Sustainability with Automation is essential to achieving the EU's Net Zero goals by 2050. The European Green Deal outlines this strategy, focusing on decoupling economic growth from resource use. However, these ambitious goals cannot be met without empowering businesses to embrace digitalisation and automation. This data-driven approach, known as the twin transition, blends the digital revolution with the sustainability revolution to unlock a greener future.
Also read: Bunting attains Bronze EcoVadis Sustainability Medal
As the World Economic Forum explains, “a twin transition approach recognises that there is a huge and largely untapped opportunity for technology and data to drive sustainability goals.” The organisation estimates that digitalisation could reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent.
How Digitalisation Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Achieving sustainability goals largely depends on the ability to digitise and automate processes. By constantly monitoring and analysing industrial processes, companies can improve their efficiency and reduce their environmental footprint. A study conducted by the European Joint Research Centre identified “interoperability between devices” as a key prerequisite for a successful twin transition, highlighting the importance of automation.
Software platforms play a critical role by facilitating interoperability for digital and sustainability goals**. Several key applications demonstrate how **Sustainability with Automation** can help companies reach their environmental objectives.
Smart Grids: A Key to the Energy Transition
The energy infrastructure faces two core challenges: the need to transition to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, and coping with the increasing energy demand driven by electrification. IoT-enabled smart grids offer a solution to these challenges. With a data-driven approach, utility operators can optimise energy generation, transmission, storage, and distribution.
Through automated substations, wind and solar farms, and battery storage systems, operators can gain full visibility over the grid. This enables them to keep costs low and streamline communication across platforms.
Improving Energy Efficiency with Automation
While decarbonising the energy supply is crucial, maximising energy efficiency on the demand side is equally important. Energy data management systems (EDMS), powered by IoT sensors and analytics, help companies monitor energy consumption across their production facilities. This data allows businesses to make informed decisions on how to reduce their energy use, contributing to Sustainability with Automation.
Interoperability between software platforms and devices is vital to gathering and analysing data from multiple sources. These insights enable companies to generate accurate reports on their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, aiding compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
The Role of Predictive Maintenance in Reducing Waste
Predictive maintenance is another critical application that supports. Sustainability with Automation. By leveraging advanced algorithms and data from IoT sensors, companies can identify malfunctioning equipment before issues arise. This enables timely interventions, reducing downtime and energy consumption.
In smart factory environments, AI-enabled systems can predict when equipment needs servicing, extending the lifespan of machinery and reducing waste. In the utilities sector, predictive maintenance helps technicians address water leaks and other inefficiencies, preventing wasteful resource use.
Managing Resources Efficiently with IoT Automation
Efficient resource management is a core component of the twin transition. By collecting real-time data throughout the manufacturing process, the IoT helps companies identify and eliminate inefficiencies. Data on product defects and production performance reveal the source of quality issues, minimising product waste.
Automated inventory management also supports Sustainability with Automation by tracking materials and parts usage, ensuring restocking happens at the right time. This leads to reduced waste and streamlined operations.
Toward a Successful Twin Transition
In conclusion, embracing Sustainability with Automation is critical for businesses embarking on the twin transition. This approach enables companies to contribute to a greener future while maintaining competitiveness. Digitalisation and automation help companies improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, and strengthen their processes. Platforms like zenon from COPA-DATA play a pivotal role by facilitating interoperability, allowing companies to collect and process data on a single platform, unlocking targeted improvements that align with their sustainability goals.
About COPA-DATA
COPA-DATA is an independent software manufacturer that specialises in digitalisation for the manufacturing industry and energy sector. Its zenon® software platform enables users worldwide to automate, manage, monitor, integrate and optimise machines, equipment, buildings and power grids. COPA-DATA combines decades of experience in automation with the potential of digital transformation. In this way, the company supports its customers to achieve their objectives more easily, faster and more efficiently. The family-owned business was founded by Thomas Punzenberger in 1987 in Salzburg, Austria. In 2023, with more than 400 employees worldwide, it generated revenue of EUR 87 million.
