Scope 1 includes direct emissions generated by our production facilities, especially in connection with the manufacture of hydrogen, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Other direct emissions are generated by the combustion of fuel in logistics. In 2020, Scope 1 for Messer worldwide was 220,600 metric tons of CO₂e. In 2019, the comparable value was 78,300 metric tons of CO₂e. There are two explanations for that significant change: Firstly, the 2020 calculation also included direct emissions from North and South America for the first time. And secondly, a correction was made to reassign the scope of the bulk products used in our filling plants. Up till 2019, they had been assigned to Scope 1, and starting from 2020 they will be included under Scope 2. This shifts more than 90 percent of the associated greenhouse gas emissions, which corresponds to about 25,000 metric tons of CO₂e.

In 2020, the bulk and cylinder fleet of Messer Group including Western Europe consumed 29.95 million liters of diesel fuel. In 2019, that figure was 32.3 million liters. Our fleet traveled a total of 96.98 million kilometers in 2020; that figure was 106.2 million kilometers in 2019.
The average rate of diesel fuel consumption was essentially unchanged: it was 0.310 liters per kilometer in 2019, and 0.309 liters per kilometer traveled, was the average consumption calculated in 2020.
We express the trend in distance traveled per metric ton (payload) of liquefied industrial gases or cylinder gases with an index value of 101.9, whereby the index was 100 in 2019. At Messer Group including Western European subsidiaries, the distance traveled in 2019 was 21.6 kilometers / metric ton; in 2020, that figure averaged 22.3 kilometers / metric ton. The slight degradation in this parameter resulted from, among other factors, the fact that the seamless supply of medical oxygen during the coronavirus crisis required longer routes.
Messer Americas documented this parameter for the first time in 2020, posting a value of 24.2 kilometers / metric ton.

Logistics implemented various efficiency improvement measures. Examples include:

• The introduction of an onboard computer system for trucks to promote more defensive and therefore more fuel-efficient driving
• Route planning and KPI analysis to reduce the number of kilometers driven
• Supplier audits concentrating not only on technical aspects, but also on sustainability and environmental issues and requiring the suppliers’ adherence to the ten Principles of the UN Global Compact

In Croatia, the Czech Republic, Serbia and China, Messer produces nitrous oxide in N₂O plants. That gas is used in medical applications and in the electronics and food industries. In Switzerland and China, Messer operates a total of six company-owned hydrogen plants. Three other hydrogen units located on our customers’ premises in Austria and Hungary (on-site units) are not included in the calculation of our own CO₂ footprint. In its gaseous state, hydrogen is used in many industrial sectors, including as a food additive in hydrogenation or fat-hardening, in heat treatment processes, as an energy source, or even as an emissions-free fuel.

Indirect CO₂ emissions under Scope 2 relate to the process of producing the electricity purchased throughout the Group and totaled 4.51 million metric tons in 2020, 1.64 million metric tons of which were allocated to Messer in North and South America. The decrease versus the previous year’s value of 4.57 million metric tons, which did not yet include the quantities from Messer in North and South America, is primarily attributable to the lower emissions factor: as long as the global trend toward producing more green electricity continues, our indirect CO₂ emissions under Scope 2 – which make up more than 90 percent of our total emissions – will follow that trend, till the long-term goal of climate neutrality has been achieved.

With regard to the air separation units that we develop and build, their energy-efficient design and the cost-effective procurement of energy used to operate them play major roles.

Our goal is to continuously reduce the specific energy consumption of our air separation units. That goal will be achieved through better utilization of the existing production units as well as continuous investment and specifically targeted projects that sustainably increase the energy efficiency of the units. This task falls under the purview of the Global Energy Officer (GEO), which has been a permanent function within the Messer organization since 2014.

Energy efficiency in production is expressed in the energy coefficient. It indicates how much electrical power a production unit consumed per metric ton of product it produced as compared with a theoretical “reference unit” (energy coefficient = 100). In the 2020 financial year, this value averaged 99.9 worldwide at Messer. In the previous year, the figure was 98.4, but did not yet include the activities of Messer in North and South America. For this reason, no direct comparison can be made between the energy coefficients of the 2020 and 2019 financial years.

The emissions factor was about 4.8 percent lower than the previous year. Our absolute, worldwide CO₂e footprint was about 1 percent smaller in 2020, despite the fact that more electrical power was consumed overall for quantity of product manufactured. We achieved this by improving the electrical power emissions factor of our production units: the make-up of the applied energy mix featured a higher share of “green energy” than in the previous year.

In 2020, our production units consumed 10.6 TWh of electricity worldwide, which was 0.4 TWh more than in 2019. This change was attributable to a significant increase in electrical demand in Asia (+15 percent) versus 2019, while demand in Europe and the Americas fell (-6.8 and -0.9 percent, respectively). The share of intentionally purchased green electricity, i.e. electrical power beyond the average share of power from renewable energies in the grid, totaled 65 GWh.

To optimize our electricity procurement, we use continuous tenders and long-term framework agreements and continuously monitor the futures and spot markets. We have a centralized team that supports and advises our subsidiaries when they purchase electrical power. It also regularly reviews electricity costs and the use of renewable energies in the context of a comparative analysis.

Despite efficiency improvements, the Group’s indirect CO₂ emissions (Scope 2) increased as a result of sales growth due to new air separation units – including the North and South American units that have now been included in the calculation for the first time – as well as due to higher utilization of existing units. Through reduction of specific electrical energy consumption, which is documented by energy coefficients, and minimization of the emissions factor relative to the purchased electricity mix, however, the absolute emissions increase remains disproportionately low.

The efficiency improvement measures in Production included:

• Replacement of obsolete, inefficient equipment by modern technology (e.g. a new air compressor in the air separation unit in Smederevo, Serbia)
• Installation of on-site units to eliminate the need for liquefied gas deliveries by truck (e.g. air separation unit in Speyer, Germany; N₂ generator at Wieland, Austria)
• Implementation of Aspen DMC advanced process control software in seven air separation units

The emissions covered under Scope 3 are indirect emissions unrelated to the purchase of electrical power. Examples include the purchase of competitors’ products, business travel, and employees’ commute to their place of work. The total CO₂ equivalence value for greenhouse gas emissions under Scope 3 was 43,000 metric tons. That represents a significant reduction versus the comparable figure from 2019, which was 175,000 metric tons of CO₂e. Moreover, the value for 2020 also includes the figures from Messer in North and South America, which was not the case in 2019. This trend is primarily attributable to the correct allocation of product swaps in 2020: Messer sells bulk products from its own sources to competitors in exchange for product from competitors’ sources. This can significantly reduce the number of kilometers driven along with the resulting emissions.