Fact is
- The paper industry has considerably reduced its energy requirement.
- The paper industry already generates a considerable proportion of the energy it requires from renewable sources.
Energy is required for all industrial production. The paper industry is no exception: it requires energy to operate its machines and to dry the paper web. About half of the energy required in the European paper industry already comes today from renewable energy sources.
Around 560 kWh of energy are required in Germany to make 200 kg of paper, which is more or less the average annual per capita consumption in the countries of the European Union.
Is that a lot?
By way of comparison, 560 kWh is equivalent to:
- the amount of energy consumed by a game computer with high-speed processor in nine months (767 kWh per year when used four hours a day), source: ARD
- the amount of energy consumed by a single 60 W low-energy household light bulb in three and a half years (approx. 7.5 hours/day)
- less than half of the amount of energy consumed annually by an average household with television, kitchen appliances, etc., left on standby
For economical and environmental reasons the paper industry works continuously to optimise its processes. Since 1990 alone, measures have been introduced to reduce the specific energy consumption per ton of paper by 27 per cent (source: VDP monitoring of the climate protection agreement by German industry).
Moreover, the power consumed by servers and computer centres in Germany in 2008 was 10.1 terawatts/hour (paper industry 21). A total of four medium-sized coal-fired power stations are required to produce this energy (sources: ARD/VDP).
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