ENVIRONMENT
The Road to Energy Efficiency
WBB Minerals has taken some major strides over the past twenty months in driving down its energy consumption. Last year it succeeded in reducing CO2 emissions by 2,500 tonnes and in doing so became the first company in the quarrying sector to gain Energy Efficiency Accreditation from the National Energy Foundation. But it’s not all been plain sailing ...
Towards the end of 2002, Wilson Brown, UK Managing Director of the multinational WBB Minerals Group, laid down a resolute challenge for his team to reduce energy consumption by 3% across all UK operations. This goal was achieved within 12 months through an energy saving campaign that succeeded in engaging every part of the company. But WBB Minerals is determined that energy efficiency becomes an integral and sustainable element of its business culture and not simply a short-lived campaign. Its experiences to date have proved that this is far from easy, but the progress made in a relatively short period of time has provided the impetus and motivation to continue for the long-haul.
The Drivers
“Obviously there are a number of drivers behind energy efficiency for businesses today,” explains Keith Wilkes, Technical Support Director of WBB Minerals and the man charged with leading the energy reduction initiative. “The clear and most tangible benefit is the cost reductions achievable. We’ve found that some of these can be gained relatively quickly and cheaply whilst others require a more considered approach and long-term investment decisions must be made. For us there is a clear business case to drive down energy costs and the fiercely competitive nature of our markets dictates that this will always be the case.”
“The other key driver is environmental responsibility. This is something we’ve always taken very seriously at a local level, our current Biodiversity Action Plan being a prime example. Our energy saving campaign, however, takes a national perspective and allows WBB Minerals as a company to make a much wider contribution.”
“To be honest we’ve found the environment to be the main driver for most of our staff and it has been the motivating force behind the vast majority of ideas generated. As such the messages we’ve used to communicate the campaign internally have focused very much on the environmental benefits ahead of the commercial gains.”
The Strategy
WBB Minerals’ Energy Campaign was officially launched at the start of 2003 with the objective of reducing CO2 emissions by 2,500 tonnes before the end of the year. Three regional teams together with a team looking at transport were set up and tasked with identifying potential energy savings in their respective areas. Another group was formed to identify savings around the company’s Head Office complex in Cheshire. The teams were empowered and encouraged to engage all staff (and their families) in the generation of ideas. WBB Minerals supported this with humorous poster campaigns (pictured), competitions and regular updates via the company newsletter. The campaign wasn’t just confined to the workplace - in association with the government-funded Energy Saving Trust the company also encouraged staff to undertake ‘DIY home energy checks’ to identify savings around the house.
“We realised from the start that the reduction target we’d set ourselves would be entirely unrealistic without the buy-in of all staff,” says Keith Wilkes. “To do this we needed to win hearts and minds and genuinely convince people of the benefits. Consequently energy saving ideas came from every corner of the business and ranged in complexity from simply turning off lights and computers when not in use through to changes to the more complex operational procedures with huge savings potential. We are working on the philosophy that every little helps and this is paying dividends in that we’re already seeing a significant cultural change throughout the company.”
The success of the campaign ensured that WBB Minerals achieved its 3% CO2 reduction target and in doing so became the first company in the quarrying sector to gain Energy Efficiency Accreditation (EEA) from the National Energy Foundation. The EEA process helps organisations focus carefully on all aspects of energy management. It is an independent assessment of an organisation’s energy management credentials and there are currently only some 200 organisations in the UK holding this award.
“WBB Minerals are showing great imagination and thoroughness in the way that energy management is tackled,” says Alan Williams, the independent assessor assigned by the National Energy Foundation to help in the accreditation process. “I am particularly impressed by the way that staff at all levels are involved and that the difficult problem of promoting energy efficiency in transport (30% of the company’s energy bill) is being tackled head on. WBB Minerals is the first company in the UK to feature the Energy Efficiency Accreditation logo on its vehicle fleet. I am looking forward to identifying developments in their campaign by the time re-accreditation becomes due in 2006.”
