New energy dashboard provides insights
To that end, the past few years have been working on an energy dashboard that will be delivered in 2023. "Now we can really get to work," says Tijs. "We can read all the meters. Every place where energy is used, we can monitor. If we know how much cheese we are going to make, we also know how much energy we are going to use. Now it's a matter of learning to make the right connections, so that we can intervene in case of deviations. For example, if you lose milk due to leakage, this will be reflected in the energy consumption per kilo of cheese. In doing so, it helps you find energy savings. What happens if we heat a certain tank a little later?"

"A big change in the electricity supply."
In the sustainability team, all ideas and plans to save energy come to the table. "Here we distinguish three types of interventions. Ideas that cost little and yield enough; we implement them immediately. If the energy savings cost money and time, then we put a small team on it that gets the savings in between business. Then there are the big projects, like coming up with an alternative to the gas the steam boiler runs on." And those, says Tijs, are the projects that are needed if CONO is to meet its climate goals. Because for that, the cheese factory has to get rid of gas. "We are on the eve of a major change in electricity supply."

New power connection
CONO can get a new power connection with six times the size of the current connection. That's a big investment for our small cooperative, but it also gives us the opportunity to free up the steam boiler to meet our 2030 CO2 reduction target. "With the new cable, two heat pumps and e-boilers, we can then replace the steam boiler. And then we will also be rid of the current power grid failures, which now occasionally bring production to a halt. All the power needed to keep the cheese factory running can then be generated by our own livestock farmers.... I think that is truly circular."

Circular water use
Tijs also considers CONO's water use circular. "In the production of cheese, we take in water and release whey. From that we extract water again, which we call permeate, which is used to rinse our facilities clean. The waste water that then remains we used to treat ourselves, but is now of such quality that we discharge directly to the water board via a buffer tank and a pressure pipeline. The latter eventually turns it back into clean water that can be discharged into surface water."

Climate ambition CONO
CONO Cheese Makers has the ambition to work together to be positive for future generations. This requires cooperation in the chain. In the process of making cheese, CONO and its partners want to reduce 75% CO₂-eq. in order to reduce the footprint of cheese.