ABB's energy efficient products, systems, solutions and services help customers produce and deliver more goods and power for each unit of energy they use. Some examples from the ABB product portfolio include drives and motors, power transmission technologies and factory control systems.
ABB started its formal environmental management program after signing the International Chamber of Commerce's Business Charter for Sustainable Development in 1991. Since 1998, ABB has been focusing on the resource and energy efficiency of its products over their entire life cycles, including the years spent in operation, and now has independently verified Environmental Product Declarations for its main products in all business areas.
Drives and motors
Variable speed drives regulate the operation of electric motors, and save energy by matching the output of motor-driven pumps, fans, conveyors and similar equipment with the actual demand of the systems they support.
ABB calculates that its variable speed drives installed globally eliminate more than 100 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions annually, roughly equivalent to the emissions of 41 million cars on the streets of Europe.
Coutts & Co., a London-based private bank, cut its energy bill for running the air-conditioning system by 90 percent after installing four variable speed drives.
ABB’s high efficiency motors are big energy savers because, irrespective of size, motors normally consume their own capital cost in energy after 30 days of continuous operation.
ABB has also developed a fuel-efficient podded propulsion system for ships, the Azipod, which is fitted outside the vessel, can revolve 360 degrees and functions as a combined rudder and motor. ShinNihonkai Ferry, Japan's leading ferry operator, reported fuel savings of 20 percent and 15 percent more transportation capacity on two vessels fitted with Azipod propulsion systems in 2004.
Energy distribution
Even the movement of energy itself can be made more efficient. High-voltage direct current (HVDC) technology, invented by ABB more than 50 years ago, transports electricity over long distances using fewer cables and with much lower electricity losses than conventional alternating current technology.
HVDC also makes it possible to link one power grid to another safely and cost effectively. Norway and the Netherlands, for example, are linking their grids with ABB technology to allow the Dutch to import hydropower from Norway during the day when demand is high. HVDC is also boosting the development of wind power in the Netherlands by compensating for the power fluctuations caused by generating energy from wind.
ABB engineers can now build ultra high-voltage links that will make it viable to produce electricity in remote regions of China, India, Brazil and Africa where vast hydropower resources remain untapped. These energy "superhighways" will efficiently transmit electricity to the urban and industrial areas where it is needed.
Control systems
ABB also makes software and control systems that help power plants operate more efficiently, as well as factories in industries ranging from pulp and paper to cement to pharmaceuticals. They regulate the equipment in plants and factories to ensure it runs at optimum speed, produces consistent high quality and can forecast maintenance as needed.
As an example, ABB’s advanced control and optimization system for coal-fuelled power plants optimizes combustion while reducing hazardous emissions of nitrogen oxides. Restarting a power plant after a production stop is a complicated process. ABB’s automated information technology solution typically reduces the fuel consumption during start-up by 10 percent.
Energy savings can be multiplied by combining control systems, high efficiency motors and variable speed drives.