Three ways that industrial communication can bring on change to reduce global warming
We need to change. Fast! This is made clear without a shadow of a doubt when reading the report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from August 2021.
The report states that human activities are unequivocally causing climate change and that the world is likely to hit the 1.5C warming limit within 20 years.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres described the report as a "code red for humanity” and continued: “This report must sound a death knell for coal and fossil fuels, before they destroy our planet."
But the report comes as little surprise to most people. The question is what each and everyone can do to reduce carbon emissions and decrease our fossil dependency.
For us in the industrial communication business the answer is: quite a lot!
Here are three ways that industrial communication and technology for the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can help reduce carbon emissions.
1. Reducing energy use by making machines tal
As the management guru Peter Drucker famously said:
“If you can't measure it, you can't manage it.”
This is undoubtedly true about machines in factories and buildings. For a very long time, automation systems have been “communication islands” with limited interaction with surrounding systems and networks.
As more and more machines and systems are getting connected, it also becomes possible to measure performance and optimize energy use – to make sure that machines are turned off when not used, and that they can operate when there is inexpensive and green energy available.
All this requires communication in some form. Communication solutions like, for example, the Anybus products from HMS Networks allow machines to get connected to industrial networks, but also enables IT-functionality like ftp, email, or web servers to allow machines to report on their performance, energy consumption or status.
The effects can be substantial as industrial equipment is not only very energy-demanding, but also often “always-on” – running 24/7 in plants and factories. Therefore, energy saving measures such as simply going into idle mode when the machine is not used can save a lot of power. But it requires the machine to be connected.
2. No more travelling for machine support
Air travel accounts for 5% of the global CO2 emissions, but as the emissions are produced on high altitudes, the damage is more severe. So before the advent of fossil-free airplanes, we need to find alternatives to travelling if we want to reach the 1.5C warming limit.
And machine maintenance can require a lot of travelling.
If a business-critical machine breaks down in a factory for example, it needs to be fixed quickly. Production lines standing still cost a lot of money so support from a machine manufacturer needs to be swift and available 24/7.
OK, so it’s just to hook up the machine to the internet right and access it there, right?
Wrong.
Factory networks are not the same as home or office networks and rigid security policies apply. Therefore, many service technicians have traditionally had to go on-site for support, by car or by plane.
But, with modern remote access solutions such as the Ewon Remote Solutions from HMS, service technicians can do troubleshooting and support of machines via a secure tunnel, guaranteeing both access and security.
The reduced travelling for machine service world-wide is not to be underestimated.
HMS estimates that each year, Ewon remote solutions save 839,000 tons of CO2 saved during 2020. That equals almost a million trips from London to New York*.
So until there is a more sustainable alternative to travel by air, remote machine access is an important technology from a sustainability point-of-view.
3. Keeping it cool with smart air conditioning
Buildings are energy consumers of epic proportions. In fact, buildings stand for about half of the energy consumption in Europe.
And cooling is one of the most energy consuming processes in buildings – especially as more and longer heat waves are to be expected in most parts of the world.
But also here, there is a lot to be gained with communication.
By shutting off equipment when it is not used, making sure electricity comes from sustainable sources, and optimizing cooling cycles, we can take major steps towards decreasing energy use and make sure that sustainable alternatives are used.
All this requires communication.
An AC-unit needs to know when to be switched off to optimize energy use – it needs to connect to some kind of Building Management System (BMS). The problem is that different buildings have different communication standards such as KNX, BACnet, DALI and much more.
Intesis communication gateways from HMS enable this communication between most AC units and building networks – a prerequisite for energy savings.
Communication is key
There is no doubt that we need to make rapid changes when it comes to energy usage in order to reach the goals of the Paris agreement to “limit global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C”.
But 100% carbon free power plants, electric cars and airplanes are not yet readily available. Communication solutions are, however!
And these solutions can be one important key to reducing our carbon footprint and help us achieve the Paris agreement and the UN’s sustainability goals.Want to know more about energy saving technology, contact HMS Networks.
More about HMS and sustainability
*How we have calculated: We have looked at remote connections to our Talk2M service lasting more than fifteen minutes. From these connections, we have estimated the number of service trips that would have been needed instead of the remote sessions, and compared it with the emissions that would have been caused by these trips.