Novo Nordisk signs partnership agreement on CO2 reduction
As part of its commitment to reducing its energy consumption and CO2 emissions, Danish healthcare company Novo Nordisk has signed a partnership agreement with Danish energy company DONG Energy.
As part of its commitment to reducing its energy consumption and CO2 emissions, Danish healthcare company Novo Nordisk has signed a partnership agreement with Danish energy company DONG Energy.
Under the partnership, which is thought to be the first of its kind, Novo Nordisk pledges until 2020 to convert all energy savings realised at its Danish production sites into the purchase of green electricity for its production sites. The energy will be supplied from a new wind farm that DONG Energy is establishing at Horns Rev in Denmark.
The agreement will contribute significantly to Novo Nordisk's target of reducing its CO2 emissions by 10% below 2004 levels by 2014 - an ambitious target, given the company's projected significant growth in production.
DONG Energy's experts will help identify energy savings options at Novo Nordisk's Danish production sites, which represent 90% of the company's total CO2 emissions. The aim is for all the company's Danish production sites to convert their total consumption of electricity to renewable energy by 2014.
With this agreement Novo Nordisk will make a significant contribution towards realising the Horns Rev II offshore wind farm and will help build the market for renewable energy in Denmark,' said Lars Clausen, executive vice president of DONG Energy. 'This is an extremely important commercial agreement that we hope will serve as an inspiration to many other companies.'
Novo Nordisk's CO2 reduction target is the result of an agreement signed with WWF in 2006 as part of the Climate Savers programme. The programme currently comprises 12 global companies that have committed themselves to taking active steps to consume less energy and shift towards renewable energy.