Part 2: The increased viability of sustainability

In Part 1 of this series, we learned how sustainability programs are supported by efficient technologies. Here, we learn how industry is working to reduce carbon emissions.

By Lisa Eitel | Executive editor

Last year saw 50% more increase in global renewable-electricity capacity than years past — reaching approximately 507 gigawatts, according to the International Energy Agency. Solar photovoltaic and wind power (and expanded capacity in China) dominated the trend. What’s more, many new utility-scale solar and onshore wind plants delivered power at lower cost than new power plants relying on fossil fuels. Of course, aged grid infrastructures and financing challenges remain. So, Design World asked several industry experts about efforts to boost renewable use in industrial applications. Here’s what those surveyed had to say.

MEET THE EXPERTS
Anant Bhat | Director — Industrial strategy and portfolio management • Schaeffler Americas
Brad Dineley | VP of operations and strategy • Schaeffler Americas
Brian Burke | Product manager III • Bishop-Wisecarver Corp.
Brian Dengel | General manager • KHK USA Inc.
Chris Caldwell | Product manager – material handling • Yaskawa Motoman
David Mayers | Sales director • IDS Imaging Development Systems Inc.
Francois Minec | Global head of polymers • HP Personalization and 3D Printing
Gian Sachdev | Marketing head – Americas demand generation • Cognex
Josh Leath | Senior product manager — thermal • Yaskawa Motoman
Lane Persky | Chief marketing officer • Rotor Clip
Linda Weber | Global sustainability engagement manager • Jabil
Michael White | Vice President of regional business units and engineering • Schaeffler Americas
Mike Korkowski | Operations manager • LinMot USA
Ori Yudilevich | CTO • MaterialsZone
Patrick Varley | Product marketing manager — robotics • Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc.
Ramon Guitart | VP of engineering — electric motors • Infinitum
Richard Halstead | President • Empire Magnetics Inc.
Robert Cachro | Program manager — growth and innovation • Dynapar
Robert Luchars | Executive VP • ECM PCB Stator Technology
Stacy Mendez | Director of ESG and global strategic planning • Avnet
Yugi Ikeuchi | GM — Engineering and app development • IKO International

Renewable energies seem increasingly practical.

Weber: We produce renewable energy such as solar onsite wherever we feasibly can. However, this may not be possible in some regions due to climate and other reasons … or power needs may surpass the amount of power energy that a site can produce itself. The final step in our strategy is to procure clean energy from utility companies through power purchase agreements (PPAs) that deliver energy from renewable sources to our site or renewable energy certificates (RECs — known as guarantees of origin in Europe).

Of the two options, purchasing certified renewable energy from a utility company has a more tangible effect on a company’s carbon footprint; purchasing RECs may reduce emissions on paper, but it does nothing to impact how much energy an organization actually uses on a daily basis.

Caldwell: Yaskawa operations everywhere are committed to sustainability efforts. From investments in renewable energy technologies and sourcing renewables for several of our facilities to reducing corporate carbon footprint and developing and including as standard regenerative braking in our products, we have outlined and exceeded our vision of a sustainable future.

Leath: It’s an increasingly common ask, especially from automotive and other large global companies, to get data on how our robots use regenerative energy from the motors.

Shown here is a Citadel battery energy storage system (BESS) site nearing completion in Texas. Image: Captona

Yudilevich: Producing energy from renewable sources is essential, but it’s equally critical to develop effective methods for storing that energy. As a part of a consortium on lithium and sodium-ion solid state batteries for energy-storage applications, MaterialsZone contributes to the development of solid electrolytes to replace flammable, shorter-lasting, dense liquid electrolytes currently being utilized in lithium-ion batteries. Solid-state technology has the potential to revolutionize the energy landscape by enhancing accessibility, reducing geopolitical dependencies, and creating a resilient supply chain with sustainability in mind.

Weber: Industries producing electric vehicles, renewable energy, and energy storage are some of the fastest-growing facets of Jabil’s business. On the automotive and transportation side, we have increased manufacturing to support mass adoption of electric vehicles — specifically in the production of battery-management systems, inverters and converters, cables, and off-board and on-board charging. More than one million electric and hybrid vehicles on the road today contain Jabil-manufactured powertrain technology.

