According to a product information sheet, the textiles chemicals firm Textilcolor, headquartered in Sevelen in the canton of St.Gallen, has developed energy-saving technologies for the textiles industry. These are chemical processes designed to help textile manufacturers reduce their water and energy consumption as well as production times. The industry has been hit particularly hard by rising prices on the energy market.
According to the information, industry - above all the chemicals sector - remains “the largest consumer of energy”. Accordingly, “the production of chemical products is not only highly energy-intensive, a large part of the natural gas is also used as a raw material for chemical products”. As such, government measures to save and ration raw materials are hitting the sector all the more impactfully.
Energy-saving technologies include, for example, ecological and smart dyeing and bleaching processes, environmentally friendly detergents and cleaning agents, as well as catalysts to improve the useful life. With the Lavan Esa product, for example, the temperature for soaping fabrics can be reduced, with “huge” savings on water also possible. The post-washing of reactive dyeing and printing can also be greatly reduced, which generates “considerable cost savings” in the process.
The reason for this is the sharp rise in energy prices seen over recent months. According to the product information sheet, the price for one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity rose by 517 percent from 46 euros in March 2021 to 284 euros in March of this year. Moreover, the wholesale price for gas rose by 75 percent from 73 euros per MWh in March of last year to 128 euros per MWh in March 2022.