Sustainability in Troubled Times

PUTTING ENERGY
EFFICIENCY FIRST
In a world challenged by a growing population, booming urbanization, and the clear issues
surrounding climate change, energy-efficient solutions – doing more with less – are a
ready-to-use answer.
By Flemming Lynge Nielsen and Lene Faurskov, Danfoss
Our future rests on a force invisible to the
naked eye. It is there when Mr. Kuzmich
turns up the heat in his Moscow apartment
on a chilly January morning, and
when Ms. Rossi in São Paolo pushes up
the office air conditioning a few notches
as the sun comes blazing in. It is there in
Shanghai, where Mr. and Mrs. Wang are
going about their daily business, together
with 14 million fellow Shanghainese.
The force is energy, of course – if we
use it efficiently, there will be enough
for everybody in this generation, and
many more to come. The technologies
that can ensure the sustainable use and
development of our energy resources are
already in place and ready to be used.
Today, there are more than 7 billion
global citizens – just one generation
from now, there will be an additional
2 billion mouths to feed. Regrettably,
one-third of the food produced today is
lost or goes to waste. At the same time,
the food sector accounts for one-third of
the world’s energy consumption. So, by
addressing food waste and energy waste,
the food sector can literally help feed the
world, and the solutions to accomplish
this are already available.
Danfoss technologies can help unlock
the huge potential to make better use
of food supplies while saving energy
at the same time. For example, our hydraulic
motors make farm machines
more efficient and optimize a farm’s
harvest to bring more food to the table.
Our refrigeration control systems save
one-fifth of the energy consumed in food
production while minimizing food waste.
This supports Sustainable Development
Goal 12, which calls for cutting global
per capita food waste in half by 2030.
Energy efficiency to avoid climate
change
Using energy efficiently not only helps
us accomplish more with less, it also
does our climate a favor. According to
estimates provided by the International
Energy Agency (IEA), energy efficiency
can deliver as much as 38 percent of the
emission reductions needed by 2050 to
keep the planet within the 2 degrees
Celsius limit necessary to address global
warming.
Political action is needed to achieve this:
The IEA figures also indicate that only
one-third of the global energy-efficiency
potential can be reached through current
policies. However, with the right policies
in place, Danfoss has the technologies to
help deliver on this potential, thereby
supporting Sustainable Development
Goal 7, which calls for ensuring access
to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and
modern energy for all.
The Marselisborg wastewater treatment
plant has transformed its focus from
minimizing energy consumed to
maximizing net energy surplus. The
facility has net production of both
electricity and heat, supplying the
district heating system in Denmark’s
second-largest city, Aarhus. The carbon
footprint has been reduced by 35 percent
accordingly. Danfoss has supplied its
“Drives” products to the wastewater
facility.
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Global Compact International Yearbook 2017