Sector by sector

ABB sees enormous opportunities to improve energy efficiency, and transition to renewables, across four sectors:

Transport: With transport making up almost 20 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, it’s a sector that holds plenty of potential.

ABB’s charging infrastructure and digital solution for electric vehicle chargers are behind Australia’s first 100 per cent sustainably powered, full-size electric bus, currently quietly cruising the streets of South-East Queensland. Its turbochargers help Spirit of Tasmania ferries cruise efficiently across Bass Strait, and its retrofitting of Adelaide’s diesel-electric trains with new converters, generators and real-time connectivity has given the fleet a new (and more efficient) lease of life.

Manufacturing: ABB manufactures high efficiency motors, as well as drives that run them at the speed required by the system, rather than at always full throttle. The potential is remarkable: research estimates that high-efficiency equipment could reduce global electricity consumption by up to 10 per cent.

ABB also provides digital solutions that allow businesses to manage their electricity consumption in real time.

Menzel says that sort of information can be critical: “Often the biggest success factor for manufacturers becoming more energy efficient is capturing data, having an understanding what’s happening on their site, and putting an energy management system in place.”

Buildings: Drives, motors and energy management systems – alongside smart building automation systems – are also a big part of ABB’s offerings in the commercial, residential and industrial building sectors, improving efficiencies from the design stage to day-to-day management.

Some of these technologies are what Briggs calls the “unsung heroes” of green building technology, such as the drives that run efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.

Mining: ABB has already begun decarbonising the mining sector: its eMine portfolio of electrification, onboard battery and charging solutions, and connected digital ecosystem has made it possible for mines to go electric from pit to port.

“We have the technology to deliver battery solutions to remove diesel motors out of trucks, and everything else that’s running a diesel engine on a mine site,” Briggs says.

ABB also has what it calls grid-to-wheel solutions, enabling the distribution of renewable energy into mines, and is working on creating renewable energy from crushing and grinding applications and feeding it back into the grid.

High hopes

Menzel says technology will help Australia decarbonise. “We are moving very rapidly to a low-carbon economy, a digital economy in which improved energy use and renewable energy sources are going to play a crucial role,” he says. “There’s no part of the economy that’s going to be untouched by that.”

Briggs also has high hopes. Not only does he see an increased business appetite to employ the energy-efficiency technologies available now, but also a sense that we’re all in this together.

“Innovation and collaboration are the key,” he says. “We’re starting to see industry coming together. People who were competing against each other are now collaborating and coming up with ideas to move forward.“

To learn more about how ABB is helping to decarbonise industry and infrastructure for a more sustainable future go to: www.energyefficiencymovement.com