Energy use

 

In 2008, total energy use increased slightly by 0.8% from 16.73 million GJ in 2007 to 16.87 million GJ.

Total on-site energy decreased from 7.03 million GJ to 6.98 million GJ (down 0.7%), while total purchased energy also increased slightly from 9.70 million GJ in 2007 to 9.89 million GJ (up 1.9%).

Novartis has progressed further in switching to less carbon intensive and more renewable energy resources; 91% of on-site generated energy came from the combustion of natural gas and 1.7% from renewable sources, excluding hydroelectric power, including this source increases the renewable energy portion to around 30%.

Sandoz (7.45 million GJ) was the largest energy user in Novartis, followed by Pharma (5.69 million GJ) and Consumer Health (1.53 million GJ).

 

Energy use targets and outlook

In 2008, energy use again increased only marginally (0.8%), despite a continued expansion of activities and further sales growth of 2% in USD and of 5.1% in local currencies. The trend in improved energy efficiency is expected to continue in future years as a consequence of the energy efficiency programs being enacted throughout the organization.

Total energy costs for the Novartis Group are USD 374 million for 2008, of which USD 222 million are spent on electricity.

 

Energy efficiency improvement index

After successfully completing the previous target period 2003-2006, Novartis has set a new energy efficiency improvement target of 10% for the period 2007 to 2010 (based on the 2006 performance). This translates to an average 2.5% energy efficiency improvement per year.

Energy efficiency is defined as total energy use per total sales (in local currencies). Percentage improvement changes with respect to the base year selected (2006) are reported and managed for each Division or Business Unit (energy use per number of associates instead of sales for Novartis Research).

In 2008, Novartis has achieved energy efficiency improvements of 8% compared to 2006. This is a significant improvement and well above the 5% target defined for the two years 2007 and 2008. We will further increase our efforts to save energy in order to secure the 2010 target and to most effectively support the related greenhouse gas emission reduction target.

Learn more about the greenhouse gas emission reduction target

 

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