Cheese dairy Klusen
Project
Woodchip heating and use of the generated heat to operate an absorption refrigerator.
Project owner
Entlebucher Spezialitäten Käserei AG
Initial situation
The Entlebuch region aims to become a pioneer in matters of sustainability. Entlebucher Spezialitäten Käserei AG in Schüpfheim is playing its part with an innovative project.
Due to Klimarappen
The project’s conventional aspect is to heat the milk using woodchips rather than fuel oil. However, for the first time in Switzerland, the heat generated using woodchips is now used to operate an absorption refrigerator. In the summer and in transitional seasons, the company’s own, abundant spring water is brought to the absorption refrigerator, which cools the water to a constant temperature of 6 °C. In turn, this water cools the facility’s equipment and refrigeration chambers.
Savings
The woodchip installation has been operating since January 2007, saving around 50’000 litres of fuel oil a year and reducing around 730 tonnes of CO2 over the period 2007 to 2012.
Investments
At 540’000 Swiss Francs, the project’s investment costs were twice as high as they would have been in the reference scenario of covering energy requirements with fuel oil. Only the Foundation’s payment for the reduction in CO2 emissions made it possible for the cheese dairy to implement the project in this form.
