Interview
It's electrifying
Anke Hampel, Group Head of Sustainability, ABB Asea Brown Boveri Ltd
Download translations
Download translations
What role do you see the industrial sector playing in Swiss decarbonization efforts?
The industrial sector has an important role to play in meeting Switzerland’s 2030 and 2050 cli-mate targets, as it accounted for around 20% of the country’s energy consumption in 2023. Industrial processes need to be electrified as much as possible to replace fossil fuels, and at the same time, we need to invest in energy efficiency improvements. While Swiss industry has already reduced energy consumption by around 40% since 1990, technical solutions are available to further increase energy efficiency.
What are the key strategies or technologies for that?
A decarbonization strategy starts with transparency to determine the actual use of fossil fuels, followed by the identification of alternative energy sources. Transparency of energy flows, i.e., through granular measurement, helps to identify substitution potential. Heating systems, high-temperature processes in industry, and transport are the main drivers of Switzerland’s carbon footprint. Purchased energy in Scope 2 also contributes. Technical solutions are increasingly avail-able today, such as new generations of high-efficiency motors, or electric furnace systems for high-temperature processes to replace fossil fuels.
What are the key challenges for decarbonizing Swiss industry?
The first challenge is the availability of enough clean energy to replace the energy currently provided by fossil fuels. Clean energy must also be available when it is needed. Stable electricity supply, still a strong asset in Switzerland, must be maintained at the highest level, even as the energy landscape changes. The second challenge is the cost of clean electricity, which must remain inter-nationally competitive to keep industrial production in Switzerland.
How is ABB facilitating more sustainable industrial production?
We are reducing our own emissions to align to the Science Based Target initiative’s net zero standard and are working with our customers, suppliers, and partners to reduce our value chain emissions across all scopes. At our site in Schaffhausen, for example, we replaced gas heating with a state-of-the-art heat pump fed by waste heat, reducing gas consumption by 85% and saving 350 tons of CO2 emissions per year. We provide our customers with diverse electrification and automation technologies to accelerate the energy transition, and we are helping them integrate low-carbon energy sources, drive electrification, improve energy efficiency and decarbonize their operations in diverse sectors. ABB’s drives are one of many examples – they help our customers save energy and improve performance in various applications, including industrial plants. This is important, because 45% of the world’s electricity is converted into motion by hundreds of millions of electric motors, but less than 25% of these are equipped with variable speed drives to optimize energy use by adjusting motor speeds to actual demand.
What advancements do you think will be most critical to meeting Swiss industry’s decarbonization goals?
Clear and predictable regulatory framework conditions are essential for businesses to innovate, develop, and widely deploy technologies to decarbonize. Governments can further accelerate emissions reductions by providing financial incentives for the adoption of low carbon technologies and energy efficiency improvements. Collaboration is also critical. Partnerships between government and industry drive the development and implementation of new technologies, solutions and practices for decarbonization. The same is true for international and sector-specific collaboration. Working with international organizations and other countries can facilitate the exchange of knowledge and technologies, helping to accelerate decarbonization efforts, while collaboration within sectors can lead to the development of tailored solutions for reducing emissions.
