CO₂ emissions have been calculated for Orion’s direct and indirect energy consumption. Energy consumption and CO₂ emissions do not include the electricity consumption or heating energy of the foreign marketing subsidiaries. The CO₂ emissions from direct energy consumption were calculated based on the emission factors of the fuels. The CO₂ emissions from indirect energy consumption were calculated based on emission factors provided by energy suppliers.

The electricity supplied by Fortum to all units of the Group is produced by nuclear power and is practically carbon neutral. The annual electricity consumption is some 58 GWh (indicator EN4).

The increase in Orion’s total CO₂ emissions for 2009 is proportionally about the same as the increase in the consumption of direct (EN3) and indirect (EN4) district heat and steam. Most of Orion’s CO₂ emissions from direct energy consumption originate from the boiler facility of the Espoo plant, which produces steam. The boiler uses heavy fuel oil and produced a total of 12 GWh of energy in 2009. The much smaller facility at the pharmaceutical plant in Kuopio uses light fuel oil. It produced just under 2 GWh of steam in 2009.

In 2009, CO₂emissions from indirect energy consumption totalled 22,116 tonnes, 50 per cent of which originated from district heat and steam supplied by Fortum. In 2007, Fortum’s share was much bigger, almost 75 per cent. The new combustion plant at Fermion’s plant in Hanko, which by incinerating the plant’s VOC gases generates energy, has significantly reduced the need to purchase energy from Fortum. The plant, owned by Ekokem, supplies today most of the energy consumed by the Hanko plant and thus also accounts for most of its CO₂ emissions.

Fermion’s production plants in Hanko and Oulu account for about 35 per cent of the total CO₂ emissions reported by Orion. The Group’s facilities in Espoo account for about 40 per cent, Turku about 20 per cent and Kuopio about 5 per cent of the total.