CLH Group: nearly EUR 37 million invested in environmental projects in the 2014-2016 period

• The initiatives aim at increasing the sustainability of its activities and reducing energy consumption in the company  

MADRID, 11-Aug-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — The CLH Group invested nearly 37 million euros in environmental projects in the 2014-2016 period, enabling a more efficient and more environmentally-friendly and sociable use of resources, technologies and processes.

As part of its biodiversity protection policy, the company has completed the environmental analysis plan it started in 2012 in cooperation with the association for the study and defence of nature GREFA (Rehabilitation Group for Native Fauna and its Habitat) to determine the integration of its pipeline network in areas of particular environmental value.

The analyses carried out over the last four years have found that the sections analysed do not interfere with the development of the animal and plant species in the areas selected and highlight the integration of these infrastructures in the environment.

The CLH Group and GREFA have analysed a total of approximately 200 kilometres of protected natural areas where the pipelines are present across nine different regions, which had previously been selected using a specific geographical analysis software. The analyses were carried out by an expert team from GREFA, together with a team of company professionals, who travelled along the route of the pipelines and used analysis methods based on an inventory of the wildlife present along the pipeline route and surrounding areas.

The company has also carried out new soil protection analyses in order to know the environmental status of the ground at facilities, through sampling of groundwater and installation of sensors.

Furthermore, it has implemented several innovation projects in this area, such as the analysis carried out to test new geophysical techniques for the environmental characterisation of soil, which are more efficient and precise, or the testing of new treatment methods for hydrocarbon-polluted water, for which a specific prototype was built at the Motril facility.

With regard to energy efficiency, CLH has incorporated more efficient devices in its logistics network, which result in energy savings and a reduction of related emissions.

As part of this plan, CLH has installed variable speed engines and pumps at its facilities, providing improved performance, in addition to frequency drives in the feeding systems of road tanker loading areas, to adjust pump power to product flow needs, instead of pumping at a fixed power rate. The company has also improved light efficiency at several plants by installing LED technology and movement sensors.

CLH has supplemented these initiatives with the verification and calculation of thecarbon footprint resulting from its activities, which enables it to identify, design and implement initiatives for reducing greenhouse gases, and to calculate their scope and effectiveness. It should be pointed out that the transportation of fuel by pipeline in 2016 prevented the emission of 366k tonnes of CO₂ into the atmosphere, which would be the equivalent amount emitted by other means of transport.

All these initiatives have contributed to the successful renewal of the ISO 14001 certification for the company’s Environmental Management System and the certification of the Bilbao and Malaga airport facilities according to the demanding EMAS environmental standards.

The CLH Group also renewed the European Seal of Excellence 500+, the highest award given by the Club for Excellence in Management, maintaining its position as one of only three companies in the energy sector to have achieved this recognition. The report issued by the assessors highlighted, among other aspects, the company’s commitment to “maintaining safety and sustainability criteria in carrying out its activities”.

SOURCE: CLH

MEDIA CONTACT

+34 91 774 60 00
infoclh@clh.es