E ON : Climate-conference participants could save additional 1,500 metric tons of carbon

The roughly 25,000 participants at the Bonn climate change conference (COP 23) could save an additional 1,500 metric tons of carbon if their hotels were powered by fuel cells. That equals the carbon dioxide emitted by 125,000 mid-size cars traveling 100 kilometers.

Participants at COP 23 will spend their days discussing effective ways to protect the earth's climate. Some will spend their nights not in hotels but rather in private homes generously made available to them at no cost by Bonn residents. For this reason, the calculation is a rough estimate. Nevertheless, it highlights the potential for the hotel and hospitality industry to shrink its carbon footprint.

Germany's hotel industry is estimated to emit around five million metric tons of carbon each year. Yet guests increasingly want their accommodations to be sustainable. Fuel cells could not only reduce a hotel's energy costs but could also significantly increase its environmental friendliness and even make its energy use climate-neutral.

Fuel cells generate electricity and heat in a combustion-free process resulting in virtually no pollutants such as nitrogen oxide or particulate matter. This year E.ON partnered with Radisson SAS to equip Germany's first hotel with an industrial-scale fuel cell. The Radisson Blu Hotel in Frankfurt can now produce the vast majority of the energy required for its operation without emitting any harmful substances.