembly as the major process at Delta plants, we generally do not emit flue gases in any significant amount. Taoyuan plant 1 in Taiwan, the Wujiang, Dongguan, Wuhu, Tianjing plants, Delta Greentech, and Chenzhou plants in China, as well as DelSolar, Cyntec and the India, Slovakia plants all conduct monitoring of plant flues in accordance with the law or self-commitment to ensure that they meet emission standards. Monitoring covers different items including particles, nitrogen-oxide compounds (NOx), sulfur oxide compounds (SOx), volatile organic compounds (VOC), hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrofluoric acid, ammonia, tin, lead, and more. We also regularly examine pollution prevention devices to ensure they are functioning well.
3. Effluent
The estimate for Delta's total effluent in 2010 was between 5,080,000 and 5,620,000 KL 33. The effluent consists mainly of domestic sewage discharged into sewer systems or sent to industrial park treatment plants. In accordance with the law or self-commitment, Taoyuan plant 1, 2 in Taiwan, the Wujiang, Dongguan, Wuhu, Tianjing plants, Delta Greentech, and Chenzhou plants in China, as well as DelSolar, Cyntec and the India, Slovakia plants all conduct regular sampling of the effluent or industrial waste water to ensure that it meets emission standards. The test covers different items including biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), suspended particles, pH value, chromium, fluoride, nickel, ammonia nitrogen, animal and vegetable oils, copper, lead, zinc, and sulfur compounds.
4. Domestic Waste
In 2010, Delta generated a total of 11,700 tonnes of domestic waste. Around 80% (mainly from several major plants in China) was disposed of in landfills.
5. Other Waste
Other waste included electronics, metals, plastics, waste solvents, waste paper/cardboard and waste wooden pallets/planks/pieces. These are generated by virtually all production lines and are registered and disposed of by contractors in accordance with the law. Metals and waste paper/cardboard accounted for the top two categories in terms of amount.
In 2010, the total amount of domestic and other waste was 40,000 tonnes, an obvious increase compared to 2009 with the growth in all categories. The intensity at 6.11 tonnes per million USD was also higher than 2009.
Hazardous sludge was generated from processes at Cyntec’s Hsinchiu and Wujiang plants with the amount of about 130 tonnes in 2010. The sludge was all disposed of by contractors 34.
|
|
|
| |
▍Energy / Resource Recovery
|
1. Electricity Recycling
Burn-in testing for AC motors, power supplies or uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) traditionally converts electricity into waste heat. The power was not only unrecoverable but the heat produced often needed to be dissipated using additional equipment, resulting in inefficiency and high cost. Delta designed an Energy Recycling System (ERS) to not only recycle up to 95% of the electricity used during burn-in testing but also to reduce the heat generated and thus lower the loading of the air conditioner, as well as the personnel and the plant square footage needed by traditional burning racks. Due to its effectiveness, the ERS is now used at the Taoyuan, Tainan, Wujiang and Dongguan plants, and is also being promoted at the Thailand and India plants. We have commercialized this product and hope to share its benefits with the rest of the industry.
In 2010, the total amount of electricity recycled was nearly 66 Million KWH 35, a slight increase from 2009. Due to the growth of electricity consumption in 2010, the electricity recycled dropped to around 13% of Delta's electricity consumption for the year, resulting in GHG emission reduction of about 58,000 tonnes.
2. Heat Recovery
Most plants have looked at ways of recovering heat from machinery for reuse. Of these, the heat pump uses heat generated by the air-conditioning system to heat water supplied at dormitories. This has proven to be a particularly effective way to replace the use of fossil fuels. Heat pumps are installed at the Dongguan, Wujiang, Wuhu and Cyntec (Wujiang) plants to reduce diesel and natural gas consumption. The heat pumps at Dongguan plants 2, 6 and 7, for example, provided an amount of heat in 2010 that was equivalent to using around 290 tonnes of diesel; thus, over 900 tonnes of CO2e GHG emissions were reduced by using heat pumps rather than burning diesel.
3. Wooden Pallet Recovery and Reuse
Serviceable wooden pallets are recovered by the plants and re-manufactured into other wood products. In 2010, about 370 tonnes of wooden pallets were recovered in this way.
|
|
|
| |
▍Biodiversity
Delta continuously promotes public awareness of biodiversity and understanding of climate change’s impact on the eco-system in Taiwan through Delta Foundation's volunteers and sponsored activities and research. At the same time, biodiversity is one of the essential indicators when we made a commitment that all new Delta plants must be green buildings. In addition to the relevant pre-operation environmental assessments at plants, we also take efforts to minimize impact on local environments and ecology from our daily operations. |
| |
|
|
|
