Speciality chemicals producer Evonik, formerly Degussa, is banking on energy efficiency as one of the global mega-trends that will help to drive the company’s future success, board member Klaus Engel told delegates. The global drive towards improved energy efficiency is not only creating favourable market conditions for established Evonik products in areas such as solar silicon, green tyres and lightweight plastics, he pointed out, but is also creating new opportunities for future innovations.
As part of its plan to increase emphasis on energy efficiency, the company announced that it is considering establishing a new systems centre for energy effectiveness and abatement. A decision on whether to go ahead with the centre is expected within the next two months, said board member Alfred Oberholz. Although the budget and scope have yet to be decided, he added, the new centre should be based around an ‘integrated approach, involving us, researchers from academia and customers’,
The establishment of such a centre would be a continuation of Evonik’s current thinking about scientific developments in terms of systems rather than merely products, Oberholz explained. If it gets the go-ahead, the new systems house would be the second such systems centre established by the firm, following the establishment of the biosystems centre in March (C&I 2007, 7, 22).
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