Over the past three years, CLH Group has allocated around €40m to environmental projects with the aim of reinforcing the sustainability of its activities, in addition to using resources, technology and training processes that are efficient and respectful of their natural and social surroundings.

In terms of energy efficiency, CLH is developing a modernisation plan for industrial equipment, with the aim of saving energy and reducing emissions related to their activities.

As part of this plan, CLH has adapted its boilers so that they use diesel in place of other heavy fuels. They have also implemented new systems which allow for the power of pipeline pumps to be adjusted to the flow of the product and they have also incorporated special additives for the transport of petrol products via pipelines, which allows them to minimise loss of energy due to friction.

Furthermore, in recent years the company has made great efforts to promote the use of renewable energy. In this vein, CLH has contracted an electricity supplier which guarantees that all the energy consumed comes from renewable sources.

CLH have continued carrying out soil protection analyses to understand the environmental condition of the land around its facilities, taking ground water samples through piezometric networks and using geophysical technologies with multifrequency 3D Georadar to create a profile of the ground.

They have also developed numerous programmes for the management of spillages and the protection of groundwater, such as the implementation of a new system for the treatment of waters contaminated by hydrocarbons based on the use of bio-absorbent materials, or the bioremediation project which uses microbial degradation of hydrocarbons in soil decontamination works.

Furthermore, CLH calculates the carbon footprint of its activities every year. This study allows them to identify, devise and implement actions aimed at reducing emissions, in addition to measuring their reach and efficiency. In 2017, the use of pipelines for transporting fuel prevented 356,000 tonnes of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.

These actions contributed to the company renewing the ISO 14001 certification for all their installations, as well as the EMAS certification for their airport installations in Bilbao and Málaga.

As part of their biodiversity protection policy, CLH Group has a plan for the Identification of High Risk Areas (HCA) which, thanks to the use of software specifically designed for geographical analysis, determines environmentally sensitive areas surrounding the company’s pipelines, many of them being protected natural areas.

Based on this information, in collaboration with GREFA (Group for the Rehabilitation of Indigenous Fauna and its Habitat), CLH Group completed a series of environmental studies to measure the integration of its pipelines into these areas of special biological risk. After analysing around 200 kilometres of these protected natural areas, the studies concluded that the infrastructure interfered with neither the habitat nor the development of animal or plant species in the surrounding areas, and highlighted the integration of pipelines into said areas.

The company has also initiated a new project with the aim of measuring the impact on biodiversity by maintenance work carried out on the pipelines that pass through Protected Natural Areas. Its initial conclusions have been very positive and have determined that maintenance work carried out by CLH Group has had no impact on biodiversity.

In this vein, CLH Group has also signed a new agreement with GREFA to participate for four years in the programme for the conservation of Iberian harriers in the Community of Madrid, for which they have collaborated in an information and social awareness campaign and various activities for the tagging and rescue of broods. Furthermore, CLH continues to collaborate with the “Kestrel Network” initiative for the rehabilitation of the kestrel species in the Community of Madrid through reintroducing kestrel chicks bred in captivity. 

For more information, visit: www.clh.es

10th August 2018