Engineering for sustainable development
4 March marked World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development, proclaimed by UNESCO at the 40th session of its General Conference in November 2019.
It is a very important day in the calendar for the UN, within its 2030 Agenda, and of course, for our engineering team as it is an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of engineers to a better and more sustainable world. In short, an initiative proposed by the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO), which aims to recognise engineering projects as a way to achieve the goals of the Sustainable Development Plan proposed by nations.
The Sustainable Development Goals
During this day, engineers from all over the world are invited to offer proposals that help in the achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, providing solutions in areas such as: food, water, energy, environment, sustainable cities, resilience to natural disasters, improvements in economic growth and even encourage gender equality within their professional field.
In this sense, a year ago, UNESCO published a report entitled “Engineering for Sustainable Development: Meeting the Sustainable Development Goals“, which showed that “the unprecedented situation presented by the HIV/AIDS pandemic has highlighted the interconnected nature of societies and how, if effectively engineered, scientific innovations can increase resilience”.
The report also demonstrates how engineering innovations and new technologies, especially those using information and communication technologies and data, are transforming our world. More importantly, it shows how engineering is vital to solving today’s crucial problems, such as climate change, urbanisation and preserving the health of our oceans and forests.
Our commitment to the environment
As an engineering company specialised in the agri-food sector for more than 25 years, the projects in which we are involved have the ultimate goal of sustainability, profitability and competitiveness of companies, especially in the efficiency of production processes and re-engineering, energy and environmental efficiency, digitalisation and Industry 4.0.
Thus, when we develop the project for a new industrial or logistics plant, or when it is an expansion or improvement of an existing plant, we equip the facilities not only in accordance with high safety standards, but also in terms of sustainability. To this end, we carry out a preliminary study of technological equipment options, selecting those that, while meeting the client’s requirements, comply with environmental principles.
Focusing on refrigeration management, which is so crucial in agri-food industrial plants, it should be noted that we are deeply linked and committed to the refrigeration subsector applied to the management of the entire food chain, not only by adapting and implementing the most innovative technologies in our clients’ projects, but also by forming part of and actively participating in the Association of Refrigeration Companies and their Technologies (AEFYT).
Energy Study: efficiency improvement and economic return
As part of our services linked to Engineering, the Energy Study of industrial plants stands out. This is an analysis of the needs of the complex in order to then assess the best available techniques and produce a report with recommendations for the use of residual energy, the installation of renewable energy sources or potential measures to reduce the carbon footprint.
With this type of study we are able to establish proposals for improvements in energy efficiency and savings, aimed at reducing consumption and economic savings, as well as improvements in the sustainability of the industrial complex.
In this way, in the first stage, we carry out an initial evaluation of the energy consumption and carbon footprint of the installation, analysing the cooling and climate system, thermal installation, compressed air, electrical installation, etc.
Once the potential for energy savings and carbon footprint reduction has been detected, we proceed to carry out a study of efficiency and energy saving measures and their technical-economic evaluation. As a result, we present a preliminary proposal of measures to be implemented, always based on the client’s investment and/or return criteria.
In addition, our Innovative Investment Grants team can carry out a financing study to find the grants that best suit the package of measures proposed. This support can range from grants, credits or tax incentives to third party investment or power purchase agreements (PPAs).
