"I have learned you are never too small to make a difference." Greta Thunberg.

Love or hate Greta’s approach to climate change activism, climate change is real. It’s hard to argue differently when this year alone we have seen an increasingly devastating series of climate disasters around the world, taking lives, homes, livelihoods and destroying ecosystems. From soaring temperatures causing wildfires that ravaged Greece and Australia to unprecedented levels of rainfall that led to severe flooding in Germany and South Asia. Around the world, everyone will be affected by climate change.

Earlier this year, Brussels revealed their breakthrough plan to reduce Europe’s carbon footprint including a ‘fit for 55’ plan to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and a big focus on companies taking responsibility and creating their own policies to reduce carbon emissions. The recent COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, reiterated that emissions reductions targets are needed to reach net zero by the middle of the century.

And every industry must play its part, which of course includes those industries who are the biggest contributors to emissions. Within the natural gas industry and others, companies are switching to “blue” hydrogen as a low-carbon alternative where carbon emissions are captured and stored or reused. There are also more sustainable marine fuels being adopted for “greener” shipping with the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), liquefied biogas (LBG), ammonia, methanol and hydrogen.

And so, as our news feeds become inundated with these climate related stories, it becomes blindingly obvious that this is important, and this is urgent. We need to make a meaningful contribution as a business and play our part in enabling our customers’ businesses to reduce their environmental impact too. We need to shout about it and encourage others to do the same. Because as Greta says, no matter how small, in what seems the grandest scale of the issue, we can make a difference. If we focus on our role as manufacturers to work with our suppliers and customers, we can achieve sustainability by working together.

 “The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it." Robert Swan OBE, polar explorer turned environmentalist.

The Wanner group of companies has customers and partners all around the world, and it’s our mission, within the industrial pumping sector, to help lead the way as one of the most progressive suppliers of pump technology in the world.

We want to enable our customers to run far more environmentally sound and safe pumping processes as part of their overall operations. So, if we can set a precedent in communicating the importance we place on acting responsibly for sustainability, chances are we might be in with a shot of leading by example and influencing a much wider network of businesses and people. If this does start to happen then the cumulative impact our global partners, suppliers, and customers, linked to ours, starts to look more substantial. Replicate this situation across all industries and the premise of never being too small to make a difference starts to have real meaning. This is our priority. We want to do the best we can for our planet today, best for our future and our grandchildren’s futures.

One day we all hope our planet will be powered by totally renewable energy sources but how do we get there? The solutions are many, but the key of course is switching energy systems from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives. One of the biggest challenges is decarbonising transport systems such as through the use of green sustainable fuels that include hydrogen, biodiesel, and LNG (liquified natural gas) plus the development of vehicle technology for land, sea and sky that are not only built to run on alternate fuel sources but are also designed to be lighter and more aerodynamic for better fuel economy.

So, whilst global agreements such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement are trying to drive this change, what we can do now is try to improve existing processes and systems that will contribute to lowering emissions, increasing energy efficiencies, and reducing waste. But how are we playing our part?

Up to 50% energy saving and significant reduction in carbon emissions 

Our pumps are heavy duty process pumps built for liquid transfer, metering and dosing, injection and spraying of a wide range of liquids. They have been designed to be so highly efficient that they enable our customers to make up to 50% energy saving and significant reduction in carbon emissions when they replace their existing pumps with ours. Not only this, but the seal-less design ensures 100% leak-free operation when dealing with toxic and non-lubricating liquids. This means that unwanted emissions such as VOCs (volatile organic compounds and dangerous chemicals), leakages and ground contamination around the pumps are eliminated from the process protecting both the environment, and health and safety of engineers and operators.

Safety First

In addition, our ATEX certification considers the suitability for use within hazardous or potentially explosive environments further reducing the risk of unsafe operation and consequence to both operators and the environment.

ATEX is the most widely recognised standard, globally. To enable us to offer this we have strict procedures in place to ensure compliance including independent and regular assessment to ensure our hazardous area certification meets standards in Europe and the United Kingdom (CE to Directive ‘2014/34/EU’(ATEX 114) and UKCA).

Having equipment independently assessed ensures significant technical and commercial integrity with ongoing reviews for continuous improvement. Hazardous area certification requires all parties to ensure equipment is suitable for the application. As a result, the whole supply chain has a responsibility to ensure compliance with the certification with end user customers understanding the importance of regular and planned maintenance of the installed pumps.

Furthermore globally, pumps in the industrial sector represent approximately 25% of the energy usage, and in pump intensive industries as much as 50%. So, choosing the right pump technology to optimise energy usage is critical to create real customer benefits to help meet environment targets, and also achieve significant cost savings.

Ultimately, a lower cost of ownership, low maintenance and 20+ years of service is the desired solution. For the end user customer, unplanned downtime is key as well as cost savings on maintenance, spare parts, and labour (a significant factor in reducing costs for customers in critical process manufacturing) but best of all for them and the environment, reduces the need to replace pumps every few years and therefore the materials and energy emitting activities necessary to manufacture, deliver and install new pumps and dispose of the old.

So, using our expertise to help all our clients reduce their carbon footprint has another impact – it saves money. Most of the discussions around saving the world focus on it costing huge sums of money. But we are showing that you can play your part in saving the world and save money too! This is exactly the type of innovation which will speed our path to carbon neutrality and is a real positive; something that I feel will welcomed by those parts of the population we risk alienating if messaging on sustainability fails to bring people along.

investment in a more accessible facility to more of our global partners

This year we invested in a Technical Centre of Excellence facility not only to increase capacity but to take our pump technology to the next level of technical innovation. This will play heavily into serving the shift of changes thrown up by the decarbonising process. By focusing on developing best-in-class across key capabilities such as custom design, research, training, and testing capabilities, we are improving both the economic benefit to the customer and reduction of their environmental footprint by providing a more accessible facility to more of our global partners.

With the current political situation changing rapidly and new regulations on sustainability, all companies have to take their responsibility seriously and act now to help reduce carbon emissions. Wanner’s ultimate goal is to enable customers to deliver both economically sound and safe pump operations, and to help them meet their own environmental targets.

"Right here, right now is where we draw the line. The world is waking up.” - Greta Thunberg.

Customers’ production processes will change, and consultant engineers will have to consider different pump technologies to meet the new process specifications: increased need to pump “difficult”, abrasive and non-lubricating liquids, reliably; a pump that is highly efficient, reducing energy usage and delivering real energy savings. And most importantly, a pump that has a hermetically sealed pumping chamber to guarantee 100% containment of the process liquid, ensuring zero leaks into the atmosphere, totally eliminating emissions - protecting operators and the environment.

Please contact the team at Wanner International for more information: https://www.hydra-cell.co.uk/Contact-Us