Decarbonization

Innovative solutions on the road to decarbonization

Decarbonization requires a major transformation that impacts most areas of economic activity. The required reduction in greenhouse gas emissions can only succeed if renewable energies can be used instead of fossil fuels and emission-intensive production processes can be replaced by climate-friendly technologies. Managing the transformation therefore requires not only a realignment of the regulatory framework, but also substantial financial resources to enable both investment and the commercial viability of climate-friendly business models.

The significant process emissions in industry can often only be prevented by changing the production technology. Decarbonization always raises the big question of what energy is available where in the world. There is no single answer to this. First, the principle applies: energy that is not needed does not have to be replaced. The topic is taken further with the focus on "Green Electricity and Green Hydrogen. For ABP Induction, it is clear that green electricity is only used directly where it is needed for direct use. It should not be used to produce green hydrogen, which in turn is then used where green electricity can also be used directly. This applies, for example, to the electrification of passenger car transport; hydrogen is more conceivable for long distances traveled by other means of transport with large loads, certainly primarily in freight transport.

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However, this run on hydrogen also suggests that one should focus on electrifying everything in processes that can be electrified, instead of building large offshore wind farms to then use this electricity to produce hydrogen for the steel industry. In concrete terms, this means for the metalworking industry that everything that is fired by gas would have to be replaced by electricity. More than half of the gas consumed in steel production is used to reheat metal for rolling processes of all kinds. Do we really need gas and hydrogen in all processes, or can't gas be replaced here, for example by induction? Here ABP Induction sees great growth potential in the metalworking sector – and offers solutions for this: There is a great demand for energy-efficient machines and systems worldwide, especially in markets with particularly high German world market shares and comparative advantages. Here, the initial starting position is different from that of goods for the production of renewable energies, where profitable production had to be established first.

However, many industries, especially energy-intensive ones, will have to make considerable transformation efforts due to climate protection requirements in order to maintain comparable advantages or develop new ones. In its study, the Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft (Institute of the German Economy) also states: "In order for locations to remain attractive, the political framework conditions must be designed to be innovation- and investment-friendly.