WHAT IS
THE NEXT LEVEL OF IMPACT?

MR. WAGNER, LAST YEAR’S FOCUS WAS ON ACHIEVING AN IMPACT AND, ESPECIALLY, REDUCING CO2 EMISSIONS. WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE NEXT LEVEL?

The dreadful conflict in Ukraine has made it clearer to everyone that sustainability is not only about providing clean energy. Just as important is the provenance of the energy. For example, no one wants to finance Russia’s war. This is nothing new within the context of good governance – the G in ESG. Previously, however, the public focus was on environmental protection. Now, the various stakeholders – industry, the real estate sector, suppliers, government and the public – are realizing that the two aspects can’t simply be improved overnight. Other considerations are involved as well, including supply reliability and energy costs. That is why we are now experiencing a very serious and very important debate about how to transform energy supply.

IT’S UNLIKELY THAT YOU ARE GOING TO SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THE OUTCOME OF THIS DEBATE: WHAT IS GETEC DOING SPECIFICALLY?

Energy supply is always dependent on political decisions and going it alone would not be helpful. However, we do have lots of innovative concepts which are setting new standards and delivering solutions to a number of issues. We will be presenting some of them in this report. For example, we will supply the Blurado business park in Radolfzell in southern Germany almost entirely from geothermal sources. In other words, we will harness the underground heat from beneath the region’s fields. This form of energy supply is both autonomous and environmentally friendly. There are other examples as well: the ice storage system in Nuremberg, the use of AI by GETEC Italia to save energy, or our Waste-to-Value concept for generating energy from industrial waste products.

AND WHAT IS THE MID-TERM SOLUTION TO THE ENERGY PROBLEM?

We believe in the evolutionary approach of impact. This is not achieved by just ONE solution, ONE law or ONE industry. In abstract terms, a better world needs lots of intelligent solutions, both large and small. Consumers can achieve an impact through their own behavior. And we can achieve an impact by finding as many good solutions as possible and working with our customers to implement them. In March 2022, we were able to observe just how varied these solutions are. On the one hand, there was a fantastic donation campaign initiated by our employees for a Ukrainian organization which looks after orphans. This is quick and direct help. At almost the same time, we were part of the delegation that accompanied Germany’s Economics Minister, Robert Habeck, on a trip to Qatar to secure supplies of liquid gas, ammonia – which is an energy carrier – and, for the future, green hydrogen. This will help strategically in the medium term. We simply need to think flexibly and work together to identify solutions which will ensure a better future for the next generation.