We’ve also scaled our energy and industrial business, specifically in the areas of battery-based energy storage, solar inverters, and wind-turbine components — as well as technologies that improve the flexibility and efficiency of the electrical grid. These types of grid solutions (as those we developed in partnership with Smart Wires) help ensure energy can be efficiently delivered on an aging grid system without the need for additional lines.

What of carbon emissions?

Weber: Along with many of our partners, we have stated goals around greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction. At Jabil, we have reduced our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions by 28% compared to our fiscal year 2019 baseline and are making steady progress toward our ultimate long-term goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2045. We’ve relied on a simple yet effective three-pillar emission reduction strategy — reduce, produce, and procure. The first step is to find ways to cut the amount of energy needed at our sites — such as upgrading aging, inefficient equipment and streamlining processes to be more efficient. The less energy we use, the less energy we need to make or buy, which saves on emissions.

Image: Kav777 • Dreamstime

Guitart: In the U.S. industrial sector, motors alone consume nearly 70% of total electricity used. However, most motors today waste energy because they operate at a single speed. Higher-efficiency variable-speed motors in industrial applications are critical for reducing energy and emissions.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the implementation of advanced motor technology (as that from Infinitum) could in the U.S. industrial and commercial sectors alone save 127 terawatt-hours per year (TWh/yr). This represents a cost savings of $14.7B and CO₂reductions of 90.2 MMT — equivalent to the annual electricity use of all households in California and North Carolina combined.

Luchars: As an electric motor design and software company, we’re confident our technologies serve a critical market need while supporting reduced electricity consumption, decarbonization, and overall energy transformation. ECM’s PCB Stator electric motors designed on our platform are up to 70% lighter than conventional options with efficiencies 90% or better.

When applied at scale, these design and performance characteristics hold the potential to transform global power grids. That’s because embedded within the world’s energy sustainability problem is an electric-motor sustainability problem. Reliance on outdated technology is the primary reason electric motor systems account for over 50% of global energy consumption (according to IEA research) and roughly 50% of all U.S. and EU electricity. Both regions via minimum efficiency performance standards (MEPs) identify huge sustainability upsides from converting to next-generation electric motors. The U.S. Dept. of Energy projects that future electric-motor standards will save Americans $8.8B and reduce CO₂ emissions by the equivalent of the annual emissions of 20 million gasoline cars.

Dineley: Schaeffler has introduced a design-review process at product inception that incorporates the systematic review of carbon contributors and intensity of the components — as well as processes and alternatives to optimize carbon impact aligned to our Value Analysis and Value Engineering (VAVE) process.

On the product side, Schaeffler manufactures solutions to help decarbonize the drivetrain in automotive and industrial sectors. These solutions include components and systems for high-efficiency electric drives and complementary battery, chassis, mechatronic, and thermal-management systems. Further related to energy transition, Schaeffler is using its production expertise to design and manufacture products that support the industrialization of clean hydrogen as well as mechatronic actuators that increase the efficiency of solar power generation. Relative to Schaeffler’s direct emissions, we’re introducing technology to:

1. Fuel switch our internal production technology to reduce reliance on carbon-generating gases.
2. Install and contract for clean energy alternatives, including own-generation solar, PPAs and RECs.
3. Install energy-storage systems and batteries to partially offset the imbalance between renewable generation and consumption curves … in part to reduce grid peak loading and accommodate long-term grid-capacity requirements.
4. Optimize our footprint to reduce carbon emissions generated from freight activities while systematically supporting technology transitions that minimize our carbon impact — including the introduction of e-fuels in vessels, use of electric trucks, and rail transport.
5. Work with our supply base to introduce and adopt greener products and processes. Examples: electric- or hydrogen-based steel production, material grade selection, and optimizing the specifications for recycled material.

CONTACT’s IoT platform uses the digital twin of a machine to track its energy consumption. If the software detects deviations between the target and actual values, it notifies production managers via a dashboard to initiate appropriate corrections.

Have you promoted more sustainable material use?

Weber: Jabil’s engineered materials team is also hard at work developing new, low-carbon footprint polymers for additive manufacturing. For example, in 2023, we launched PLA 3110P. This powder is derived entirely from certified renewably sourced biomaterials, meeting the demand for a biobased alternative to petrochemical-based powders. It can be used for general prototyping, thermoforming, and compression fabrication such as that for dental molds.

