Evonik Announces Billion-Euro Energy-Efficiency Investment Program

• The German group allocates up to €2 billion for energy efficiency up to the end of the year 2010
• Dr. Werner Müller, chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik: “These are two billion euros for the future. We plan to further consolidate our leading market positions in the markets of the future.”
• In addition to state-of-the-art power plants and renewable energies, investments are planned in the future-oriented markets of photovoltaics and lithium-ion technology
• At its debut appearance at the Hannover Messe, Evonik will exhibit intelligent solutions from the world of the Group

Essen/Hanover. The Evonik industrial group is marking its debut appearance at the Hannover Messe with the announcement of a billion-euro investment program. “Energy efficiency is currently a worldwide megatrend. Through its top-notch, high-tech products, Evonik will contribute toward security of energy supplies and, at the same time, toward protection of the environment and climate. We're allocating up to two billion euros for this purpose from 2008 to the end of 2010 alone,” said Dr. Werner Müller, chairman of the Executive Board of Evonik Industries AG, at the opening of the world's largest industrial trade show. For Evonik, the energy efficiency megatrend is an important driver of growth. The German group recognized this trend early and has identified the relevant future markets. “We plan to further consolidate our leading market positions in this area,” said Müller. Evonik will invest not only in state-of-the-art power plants and renewable energies, but also in products for the photovoltaics industry and lithium-ion technology. Evonik has earmarked a total of more than €3 billion for capital investment—including pro rata investment in energy efficiency—in the years 2008 and 2009. “In both years, the sums invested will be almost twice the amortization amounts. In this way we're laying the foundations for a surge in earnings from 2010 onward and for the successful future of the Group,” says Müller.

In all of its three business areas, the Group offers products and innovations that already supply the answers to the problems of tomorrow. Its Real Estate Business Area, for example, is presenting in Hanover its concept for the so-called Three-Liter House. For the row houses in Düsseldorf that it has improved along these lines, Evonik has succeeded in reducing primary energy consumption by nearly 90 percent. “As for our ideas for the future, one of our long-term goals must be to construct buildings that produce more energy than they consume,” says Müller. Evonik refurbishes a total of 1000 housing units each year to bring them up to current energy standards.

In the Chemicals Business Area, Evonik already has a number of intelligent solutions that contribute to conserving resources and reducing emissions. For example, Evonik intends to strengthen its position as the global market leader in chlorosilanes and monosilanes and step up its commitment to photovoltaics. Evonik will provide a sum in the high three-digit million euro range for expanding capacities for precursors of solar silicon, according to Müller. At its trade show booth, Evonik will present its expertise in the automotive sector with the example of a “ three-liter car” that, thanks in part to Evonik technology, reduces fuel consumption by up to one-third. In addition to a high-performance lithium-ion battery and advanced hydraulic fluids, high-performance polymers and Plexiglas® have also been used here for weight reduction.

In the Energy Business Area, Evonik is focusing on renewable energies as well as state-of-the-art power plants, and exploits the potential of local energy resources. Apart from geothermal heat, these include in particular power and heat generation from biomass and biogas. Evonik currently operates ten biomass plants and a biogas plant in Germany, in which residues are converted into energy by means of innovative technology.