SGL Carbon manufactures graphite products for industrial customers, including those in the computer and automotive industries. The company has over 800 employees and is energy-intensive; its electricity consumption is equivalent to that of a city with 30,000 residents. Following a company presentation, the group was also given a tour of various parts of the facility, including a high-pressure press (“the weight of an SUV on your thumbnail”), the mixing plant, the ring furnaces (over 1,000 degrees), and the graphitization furnaces (nearly 3,000 degrees).
During our visit, we gained many fascinating insights and learned more about the challenges faced by a large (publicly traded) industrial company, including from an environmental and climate protection perspective. We are now looking forward to our next plant tour at the waste-to-energy facility in Bonn-Endenich.