The Comparison, Measuring & Labelling of Energy-efficient Textile Machinery
that are manufactured/processed relatively frequently with
the relevant textile machine (“mass products”). Unique items
cannot be compared.
Which differentiation is feasible and necessary here has to
be considered carefully in relation to the benefit for the
respective machine types.
The responsibility of the textile manufacturer
Energy-efficient textile machines are a prerequisite for
energy savings. Services in the context of the machine
manufacturer’s energy efficiency programmes support the
textile manufacturers in the further optimization of the
product-specific processes on site. These include, for
example, accessories for the optimization of the mechanical
equipment (e.g. retrofitting of heat recovery) or the
visualization of processes and energy-related parameters
which support the textile manufacturer in manufacturing
his product at an extremely high level of energy efficiency.
In a complex textile process that cannot be compared with
the use of consumer goods, only the proper use of machines
guarantees the expected energy saving. The textile
manufacturer himself is responsible for the efficient operation
of his machines. As previously pointed out, potential forenergy savings also lies in the deliberate design of
upstream processes. Making use of this potential requires
trained personnel. Greater transparency of the relationships
between production settings and resulting energy
consumption helps to optimize processes. not every
operating point with the largest production capacity is also
the most energyefficient. In this respect, reflections on Life
cycle costing (e.g. according to VDMA Specification 34160)
can assist in making sensible business decisions.
The textile manufacturer can have a significant influence
even through his choice of maintenance intervals. Lack of
maintenance of textile machinery or the use of inferior
wearing parts reduce the efficiency of textile machines and
increase energy consumption.
The environmental footprint
The most significant part of the environmental footprint is
created during the operation of the textile machine.
A reliable CO2 footprint for the operating phase can only
be determined when detailed data is available from the
textile manufacturer for power generation and the generation
of thermal energy.
Electrical energy
The following comparison of CO2 emissions from electricity
generation in Germany shows the influence of the different
types of power plants. (Table 1)
Table 1 : comparison of CO2 emissions per kWh for
electricity generation, according to values from
GEMIS 3.0; Ökoinstitut e.V. Freiburg, GermanyTable 2 : comparison of CO2 emissions per kWh for
thermal energy generation, according to values from
GEMIS 3.0; Ökoinstitut e.V. Freiburg, Germany
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