Grundfos shares on net-zero transition at Charles Rudd Distinguished Public Lectures 2023

Industries are notoriously energy intensive. This is due in part to the large amounts of water required for industrial processes and the significant amount of energy required to move, treat, and reuse that water.

With global water demand in manufacturing expected to increase by 400% by 2050, the carbon footprint of industries will only continue to grow if no action is taken. Closer to home, Singapore faces the same challenge as the country aims to grow its manufacturing sector by 50% by 2030.

How can industries accelerate their green transition to support Singapore’s net-zero ambitions, specifically through adopting a more sustainable and energy-efficient approach to water?

As part of Grundfos’ ongoing partnership with Singapore Polytechnic (SP) to co-develop energy and water efficient smart solutions to support Singapore’s industries in their sustainability journey, Grundfos was recently invited to speak on this topic at the esteemed Charles Rudd Distinguished Public Lectures (CRDPL) 2023 co-organised by SP and the Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES), and the World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO).

Mr Truls Lystang, our Group Senior Vice President and Head of Global Sales, Industry, spoke on the panel titled ‘Empowering Net-Zero Transition through Green Plan and Circular Economy’ at CRDPL 2023.

Businesses driving sustainability on all fronts

Taking place at the SP Convention Centre, this year’s CRDPL was graced by Mr Desmond Lee, Minister for National Development and Minister-in-Charge of Social Services Integration, as well as Mr Lim Tuang Liang, Government Chief Sustainability Officer, Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment. The 2023 CRDPL saw over 900 in-person attendees and 3,000 virtual attendees from around the world.

Themed ‘Transitioning to a Net-Zero World’, the event spotlighted key strategies, challenges and trends accompanying Singapore’s endeavour to move to a circular economy, with the aim of better preparing engineers, businesses, students, and the public for a net-zero future.

Mr Lystang provided his perspective of the topic of net zero transition alongside three other industry panellists from wildlife steward organisation Mandai Wildlife Group, engineering and technology company Danfoss, and environmental design consultancy Atelier Ten.

On how it is contributing towards sustainability, Grundfos highlighted how its net-zero targets have been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), demonstrating the importance of commitment from companies when it comes to advancing climate action.

Grundfos is achieving these targets through efforts around saving energy, saving water, and ensuring a circular business:

Saving Energy

Mitigating and reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions
Innovating products within our portfolio to save energy for our end-users
Transitioning to low-carbon technologies
Advocating for legislation supporting the green energy transition

Saving Water

Apply the reduce-reuse-recycle principle at every stage of our water cycle
Enable our customers to save water through water efficiency and water reuse through our products and solutions

Circular Business

Prioritise reducing waste
Use circular principles thinking when designing products
Optimise our take back schemes

Advancing Singapore Green Plan 2030

On how Singapore is doing in terms of sustainability, Grundfos’ take is that Singapore can always look to learning from best practices from other countries while being bold in its actions and leveraging the strengths of being a small and well-connected country.

Cost was also discussed amongst the panellists as a barrier for the green transition, and panellists all unanimously agreed that embedding sustainability makes business sense as well. Mr Lystang said, “The key thing that people are not considering is that we need to look wider. We need to look at the life cycle cost, and once you do, you will see that it brings in economic benefits, and that one can do good for the environment while still achieving return on investment in the long-term.”

Concluding the discussion, all three panellists were aligned that companies cannot neglect reviewing their water and energy use in their net zero transition, and that the upfront investment towards these adjustments towards a more sustainable operation has demonstrated benefits for their own companies and what they’ve seen broadly in their industries.

As part of the event’s learning journey segment, event guests also had a chance to take a tour of the Grundfos’ APAC Industry demo truck , which features a range of world-class sustainable water technologies for customers to kickstart their net-zero transition. The truck demonstrates how these solutions can help industries reduce their carbon footprint, from energy optimisation to improving the overall product sustainability with eco-design principles embedded through the entire product life cycle.

Did you know?

Grundfos is the first organisation in the water solutions sector to receive full validation of our net-zero targets from SBTi.

In 2022, Grundfos’ investment and efforts into energy related projects has reduced its energy consumption by 4.4%. The pump solutions sold by Grundfos in the same year has also enabled end-users to reuse over 1.8 billion m³ water per year.

Through forging new partnerships with customers over the last year, Grundfos also increased its take back returns by 69% compared to 2021, with 64,288 kg pumps returned under its recycling programme in 2022.