Facts About Clay
Petersen Tegl primarily uses clay sourced from its own clay pits located only a few meters from the brickworks, which means no transport. The clay is a completely natural, 100 percent pure material.
More sustainable production of Kolumba™ and Cover™
Our Kolumba™ and Cover™ products are fired in periodic kilns using natural gas and biogas. Our customers can currently purchase our Kolumba™ and Cover™ products, manufactured through the use of biogas certificates. We are also exploring transitioning fully to biogas.
A planned new drying chamber for Kolumba™ and Cover™ will feature improved insulation and significantly increased heat recovery. This will cut energy consumption for the drying process by more than 50 percent. The project is only awaiting regulatory approval.
We also plan a test firing of Kolumba™ using hydrogen. When hydrogen burns, it emits no CO₂, only water vapor. This makes the process far more climate friendly as long as the hydrogen is produced using renewable energy.
More sustainable production of D-bricks
We are currently exploring three options to reduce CO₂ emissions from our D-brick production, which are fired in a tunnel kiln. This includes alternative fuels with low or zero CO₂ emissions.
We are also assessing the possibility of installing CO₂ capture from the kiln. A future capture system is unlikely to stand alone but would supplement green fuels.
In 2018 Petersen Tegl installed dust and particle filters on the tunnel kiln used for D-bricks. We are preparing further flue-gas cleaning to meet future emissions standards. Flue-gas cleaning is necessary for implementing CO₂ capture.
Right now, waste heat from the tunnel kiln firing is reused to preheat the dried bricks as they enter the tunnel kiln, provide heat for the drying chambers as well as for other production areas. For this, we use electrical blowers, powered by renewable electricity. We are working on additional initiatives to further improve the kiln’s energy efficiency.
Petersen Tegl D-bricks has since 1980 been produced with a frog (indent), which reduces material use and shortens drying and firing time.
If requested, we plan to offer a narrower D-brick, for example 90 mm instead of the current 108 mm. A narrower brick can save estimated 11 to 14 percent on materials and energy.
Alternative bricks with lower CO₂ emissions
For several years Petersen Tegl has responded to customer interest in thinner bricks, which are more sustainable because they require less material.
One example is a brick measuring 528 x 108 x 20 mm, type K43, mounted flat, saving 75 percent energy in drying and firing. It was developed for a after school centre in Allenmoos, Switzerland, designed by Boltshauser Architekten AG and completed in 2012.
Bricks of the same size, 528 x 108 x 20 mm, but made from another clay type, K91, also achieve a 75 percent energy saving. This brick was developed for the housing project Terrasserne in Copenhagen, designed by Rodam Arkitektur and completed in 2023.
CO₂ reduction through circularity
Reusing bricks or crushed clay does not reduce emissions from firing itself, but it lowers the need for new production and therefore the overall climate impact.
Fired bricks, such as off-colors and broken pieces, are crushed at the factory and recycled into the clay as chamotte.
Unfired bricks discarded after drying are also crushed and recycled into the clay.
Since both dried and fired bricks are fully reused, we have no material waste.
All surplus clay slurry from D-brick production is collected and reused.
We are working to upgrade our water-treatment system with the aim that all process water can be recycled in the production of Kolumba™ and Cover™. This will make it possible to collect and reuse clay slurry from these product lines as well as reducing wastewater discharge to zero.
All dust generated at the factory is captured and reused in production.
All paper used as underlay for bricks is made from 100 percent recycled paper.
Other initiatives
We have invested in EPD software and are building a system that will allow us to prepare new EPDs in-house, including the effect of green fuels. The work is expected to be completed in 2026.
We have replaced 30 diesel forklifts with electric ones.
We are assessing having raw materials delivered by trucks fuelled by biodiesel.
We are happy to help arrange environmentally friendly transport to construction sites, for example using biodiesel.
All factory lighting has been replaced with LED and motion sensors.
Energy-saving motors have been installed throughout the facility.
Investment in solar park
Together with eleven other companies, Petersen Tegl has built a solar park in North Jutland, completed in 2023. The park covers the electricity needs of all twelve companies, with Petersen Tegl consuming 4,700 MWh per year. The solar park produces about 70,000 MWh annually, equal to the electricity use of roughly 18,000 households.
The agreement between the twelve companies and Energi Denmark, one of the country’s leading energy trading groups, is based on a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA). Its main goal is to enable companies to generate renewable energy for society. Better Energy, one of Europe’s fastest-growing energy companies, constructed and now operates the solar park.
