Interview with
Philipp Andree, Managing Director Klimaschutz- Unternehmen e.V.
"We welcome imitation!"
Klimaschutz-Unternehmen e.V. began almost 15 years ago as a funded project of the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Ministry of Economics. After the funding ended, the member companies continued the project independently. The HARTING Technology Group, a member since 2011, ranks among the first members.This cross-sectoral association of companies of all sizes in Germany plays a pioneering role in climate protection and energy efficiency. Companies commit to achieving measurable targets, continuous improvement and demonstrating responsibility for the livelihoods of future generations. The association perceives itself as a role model and multiplicator in the German economy.
tec.news: Mr Andree, what tasks have you set yourself as an association?
P. Andree: Our approach is identifying lighthouse companies that stand for climate protection and sustainability - in Germany, but also on a global level. We identify these pioneering companies, award them - on behalf of the Federal Government - and make their capabilities better known. So we welcome others to imitate them.
tec.news: What trends do you currently see in terms of climate protection?
P. Andree: There are a number of notable trends. It plays a major role here that, on the one hand, climate protection issues have arrived in all levels of society, while on the other hand, many companies are developing their own climate strategies. At the same time, I see the trend that sustainable action is becoming more and more anchored in entrepreneurship. The fact that investors are also increasingly paying attention to climate protection and sustainability is significant. The goal must be to make climate protection even more economically viable. In the automation area, I continue to see many optimisations through digitalisation measures and also the use of artificial intelligence.
tec.news: What do you regard as the major challenges or obstacles?
P. Andree: Companies for which the Scope 1 and Scope 2 categories have already been fulfilled are devoting themselves to the most challenging identification or accounting processes with Scope 3*: They try to define the roles of product, customer and supplier in terms of emissions. This is the focus of many companies at the moment and also the most critical area. Other questions that companies have to face are: How do we deal with the issues presented by the heat transition? How can process heat be better utilised? What is the relationship between investment costs, new equipment and depreciation? Apart from this, increasingly complex regulations and conformity play a major role. This concerns, for example, the planning and approval procedures for new installations, but also for existing installations in the wind sector.
*Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 is the categorisation of CO2 emissions caused and influenced by companies:
- Scope 1: Direct emissions from own or controlled sources, e.g. combustion processes or vehicles.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, steam, heating and cooling that are consumed by the company.
- Scope 3: Indirect emissions from the company's value chain, e.g. from raw material extraction, transport, packaging or disposal.
tec.news: Is the current trend more towards the identification of the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) or towards the Corporate Carbon Footprint (CCF)?
P. Andree:
Many climate protection companies are currently focusing on the topic of PCF, as they are already quite advanced in terms of CCF. Some are devoting themselves in parallel to the topic of "digital product passport", while others are pursuing digital approaches with blockchain technologies. In connection with the CCF, there is also often more regulation from Brussels - the EU Green Claims, the EU taxonomy or even certificate trading, which is being extended to the heat and transport sectors.
tec.news: What are the quick wins? What can every company do immediately to protect the climate?
P. Andree: There are indeed some measures that can make an initial contribution to climate protection and can be taken immediately. For example, a photovoltaic system on the roof or different approaches to heat recovery. A great deal can also be achieved through electrification. This is because electricity on the basis of a PPA (Power Purchase Agreement, a purchase contract for green electricity) does not result in any greenhouse gases. Generally speaking, many basics are already feasible if you take a look at how the systems are connected and how the cycles function to begin with: What can be extracted from the infrastructure of the buildings? And how can holistic optimisation - for example through LED, compressed air supplies, switching off machines or standby operation - be achieved?
tec.news: Thank you very much for the interview!
The Product Carbon Footprint Tool by Heinz-Glas
With the help of a specially developed "Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)", the climate protection company Heinz-Glas Group has been able to predict the greenhouse gas emissions of its glass products down to the last gram as of this year and thereby achieve further progress in operational climate protection. The tool not only determines how much energy is consumed directly during production or transport, but also records all emissions from the entire value chain, e.g. whether employees come to work by bus or car. For customers, this represents a further incentive to opt for sustainable products from the Upper Franconian glass producer. In total, the development of the PCF tool took three years, and was verified by TÜV-Süd to ISO standards.