Yudilevich: We’re seeing efforts to boost efficiency, particularly in R&D. Integrating new technologies and digitally transforming the R&D process creates gains across the entire supply chain. For example, integrating end-to-end materials informatics platforms provides a centralized platform for R&D labs and supports holistic materials-development cycles. Our technology allows for seamless interaction with the supply chain, integration with raw materials catalogs, data enrichment from external chemical databases, and regulatory and sustainability calculations. By embracing this strategy, organizations can achieve a more efficient R&D process — from conceptualization to product development.

Minec: 3D printing is increasingly cost effective, so new real-world applications are emerging every day. At HP we have a front-row seat to the acceleration of sustainable production along with our partners and end users applying digital manufacturing in cutting-edge ways. This is underscored by a three-pillar approach: reducing carbon footprint, enabling circularity, and sharing knowledge for more impactful results.

We’re eliminating plastic from our own packaging and giving end users tools to meet their sustainability goals: The Arkema buyback program lets end users sell their used PA11 and PA12 powders and printed parts as opposed to landfilling or burning them. Access to new environmentally friendly solutions such as molded fiber is also being democratized thanks to 3D printing.

The 3D printing sustainability benefits are clear, but now we’ve reached the tipping point where we need to be much more rigorous and intentional with our design and manufacturing processes to maximize impact.

Weber: The design phase has the greatest impact on a product’s overall environmental impact, so we see the choices made during this step as a huge opportunity to boost sustainability. Our end users are increasingly looking to Jabil for guidance on using more sustainable materials in their product designs.

We’ve made (and are continuing to make) investments in software solutions that use a combination of artificial intelligence and established, validated material databases to help our end users select materials that meet product requirements and have a low carbon footprint. Jabil’s engineered materials team is on the leading edge of developing new sustainable materials for use in additive manufacturing such as the bio-based PLA 3110P and PK 5000, which leverage carbon monoxide to lower the material’s overall carbon footprint.

Where possible, we don’t use new materials at all. For example, at our site in Baja, we have begun offering enhanced medical-device reprocessing for hematology analysis machines. This process adheres to the highest safety standards and includes incoming equipment inspection, detailed refurbishment, and eventual repackaging. For our end users, this longer lifecycle means reduced device costs as well as decreased landfill waste and disposal expenses.

Honeywell hydrocracking can produce sustainable aviation fuel from biomass for a fuel that’s 90% less carbon intensive than traditional fossil-based jet fuels and up to 20% less expensive than alternatives.

Minec: Materials innovation is key to HP’s work to offer differentiated strategies for companies to embrace sustainable manufacturing. HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology is enabling the use of materials such as molded fiber, so now we’re striving to achieve a 75% reduction in our single-use plastic packaging (by 2025 as compared to 2018) by leveraging our own innovative fiber-based packaging solutions.

Additionally, HP works closely with a network of materials partners to develop and offer end users highly reusable and holistically more sustainable materials. For example, in collaboration with Arkema, HP is developing bio-based materials comprised of renewable castor oil and biomethane. In work with Evonik, HP has developed the 3D High Reusability PA12 made with renewable energy and reducing the carbon footprint of PA12 material by 49% all while maintaining its material properties.

Dineley: The most beneficial projects Schaeffler drives through our company’s sustainability objectives are efficiency and waste reduction projects, as they lower our carbon footprint while also reducing our cost base. Schaeffler’s efficiency and waste reduction projects focus on energy and gas reduction, water and waste reduction, product scrap and waste reduction, and input material conversion. Due to the overall cost structure (validated with benchmarking) our greatest opportunities pertain to energy and material efficiency.

Direct material cost is one of the most significant inputs to our cost structure. Scrap and waste are addressed daily through our continuous improvement programs and overseen through shop floor management. Input-material conversion is benchmarked by product type and optimized by redesigning tools and reengineering the use of fall-off material.

Bhat: Schaeffler designs sustainable products with a holistic approach considering the carbon footprint across the entire product life cycle — from product development to the circular economy.

Using CO2-reduced steel, higher material utilization, and induction hardening, the carbon footprint of Schaeffler’s large-size tapered roller bearings for wind turbines is up to 70% lower than conventional bearings.
Schaeffler’s new generation of monorail linear systems is designed to reduce friction and thereby increase power by up to 40% with 30% less lubricant consumption.
Schaeffler’s Lifetime Solutions condition monitoring offerings provides manufacturing facility maintenance teams and plant managers with the tools they need to maintain continuous plant operation and reduce unplanned downtime. That in turn reduces costs and saves energy.