CSL Sustainability Report: Mixed Results on GHG Intensity

Australian bio-pharmaceutical company CSL Limited reduced its greenhouse gas emissions per unit of plasma production by 4.5 percent from 2010/11 to 2011/12, but emissions intensity for vaccine production increased 4.3 percent in that time period, according to the company’s latest corporate sustainability report.

The report does not include detailed figures for its yearly intensity measurements, but since its 2004/05 baseline measurement year, the company has cut its greenhouse emissions per unit of plasma production by 50 percent.

Despite the year-on-year rise in greenhouse gas intensity for the company’s vaccine production, that metric is down 68 percent since measurement began in 2004/05. CSL puts the yearly increase down to a “modest reduction” in its production levels.

The company’s absolute greenhouse gas emissions increased 2.3 percent from 165,000 metric tons of CO2e in 2010/11 to 168,000 metric tons in 2011/12. CSL’s absolute greenhouse gas emissions also marginally increased from 2009/10 to 2010/11, the report shows.

Unsurprisingly, CSL’s energy consumption and energy intensity figures show a strong correlation with its greenhouse gas figures. CSL’s absolute energy consumption increased 1.7 percent year-on-year, from 1.76 petajoules in 2010/11 to 1.79 petajoules in 2011/12. Its energy intensity from plasma production dropped 4.6 percent year-on-year and its energy intensity from vaccine production jumped 3.5 percent year-on-year. Compared to its baseline year of 2004/05, CSL’s energy intensity from plasma and vaccine production have fallen 55 and 72 percent respectively, the report says.

At the company’s Marburg, Australia, site the first stage of an efficiency project was completed in 2011/12, the report says, resulting in an estimated annual energy use reduction of 26,800 Gj. Projects included in the program included improved HVAC, the replacement of 17 motors with high efficiency units and the recovery of energy from lag steam. The second stage of the project is underway and should be completed in 2012/13.

CSL’s Bern, Australia, site has replaced several refrigeration plants with more efficient alternatives and replaced electric defrost units with heat recovered from a hot water stream, as it tries to increase its efficiency. The facility has also installed more energy efficient windows and a passive cooling system. These improvements are expected to reduce energy consumption for heating of the building by 720 Gj a year, the report says.

CSL’s water consumption per unit of plasma decreased 4.3 percent year-on-year, but water intensity in the company’s vaccine division rose 0.3 percent in that time period. The company’s absolute water consumption jumped 2.8 percent over the course of the year, from 1.95 gigaliters in 2010/11 to 2.02 gigaliters in 2011/12.