Danfoss- industry Q&A

Ahead of the UN Climate Change conference, COP26, and as the UK Government sets out its Net Zero Strategy, in the latest of our industry Q&A series, Daniel Scott, Country Leader in Climate Solutions at Danfoss, outlines the challenges and opportunities to Michelle Eastty, from the elemental team.

1/Do you think there is a disconnect in some sectors between talk and action on climate change?

There are always opportunities to improve, no matter what stage you’re at. There is far more awareness now on climate change then there’s ever been. Every business, across every sector is thinking about what they are doing to make a positive impact on the environment.

The UK government recently published its net zero strategy detailing policies for tackling climate change, but much of the funding for this remains unclear. The plan will require strong investment and innovation.

It’s important to find and implement the most effective solutions that drive energy efficiency and CO2 reduction. To do this, there needs to be a greater level of collaboration between various stakeholders. Climate change is a massive issue and there’s not one particular company that can combat it on their own. Teaming up together is what is going to achieve results. There’s never been a bigger team event than this one!

2/ The 2021 report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change gave a ‘code red’ warning for humanity and indicates there is no time for delay on cutting global carbon emissions. What are some of the climate solutions that Danfoss offer?

There are numerous solutions that can be undertaken across the built environment, including within existing housing. One significant way we are helping is by hydronically balancing heating systems. We have innovative solutions that are relatively low cost to purchase and allow a heating engineer to easily and accurately balance a heating system which in turn will ensure a condensing boiler operates at its most efficient. You also get increased comfort for the residents of the building.

Figure 1 Hydronic balancing of a heating system

3/ What does the UK government need to do to encourage faster action to tackle climate change?

The government has been quite active in releasing documents in the run-up to COP26, e.g., the Ten Point Plan, which gives some direction on how to tackle climate change. Also its hydrogen strategy and, most recently, its Net Zero strategy.

What’s needed now is for these encouraging documents to turn into firm legislation in order for them to achieve their full potential. It’s really important we have this in place because it will encourage investment from companies. It’s difficult for companies to invest until they know what the firm goals are.

4/How has the Covid crisis affected your development plans?

Covid has really impacted us all, on a personal and professional level and it’s been important to support our people within the Danfoss business. At the same time it’s shown how resilient we are. It’s presented us with opportunities to create a green restart, this is something Danfoss has helped and continues to contribute towards.

That’s always been a big part of our journey anyway, but the learnings throughout Covid have enabled us to rethink how we’re going to get there. This includes how we work with our customers, with digital transformation playing a major role within that. Technology enables us to work remotely, ensuring effectiveness of our time and reducing unnecessary journeys. For instance, an account manager can have a good quality meeting online, without a three hour journey each way.

5/ In 2022, the International Energy Agency will host the world’s most important annual agreement goals. How can we best use energy efficiency in buildings and create smarter cities?

The first thing to do is to create awareness of the amount of energy we waste in buildings. When you start from that point of view and put measures in place to deal with that, you make a massive impact on energy efficiency. As I said earlier, there are simple things that you can do to achieve this.

Responsibility also needs to be taken for doing something about it. Over heating or over cooling in buildings is incredibly inefficient. Wasting less energy saves costs and lowers the impact on the climate. By digitally linking smart solutions we can create smarter cities that optimise and use only the energy we need.

6/What are the next steps on the path to Net Zero and how do we get there?

In order to implement the new technologies that will create a greener UK we will need to recognise the significant challenge in making firm plans to retrain and develop the existing installer workforce. Therefore, it’s even more important for manufacturers across the industry to collaborate in developing the plans needed to achieve this.

8/The COP26 summit aims to unite the world to tackle climate change. What role can Danfoss play in the actions that will be needed post event?

COP26 presents an opportunity for leaders to come together and debate the big talking points related to climate change. Danfoss will play a role in some of those discussions, and we’ll have a really key role to play in what happens after the event. Danfoss will digest the key messages and learnings, making them more relevant for our customers. In fact in the UK, we are already planning a series of follow up events, to help create awareness of the solutions that can help our customers take meaningful action.

9/What are some of the key climate change challenges faced by your customers and how are you helping them overcome these challenges e.g. stricter emissions standards?

Whilst people know more now about climate change, everyone is still learning all the time and that creates challenges as well. I mentioned before that one of these is the absence of legislation being cast in stone, so it’s difficult for customers to know what to invest in. For example, in its Heat and Buildings strategy, alongside other documentation, the government has indicated there will be a significant move towards heat pump technology in the future. However, heating engineers and companies need to be trained and equipped to adapt to this. Upskilling the workforce will therefore become a major focus.

Danfoss can help by playing a consultative role. We offer a variety of trainings, whether that be online or face to face. We also partner with a number of industry bodies that provide us with an opportunity to both contribute to calls for evidence from government but also allow us to inform our customers of any future changes to legislation. We also offer CPD training courses for our consultant customers. Creating awareness and imparting knowledge is one of the biggest things we can do.

A further challenge is that it’s much easier to implement solutions in new buildings because you can design them from the start. Our customers need to know how they can tackle this in existing buildings. We can help these customers on a consultative basis and share insights from our global projects. We’ve also implemented solutions in our own business and can use this experience to help others.

10/Food waste is a huge contributor to climate change? How do your food retail solutions keep the world’s food fresh and help avoid waste?

One-third of food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted and about 10 per cent of that waste happens in supermarkets. If the fridge cabinet in a supermarket breaks down, then this wastes food, water supply and energy. Our advanced controllers connect to the internet and ensure that food is stored under the most ideal conditions, including temperature and humidity. If there’s a breakdown, then the online monitoring system ensures a technician is alerted and arrives on site before the food spoils.

Figure 2 Smart refrigeration to avoid food waste

11/ Can you tell me a bit about District Energy systems and your new district heating facility next to your headquarters? What’s the importance of this as part of a sustainable solution?

District Energy Systems are networks of hot and cold-water pipes, typically buried underground, that are used to efficiently heat and cool buildings using less energy than if the individual buildings were to each have their own boilers and chillers. The real benefit of this is that the source of the energy that creates the heat can be a low or zero carbon source.

As an example, you could link up to a data centre or supermarket and connect the networks and use what was wasted heat from that data centre to provide heat into the neighbourhood, so in other words, it’s free heat.

What’s also exciting about these networks is that as we’ve developed them, the heating and cooling can be fully optimised through different software platforms and artificial intelligence to maximise their efficiency. Today about 3 per cent of the UK market is covered by this type of heating, but in the future we believe it could grow to around 20 per cent. The Government recognises its potential for the future and has already invested into district energy schemes in the UK.

We are also building our own district heating facility for our headquarters in Nordborg, Denmark. Once it’s installed we can take energy into Danfoss but also export it back into the public network. Heat pumps will be used to recover the heat from different water-cooling processes from our own production facilities, along with heat recovery from our own on-site data centre. So we’re living and breathing what we think we can do out in the general world. We want to show this as a best-in-class case study but also to bring benefits to our business and the community.

13/ Anything else you’d like to mention?

One thing that always springs to mind with climate change, is that there is clearly a lot to do, and this is exciting for anyone who joins Danfoss, no matter what stage they are at in their career. You’re always going to be engaged in a purpose that’s equal to no other. You can unite behind that purpose and your career will positively impact the solutions that are going to get the world to Net Zero. There’s no better story to tell anyone than that!

For more information visit www.danfoss.com