Navigating the path to sustainable transition

Hager Group person touchs Solar panel on a roof

Today, it is taken for granted that our everyday lives work with electricity in almost all areas: in private households, in industrial factories, and now increasingly in the mobility sector. Electrification determines the way we live, communicate, produce and move – it defines our lives.

 

At the same time, this development is changing the world and thus requires a rethink. After all, sustainable solutions are needed to reconcile the increasing demand for energy with the protection of our environment.

 

For the electrical industry, this means a great responsibility, but also a wide range of opportunities. As an industry, it has countless opportunities to play a key role in shaping the path to sustainable change.
  


Sustainable and modern energy for all

The 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda include SDG 7 as a clear requirement to secure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy. All people should have access to electricity.

 

However, the already increasing global energy consumption can only be achieved in the long term through structural change. This is made even more urgent by the objective of universal power supply. Two factors are particularly important here: On the one hand, electricity generation without fossil fuels, because otherwise the necessary climate neutrality cannot be achieved. On the other hand, a more efficient use of the energy that the sun, wind and water can provide.

 

In any case, the solutions for affordable and clean energy are available: photovoltaics and wind turbines can supply the required amounts of energy from single-family homes to the entire city. With storage solutions, intelligent energy management systems, smart home applications and the technical requirements for private and public e-mobility, the electrical industry has everything necessary to use clean solar and wind energy sensibly and efficiently.

 

In the case of electrification, the first steps on the way to greater sustainability have long since been taken – now it is time to continue the path we have chosen.

"Abandoning the fossil fuel system is essential. Thanks to new production methods, we're bringing electricity production closer to where it's consumed."
Guibert del Marmol
Advisor Regenerative Economics

An eye for the connections

Advancing electrification on the one hand, necessary climate and environmental protection on the other. Under the right conditions, this is not a contradiction, but a possible path to the goal – to more sustainability.


For example, the United Nations points out that universal access to electricity for over 2 billion people would mean that they would no longer have to rely on methods of cooking and heating that are harmful to the environment and health. People, the environment and the climate will benefit equally.

Hager Group Vehicule to home charging a yellow car

 

Electrification also means advancing the transport and heating turnaround. Heat pumps for heating and electric vehicles for our mobility offer emission-free alternatives.

 

The condition, however, is to link all these areas – housing, heating, mobility – more closely with renewable energies. Because only with clean electricity these solutions are truly sustainable. While it is the task of politicians to create good framework conditions for the necessary expansion of solar, wind and hydropower, the electrical industry offers all the necessary means to use renewable energies efficiently, reliably and easily.

Installing the future

All the tools to achieve the goals of SDG 7 and also to achieve greater sustainability are already there. The key to a future-proof, sustainable energy supply lies in efficient and intuitive technologies that manage to pick up all people on the path to sustainability. With its products, the electrical industry is helping to install the future now.

Decentralised renewable energies

 

Renewable energies, especially solar power, are the foundation on which the structural change towards a sustainable energy supply is being built. They not only have the advantage of ending the use of fossil fuels in electricity production – and thus the emission of CO2 emissions.

 

They also enable the development of a decentralised supply infrastructure. Private households, urban districts and companies can be their own electricity producers and thus relieve the power grids at the same time. With the so-called "balcony power plants", this possibility also exists on a "small scale" – but with a great effect if they are installed to a greater extent.

Storage solutions for a secure supply

 

With renewable energies, electricity production and demand often diverge. Photovoltaic systems reach their peak output with the position of the sun in the middle of the day, although the demand for solar power is often greatest in the morning or evening.

 

Storage solutions are therefore central both in the private sector and for public supply. They create security of supply, contribute to grid stability and help to ensure that cleanly produced electricity is not lost. Bidirectional charging can act as a link between sustainable electricity production, energy storage and electromobility – and offer completely new possibilities for the energy supply of the future. 

Smart technologies & innovative solutions

 

Smart technologies make a significant difference in the required increase in the efficiency of the energy supply. From consumption metering (smart metering) to comprehensive energy management, there are a wide range of possible uses for intelligent applications.

 

Building technology for the smart home, networked systems for greater energy efficiency and intelligent distribution of energy have long been a reality and are becoming more effective at a rapid pace thanks to new innovations.

 

Despite all the technological progress, however, it is still important not to forget people. After all, smart solutions are developed for them.

"We need to raise awareness: we are linked, interconnected and interdependent in all things. When we understand this, it becomes easier to cooperate together." 
Guibert del Marmol
Advisor Regenerative Economics

Look further. Think further.
Go further.

The electrical industry is in a position to facilitate the path towards a more sustainable world for all – with solutions that can help everyone in all areas of life. At the same time, it is the task of the industry to think ahead on the path it has chosen: How can these solutions become even better in terms of sustainability? Where are there still starting points for sustainable change?

Hager Group Solar panels on the ground


There are many possibilities:

 

For example, in the further development of materials for the products of the electrical industry for a functioning circular economy. This is made possible by using ecodesign, more recyclable plastics or by dispensing with conventional plastic.


We can also mention the design of production facilities where products for a more sustainable world are born. In addition to resource and energy efficiency, research into sustainable solutions should, for example, look at how the greening of buildings and their surroundings can contribute to biodiversity, creating a balance for the space occupied by factories and other buildings.

 

On the path to more sustainability, it is always worthwhile to look for sensible solutions to the right and left of the path. Without losing sight of the goal.

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