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Energy


Energy use is a significant and rising expense at Millipore and a main source of our total environmental impact, so using this resource wisely has both financial and environmental benefits. Our goal is to stay ahead of rising energy costs and changing regulations on greenhouse gases, as well as to reduce our consumption of non-renewable energy resources.

There is no question: we must dramatically cut our use of energy. To that end, we set an ambitious goal to cut electricity use by 10%. Can we do it? We’re already well on our way. But how?

From efficiency to renewable energy, we use multiple approaches to sound energy management.

Energy Efficiency

We continually seek opportunities to conserve energy through process improvements and new technologies. We have conducted Level 1 and Level 2 energy audits, and a focused assessment on specific mechanical and electrical systems.

Lights at the center of the aisle are automatically shut off after 12 or 20 minutes of inactivity; fixtures at the end of the aisle remain on for safety.

CASE STUDY 1: BURLINGTON DISTRIBUTION CENTER LIGHTING

Our Burlington, Massachusetts warehouse replaced all existing 400-Watt metal halogen lights with energy-efficient, 235-Watt T5 fluorescent lights. Each light fixture is equipped with a motion sensor set to automatically turn off when a location-dependent 20 or 12 minute period of lack of movement is registered.

This change is saving Millipore $140,000 per year and reduce our electricity usage by almost 1,000,000 kWh/year.

Some of the benefits include:

  • Easy identification of areas that are not frequently used (lights remain off most of the time).
  • Fewer picking errors. Power meters installed quantitatively demonstrate the savings.
  • A brighter environment – issuing 235 foot-candle measured four feet off the floor versus a 80 to 150 foot candle ussied by old fixtures.

CASE STUDY 2: BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS COMPRESSED AIR REDUCTION

Our Bedford area facilities were excessively high users of electricity. The culprit? The compressed air systems used to run the manufacturing equipment in Bedford as well as in several other sites. Collectively, these facilities use about 13,000,000KWh of electricity to power these systems worldwide!

With the help of Jeff Wright from Compressor Energy Services, we added a variable speed compressor to the system, fixed air leaks, and eliminated non-productive uses of compressed air, saving $90,000 dollars in compressed air, or close to 600,000KWh of energy. Our plants in Jaffrey, New Hampshire, and Cork, Ireland, are using a similar methodology and are seeing similar—or better—results.

cogeneration


We use a natural gas fired cogeneration plant at our facility in Cork, Ireland. Generating energy on-site is environmentally preferable and increases efficiency because it:

  • Avoids the power loss that occurs when transmitting electricity over long distances.
  • Uses waste heat from power generation for process heating demand.
  • Burns cleaner and releases less carbon dioxide than coal or oil.

Renewable energy


In 2008, we completed our first purchase of renewable energy credits. Using savings realized from the efficiency measures above, Millipore purchased 10,000 MWh of RECs from our energy partner, 3Degrees.

The RECs are green-e certified, and were 100% generated from a wind farm at the Judith Gap, Montana. This energy offsets 100% of the energy used in our Temecula and Anderson, CA, St. Charles, MO, and Danvers, MA facilities.

We will continue to both purchase and generate cleaner energy, giving us independence from fossil fuels, and from volatile commodity prices.

Alternative Fuels

Another way we are reducing our consumption of non-renewable energy sources is through the use of alternative fuels. Alternative fuels can be characterized as non-conventional petroleum-based fuels (oil, coal and natural gas). Some examples of alternative fuels include biodiesel, ethanol, hydrogen, vegetable oil, and other biomass sources. We are exploring the use of alternative fuels where feasible.

Currently, we are implementing a pilot project in our Jaffrey, New Hampshire manufacturing facility to test the use of biodiesel, which is a type of biofuel. We are working with the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services Air Resources Division (DES) to test the use of B2O, a blend of 20% biodiesel and 80% conventional diesel, in our boilers. The partnership with DES is aimed at understanding the impacts from the combustion of biofuels in stationary sources. Continue to visit our website to learn more about our progress.

Learn more about our use of alternative fuel vehicles on our Fleet page.

Green buildings

We design and renovate company buildings to reduce energy use and also decrease other environmental impacts. In 2008, we completed our first project, in St Charles, Missouri, on which we are now seeking LEED certification (see the Green Buildings section). We also have green building construction now ongoing in Danvers, MA (where we build our Mobius™ product line) and in Molsheim, France. Please visit us in the near future for more information on these projects.