Sustainability by Kling Malz

Sustainability is not a new topic for us - as a family business with 140 years of tradition, we have always been committed to the three pillars of sustainability: economics, social issues and ecology.

Economic management as a pillar of our sustainability strategy has not only ensured the survival of our company for many decades. Through smart, sustainable management, we can fulfill our obligation to the social component of sustainability: to our employees and our suppliers.

As a malt house, we rely on high-quality grain - for ourselves and future generations, we therefore pay attention to environmentally friendly cultivation methods, to strong CO2 reductions in our energy-intensive production and to the environmentally friendly transport of our raw materials. I

n order to achieve our sustainability goals, we have invested a lot in sustainable energy generation in recent years. We are currently investing in a biomass furnace to make our production even more future-proof. Our commitment in detail:

1. Increasing energy efficiency‍

Conversion from fluorescent tubes to LED lighting in production and administration

Replacement of the Darre motors in Schriesheim: The previous asynchronous motors were replaced with reluctance motors of the highest energy efficiency class IE 5. The new motors do not require any current in the rotor bars. Energy losses and waste heat are therefore a thing of the past.

In 2023, cross-flow heat exchangers with significantly improved efficiency were installed in Edingen.

We also have eSavers in operation in both factories, which ensure power savings by generally lowering the input voltage.

In Schriesheim, we operate a refrigeration system with particularly environmentally friendly ammonia. Ammonia has no ozone depletion potential (ODP = 0) and no direct greenhouse effect (GWP = 0).

The building envelope of our administration building in Edingen was thermally insulated in 2023.

The next step will be to replace the oil heating system with a geothermal probe system. The necessary water licence has already been obtained. Compared to an air-to-air heat pump, the geothermal probe system has the advantage of significantly lower electricity consumption, and the fan-driven condenser is also no longer required.

We regularly have our measures to increase energy efficiency audited: We are certified in accordance with the international standard for energy management systems DIN ISO 50001.

2. From fossil to renewable and bio-energy

The previous oil heating system in our Schalander in Schriesheim has been decommissioned. Space heating is provided by split air conditioning units, which are also used in the administrative offices in Schriesheim. Hot water is heated exclusively using electricity.

Our company vehicle also only fills up with electricity.

Our burner at the Schriesheim plant is hydrogen-ready.
The combustion of pure hydrogen produces no carbon dioxide emissions. The prerequisite is that the hydrogen is produced using renewable electricity and not - as is often the case - by vapour reformation of natural gas. Various aspects of the combustion of pure hydrogen must be taken into account in the burner. At 2,252 °C, the combustion temperature of hydrogen is significantly higher than that of natural gas at 2,044 °C. This would result in an increased formation of thermal nitrogen oxides, which we will avoid by increasing flue gas recirculation and thus minimising nitrogen oxide emissions.

We are building a biomass firing system at the Schriesheim plant that will go into operation in June 2025. Planned CO2 savings per year: approx. 3,000 tonnes.

3. Regionally produced, ecologically transported

We prefer to source our malting barley directly from the region. Our own producer groups produce malting barley, malting wheat and winter malting barley for us.

A large proportion of grain deliveries are transported by ship. At just 19 g/t*km compared to lorry transport at 71 g/t*km, transport by ship reduces specific CO2 emissions by a significant 75%. In 2023 alone, around 9,400 tonnes of malting barley and malting wheat were transported by ship. To deliver this quantity by lorry, around 376 lorries would have had to make the journey. Even a single shipload of grain replaces around 40 lorry transports.

4 Practised species protection

We are happy to receive sound ecological advice for our building projects. For one of our planned construction projects, a ‘negative proof for building breeders’ was required. Experts from NABU Heidelberg helped us to fulfil this requirement in an environmentally friendly manner.

Since 2022, tits, swifts and black redstarts have had a protected, species-appropriate home at Kling Malz plants.

Would you like to find out more about our sustainable transformation? Feel free to contact us.

We regularly publish all current measures relating to our sustainable transformation here in our blog.

Sustainability:
We don't like to talk about it -
we prefer to do a lot for it

Nachhaltigkeit bei Kling:
Wir reden nicht gerne viel darüber.
Wir machen lieber viel dafür.

Sustainability:We don't like to talk about it -we prefer to do a lot for it

Nachhaltigkeit bei Kling:Wir reden nicht gerne viel darüber.Wir machen lieber viel dafür.

Sustainability:
We don't like to talk about it -
we prefer to do a lot for it

Nachhaltigkeit bei Kling:
Wir reden nicht gerne viel darüber.
Wir machen lieber viel dafür.