CO₂-neutrality

Ambitious climate protection goals

Miele will be CO₂ neutral across all its locations from 2021 onwards

Internationally certified standards and criteria safeguard high quality.

Our compensation projects have been carefully selected according to the strictest criteria. Not only have we been at pains to ensure that these have major impact on sequestering and reducing CO2; they are also a best fit for Miele's own values and philosophy.

Nepal – Installation of small biogas plants

This project creates domestic biogas digesters which use cow manure as a source of energy. This project is aimed at families previously using firewood for cooking. Slurry is mixed with water and collected in a digester. Fermentation produces gas which collects in the upper reaches of the system. This is then piped to gas cookers in the kitchens. As a result, no firewood is needed for cooking and emissions are reduced in three locations: The manure would normally be released to atmosphere as it ferments. At the same time, biogas is used as a fuel, reducing the amount of firewood burned. This avoids deforestation and reduces levels of indoor pollution. The remaining organic fertiliser replaces the use of chemical products. This provides an affordable and decentral source of energy, in particular to poor households in rural locations.

India – Solar water treatment

In India, growing energy requirements are largely met by coal-fired power stations and water is heated using electricity. 90% of India's urban population use throughflow heaters which run on electricity to produce hot water, accounting for approx. 20 to 30% of the country's entire power consumption. Solar-thermal plants provide environmentally friendly electricity and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. As a country with 300 days of sunshine per year, India has everything going for it when it comes to using solar energy. This project supports and promotes the marketing and installation of emission-free solar-thermal water boilers. Thanks to a lower outlay for electricity and fuels, income is freed up to spend on other necessities of life.

Uganda – Peasant farmers and reforestation projects

This project encourages small farmers to plant new forests and manage existing forests better. This lays the foundation for the long-term and sustainable use of land where the biomass provided by trees absorbs and captures carbon. At the same time, this supports bio-diversity and improves citizens' welfare. The project implements concrete measures to protect forests such as preventing fires and policing illegal logging, and regulates access to resources on the basis of village forest management plans. Furthermore, run-down wooded areas are restored by planting new trees for use later specifically as firewood.

Nicaragua – Agro-forestry project with sustainable coffee growing

The project in Nicaragua supports farmers with coffee-growing expertise. Farmers receive technical and financial support and are finally rewarded with a fair price for their coffee. This project cuts carbon emissions by enabling farmers to reforest their own land and to reactivate sparser areas at higher elevations by planting shade-grown coffee bushes. Mixed-planting of coffee seedlings together with other types of trees strengthens natural resistance, diversifies sources of income, reduces CO₂ emissions and increases wildlife habitats. Sustainable forestry using fast-growing species contributes to sequestering large volumes of CO₂.

USA – Reforestation of the Mississippi delta

This project is located in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, one of the most important deciduous ecosystems on the North American sub-continent. The area, sometimes referred to as North America's rain forest, is a transitional zone and hibernation site for around 60% of all the birds on the continent. Intensive forest clearance over the past 50 years has resulted in the serious degradation of the area. This project aims to reforest arable areas previously used to grow soya and cotton. What's more, the US Geological Survey estimates that every 100,000 hectares of arable land reforested prevent approximately 703 tonnes of nitrogen and phosphorous from entering the Mississippi each year.

Germany / Austria – Use of Biochar in agriculture

As an innovative company and technology leader, we also actively support and promote technological approaches to sequestering and reducing CO₂ – for example the removal of CO₂ from the atmosphere for agricultural use in Austria and Germany. Biochar is produced from biomass in an anaerobic digester at temperatures of between 380°C and 1000°C (pyrolysis). This is done energy-efficiently in existing processes which convert energy anyway, for example combustion processes in co-generation power stations. The addition of Biochar to agricultural soils also results in a reduction in the methane and nitrous oxide released during microbial degradation process. A further positive side-effect of using Biochar in farming is the improvement of the water and fertiliser retention capacity of soil and hence an improvement in soil fertility and the quality of topsoil.

1.5 degrees global warming as target Reduction of the CO₂ footprint Expansion of renewable energies Switch to green electricity Compensation projects Questions and answers

Further information

2021 Sustainability Report

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Contact:

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ursula.wilms@miele.de

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