Handelsblatt Energy Award for the CO2-neutral “Green Factory” from Alois Müller
CO2 neutrality through renewable energies, smart networking and demand side management
And the winner is: Alois Müller! With its CO2-neutral “Green Factory” factory, Alois Müller GmbH, based in Ungerhausen (Unterallgäu), has now won the prestigious Handelsblatt Energy Award, as the winner in the Industry category. The award was presented by a top-class jury and broadcast as part of a digital award ceremony with livestream from Düsseldorf with guests from politics, business and science.
With the Green Factory, the energy technology partner shows industry how renewable energies, smart networking and demand side management can make production CO2-neutral. For Alois Müller, this is the third major award in just a few months. The company had already won the Bavarian Energy Award 2020 at the end of the year, and the “Green Factory” is also considered a lead project of the Competence Center Environment in Bavaria (KUMAS).
Energy for the green factory, an 18,000 m2 production and office building that is virtually self-sufficient in terms of energy, is provided by a photovoltaic system that almost completely covers the flat roof, a combined heat and power plant that runs on eco-gas, and a pellet heating system powered by renewable raw materials. Different storage media compensate for possible fluctuations in generation. Surplus solar power is stored in a battery or fed into the public power grid. With the self-produced electricity, the Alois Müller Group also operates its own e-charging station at the site, which is available to company-owned electric vehicles as well as those passing through on the neighboring highway. To ensure that the energy generated in a climate-friendly manner is used in the best possible way, the entire production process is coordinated with electricity generation.
“At a time when other companies are just starting to gear their production towards a CO2-free future, we have already taken precautions,” says Managing Director Andreas Müller. “Ideas for the intelligent and responsible use of energy are more important than ever. Fridays for Future, the Paris Climate Agreement or a possible CO2 tax in Germany – sustainability remains a hot topic. We are all the more pleased that our Green Factory is now making positive headlines beyond the borders of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg thanks to the Handelsblatt Energy Award.”
According to Müller, the concept of the Green Factory, i.e. the generation of solar power, the applied demand side management, the practiced sector coupling and the internal intelligent power grid, the so-called smart grid, can be adapted for almost all companies in Germany. Companies that want to see this for themselves can visit the Green Factory. “If required, we will also present all components with the necessary key figures,” Müller added.
The Energy Awards have been presented since 2013. They honor scalable business models with a high degree of innovation and development potential whose added value lies in digitalization, networking, energy efficiency and reduction of CO2 emissions.
Watch the recording of the Handelsblatt Energy Awards 2020/21 here.