By Ahmed Rahma
A Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation, ABB, has called on governments and industries to accelerate the adoption of the technology to help combat climate change.
ABB, which is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, revealed in its new whitepaper titled Achieving the Paris Agreement: The Vital Role of High-Efficiency Motors and Drives in Reducing Energy Consumption that there is the potential for significant energy efficiency improvements in industry and infrastructure, which can be enabled by the latest and most high-efficiency motors and variable speed drives.
According to the President of ABB Motion, Morten Wierod, industrial energy efficiency has the single greatest capacity for combating the climate emergency more than any other challenge.
He said, “It is essentially the world’s invisible climate solution”.
The President stated that for ABB, sustainability is a key part of their company’s purpose and value that they create for their stakeholders.
“By far, the biggest impact we can have in reducing greenhouse gas emissions is through our leading technologies, which reduce energy use in industry, buildings and transport”, he said.
Considerable steps have already been taken to support the uptake of electric vehicles and renewable energy sources.
ABB believes it is time to do the same for an industrial technology that will deliver even greater benefits for the environment and the global economy.
“The importance of transitioning industries and infrastructure to these highly energy efficient drives and motors to play their part in a more sustainable society cannot be overstated,” said Morten Wierod.
“With 45 per cent of the world’s electricity used to power electric motors in buildings and industrial applications, investment in upgrading them will yield outsized rewards in terms of efficiency.”
It was reported that the company frequently assesses the net impact of its own installed high-efficiency motors and drives on global energy efficiency.
In 2020, it enabled 198 terawatt-hours of electricity savings – more than half of the UK’s annual consumption.
By 2023, it is estimated that ABB motors and drives will enable customers globally to save an additional 78 terawatt-hours of electricity per year, almost as much as the annual consumption of Belgium, Finland or the Philippines and more than the total annual consumption of Chile.
Regulatory policies are among the main drivers of industrial investment in energy efficiency around the globe. While the European Union will be implementing its Ecodesign Regulation (EU 2019/1781) this year, which sets out stringent new requirements for an expanding range of energy-efficient motors, many countries have yet to take action.
To take advantage of the tremendous opportunities afforded by energy-efficient drives and motors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ABB says all stakeholders have a critical role to play.
“While our role at ABB is to always provide the most efficient technologies, products and services to our customers, and continue to innovate for ever greater efficiency, that in itself is not enough.
“All stakeholders need to work together to bring about a holistic transformation in how we use energy. By acting and innovating together, we can keep critical services up and running while saving energy and combatting climate change”, concludes Morten Wierod.
