"Companies are already making their contribution to climate protection targets".

"The participating companies are committing themselves to the 1.5 degree target. Even without defining climate neutrality and without knowing the planned climate neutrality standard, they are preparing for it. They are already making their contribution to Germany's climate protection goals," says the head of the upp, Professor Jens Hesselbach. In the two-year project, customized roadmaps for climate neutrality are being developed for ten member companies, as well as guidelines that can also help companies of other sizes and from other industries. Hesselbach is convinced: "Climate neutrality is not a task for individual companies, but a joint task for all companies and the entire country."

Now that all the data from the ten project participants has been collected and analyzed, it is clear that the biggest challenges for the companies include phasing out natural gas and the heat transition. The natural gas they need for processes and combined heat and power plants can only be replaced by biomethane or possibly scarce and expensive hydrogen. Heat for processes, rooms and hot water consumes half the energy in Germany. Plants need a lot of renewable energy to electrify their heat supply.

"Our members want to become climate neutral. That means switching to new technologies. They have to build up know-how, invest a lot of time and money," says Philipp Andree, managing director of Climate Protection Companies. Seventy percent of the companies from the project group rate conversion costs as a major obstacle on their path to climate neutrality. "Above all, companies need sufficient affordable green power. The new government wants to drastically accelerate the expansion of renewable energies. It has to do so so that businesses have planning security and can rely on renewables without running into supply bottlenecks," emphasizes Andree.

At the beginning of 2021, the Association of Climate Protection Companies and the Department of Environmentally Compatible Products and Processes (upp) at the University of Kassel launched their cooperation project "Paths to a Climate-Neutral Company." In the two-year project, customized roadmaps to climate neutrality are being developed for ten member companies. The project runs until December 31, 2022 and is financed by the participating companies.

Klimaschutz-Unternehmen e.V. is a cross-sector network of companies in German industry which, according to its own information, is committed to achieving Germany's climate policy goals with innovative solutions. Founded on the initiative of the German Federal Environment Ministry (BMU), the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), it now includes 46 companies of all sizes.

Ten climate protection companies are participating in the project:

• Energiedienst Holding AG
• Förster Plastics Technology GmbH
• Neumarkter Lammsbräu Gebr. Ehrnsperger KG
• PHOENIX CONTACT GmbH & Co. KG
• Provinzial Holding AG
• Schöck Bauteile GmbH
• Stadtwerke Karlsruhe GmbH
• Weidmüller Interface GmbH & Co. KG
• Worlée-Chemie GmbH
• ZINQ GmbH & Co.KG

Contact:

Dr. Ron-Hendrik Hechelmann
University of Kassel
Project Manager
Institute for Production Technology and Logistics
Department of Environmentally Compatible Products and Processes (upp)
Phone: 0561 804 34 44
E-mail: hechelmann[at]upp-kassel[dot]de