The Carbon Trust
In April 2003 WBB Minerals approached the Carbon Trust, a government-funded independent company that works with businesses across all industry sectors in cutting carbon emissions. The two subsequently entered into a partnership agreement which could last for up to three years, during which time the Carbon Trust will provide free technical training and advice via specialist consultants.
The initial work of the partnership has focused on WBB Minerals’ Oakamoor sand quarry in Staffordshire, a highly complex operational site with an annual energy spend in excess of £1 million. Surveys to date have identified huge savings potential and WBB Minerals is currently in the process of weighing up the commercial case to take these forward. In parallel with the Oakamoor project, the Carbon Trust has also focused on optimising the efficiency of the dryer operation at WBB Minerals’ Leighton Buzzard site with a view to eventually rolling-out best practice guidelines across all of its UK quarries.
Ian Sibbick, North West Regional Manager for the Carbon Trust explains: “we work alongside companies to provide guidance and targeted help on saving energy. This ranges from raising staff awareness of the issue through to sophisticated process improvement and optimisation. We have worked with WBB Minerals to produce an Action Plan to help prioritise energy saving measures and have identified the mineral drying process as an area of high potential savings. The quarrying sector in general needs to look more closely at how their processes work, to consider process integration and heat recovery and installation of effective energy management systems.”
The Savings
The campaign has seen the realisation of savings in many different forms. One of the simplest and yet most effective came via an employee at the company’s kaolin operation in Devon who identified the huge potential of a straightforward modification to the band plant press modules. The addition of trays now prevents water saturating the press cakes before entering the dryer, thus reducing the amount of gas required to dry the clay to the required moisture content. The cost of installing the trays was just £285 and subsequent savings are in the region of £11,000 per year.
At the other extreme, many hours of teamwork went into improving the efficiency of a fluid bed dryer at WBB Minerals’ Congleton operation in Cheshire. A study involving all operators was undertaken to look at the parameters of the dryer and assess the performance characteristics of its fans and motors. It became apparent that considerable improvements could be made through the installation of variable speed drive equipment to the motors. Inverters were subsequently installed on both the cooler and dryer fan motors resulting in an energy reduction of 42kW and a forecast annual cost saving of around £7,500.
“The dryer Operators have really taken on board the changes we have made to the plant and without their help these savings could not be achieved,” comments WBB MINERALS’ Cheshire Operations Manager, Rob Davenport. “The guys have constantly monitored the set points and really fine-tuned the way the plant now operates.”
Maintaining the Momentum
Following on from the success of 2003, WBB Minerals set itself an increased target of a 5% reduction in CO2 emissions in 2004. This is proving tough but the results to date are encouraging. “Towards the end of our 2003 campaign the ideas had started to dry up and we realised that the whole thing had been very much management-led,” explains Keith Wilkes. “What we’ve done in 2004 is turn that on its head and set up new teams led by operations managers and works engineers. We hope that this will provide a fresh impetus and kick-start new ideas. But you have to realise that an energy efficient business isn’t created overnight. This is an ongoing and very gradual process both from an operational and cultural perspective. We’ve achieved a heck of a lot in a short space of time but we’re still on a very steep learning curve.”
Ian Sibbick of the Carbon Trust continues: “We’ve been greatly encouraged by the time, effort and investment that has been channelled into improving energy efficiency at WBB Minerals’ quarries. Although there is still much to be done, the management understand that the process of improvement is a continual one. WBB Minerals is prepared to consider any energy reduction measures that make a viable business case and the commitment to integrating energy efficiency into its business culture is promising for the future.”
The Future
Like all companies in the quarrying sector today, WBB Minerals is faced with a constantly changing business landscape driven largely by globalisation and increasingly competitive markets. It is also coming to terms with massive hikes in energy prices and mounting legislative pressures to reduce emissions. The progress made to date is a clear indication that the company is responding positively to these challenges by placing energy saving at the very heart of its business strategy.
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