The fourth section of the Transformation Day is dedicated to the energy transition, with the subtitle “Challenges and potential for the economy“. We chose this topic because, in addition to digitalization, the issues of overcoming energy bottlenecks have become of existential importance for many companies.
Ulrich Wagner, Professor Emeritus of Energy Economics and Application Technology at the Technical University of Munich and Director of the Forum for Energy Economics (FfE), organized this section and acted as moderator.
Dr. Serafin von Roon, Managing Director and Deputy Scientific Director of the Forum for Energy Economics (FfE), provided the introduction to this topic. In his presentation “The path to the new energy world – challenges and opportunities”, he showed where we need to reduce CO2 emissions in order to achieve CO2 neutrality. The greatest need for reduction can be found in transportation (mechanical energy), industry (process heat) and private households (space heating). Significantly more has already been implemented in the electricity sector than in other areas. In order to achieve the goal of CO2 neutrality in line with the target (chosen here for 2030), we must greatly accelerate the expansion. In the case of photovoltaics, from the current annual average of over 3.9 GW/year to 15.7 to 22.0 GW/year in the years 2022 to 2030. The necessary increase factor for onshore wind expansion is comparable: from an average of 2.8 GW/year to date (2010 to 2022) to 4.9 to 10 GW/year in the period 2022 to 2030. Von Roon puts a question mark over implementation. Using Bavaria as an example, he vividly illustrates what this would mean per year, e.g.
- Photovoltaic systems on 160 soccer pitches plus 1000 residential buildings
- Commissioning of 2 to 5 wind turbines
- Replacement of 2,300 fossil heating systems with renewable energies
- Energy-efficient refurbishment of 1,250 residential buildings
- Installation of 3 large battery storage units, each the size of a shipping container…
The goal is clear – the path is known – but significant technical and economic issues have not yet been clarified.
Dr. Andrej Guminski, also from the Forum for Energy Economics, posed the following question in his subsequent presentation: “How can the ambitious targets for the industrial energy transition be achieved?” His presentation was based on the following data:
- The industrial sector accounts for 1/3 of European CO2 emissions, of which approx. 25% come from Germany
- 80% of CO2 emissions from the European industrial sector come from 6 intensive industries: Iron & steel (291 Mt CO2), chemicals (235), non-metallic minerals (218), food & tobacco (102), paper (68), non-ferrous metals (66)
He puts forward three theses.
- Technologies: The energy transition relies on a broad mix of technologies: Improving energy and material efficiency, switching energy sources to electricity, hydrogen, SynFuels and CO2 capture.
- The costs of the energy transition are not critical
- The role of industry has changed significantly in recent years: from a brake on the energy transition to a driver of it.
Stefan Henn, authorized signatory of Wacker Chemie AG, supplemented the research perspectives with a view from industry. The title of his presentation was “The energy transformation of Italian industry – a practical report“.
Wacker Chemie is a representative of one of the most energy-intensive industries. The chemical industry accounts for around 20 percent of the electricity consumed by industrial companies. Wacker Chemie AG alone consumes 4,103 GWh of electricity in Germany, accounting for around 0.8 percent of national electricity consumption. At the Burghausen site, Alzwerke GmbH has been supplying Wacker Chemie AG with electrical energy for over a century. Wacker is constantly improving the energy efficiency of its processes. This enables the Group to remain competitive on the global market and at the same time make a contribution to climate protection.
In addition to Burghausen in Bavaria and Nünchritz in Saxony, Charleston/Tennessee in the USA is Wacker’s third major Verbund site. Together with the production site in Holla, Norway, these sites account for around 90 percent of Group-wide energy consumption. The company has taken numerous measures to prepare for the energy transition. Wacker is endeavoring to achieve CO2-neutral production through heat recycling. The Group plans to reduce specific energy consumption by 15% by 2030.
Dr. Neitz-Regett, Head of Resources and Climate Protection at the Forum for Energy (FfE), continued the lecture series with a contribution entitled “Sustainable Finance – Driver for an accelerated transformation?” The idea: accelerating the necessary transformation of the real economy through sustainable investments. Due to the regulations at EU level, the focus is shifting to sustainability reporting as the basis for sustainable finance. More and more companies will be obliged to report on sustainability in the near future. The requirements are becoming increasingly stricter, both in terms of breadth (more environmental aspects) and depth (key figures). However, with timely and well-founded preparation, there are numerous opportunities for companies. The necessary transformation of the real economy can be accelerated through sustainable investments.
Discussion: The example of Wacker shows that the industry is willing and able to implement the energy transition, provided that the state provides the necessary framework conditions. The main stumbling block today is the slow approval of construction projects for new process technologies. This slows down dynamic pioneers among entrepreneurs. The broad competition loves the status quo. Conservatism in German industry delays the implementation of even those processes whose economic viability has long been proven. As a result, we are only in pilot phases, even where industry-wide implementation would already be the order of the day.
Kai Lucks’ contribution to the discussion:
Germany is not the world champion of implementation, but only a great generator of ideas. When it comes to implementing major infrastructure projects, we are right at the back of the pack, as can be seen from Stuttgart 21 (railroads), the Elbphilharmonie concert hall (culture) and BER (airport). There is no reason to believe that the construction of infrastructure for CO2 neutrality, which will be two to three tens of times more expensive than the aforementioned projects, will catapult Germany from the bottom of the performance rankings to the top:
The energy transformation with the target year 2050, in which we want to have achieved CO2 neutrality for society as a whole, will be significantly delayed due to numerous implementation barriers. Money and technologies are available. But we lack resources, especially manpower, and the necessary economic and industrial restructuring will be delayed, especially as the key raw materials will remain scarce. And above all: we are wasting too much time now at the beginning of the energy transition with discussions, time that we will not have later when it comes to implementation.
You can watch the recording of this part of the event and all other topics here on the BM&A YouTube channel.
