Introduction
Recently, Siemens Digital Industries Software committed to the Global Battery Alliance, indicating the resolve shared by both parties in addressing some of the major challenges in the global battery supply chain through innovatively injecting this pursuit with digital technology to make the battery industry increasingly efficient, ethical, and sustainable.
Siemens’ Commitment to the Battery Industry
This important move came with Siemens becoming a leading player of technology and digital industries by joining the GBA, confirming its commitment to offer sustainable energy solutions. This addition sets the fulfilment at the core of its battery business and brings in the call for transparent, efficient, and sustainable production and distribution of batteries. Siemens’ leadership in digital industries will help accelerate realizing these goals for the GBA industrial context, namely towards the creation of a circular battery value chain, reducing carbon emissions, and promoting human rights and economic development.
The Global Battery Alliance: A Multi-stakeholder Initiative
GBA is a global initiative that involves a number of stakeholders throughout the world; its main aim is to bring about transformational systematic, system change for the entire value chain of the battery industry. By aligning with the GBA, Siemens is part of an international force making strong efforts to answer some of the most critical questions on batteries the world over that include environment impacts from battery production, carbon footprint from battery use, and ethical issues on raw material sourcing. The approach taken by the GBA is founded on three pillars: creating a circular added-value chain in batteries, fostering a low carbon economy in the user industry, and promoting human rights and economic development.
Digitalization – Leading Change
Digital transformation will be a focus for Siemens’ contribution to the GBA. It will develop an “ecosystem for a battery passport,” a digital tool that goes beyond regulatory requirements to allow stakeholders to collect, access, and manage data along the battery value chain. This system ensures maximum transparency and traceability of all points of battery production, from the extraction of raw material through to manufacturing and disposal.
In the process, digital technology utilization in the battery supply chain should facilitate efficiency and cut down on wastage and inefficiency, giving the industry a chance towards sustainability over time. On all accounts, the GBA should have a circular battery economy: batteries are recycled and re-used to avert potential pollution of the environment.
Support for a Low-Carbon Economy
A second major concern of Siemens in the GBA is making the battery industry greener by reducing carbon emissions. The demand for batteries will rise with electric vehicles, renewables penetration, or in hybrid configurations to store energy. As demand for batteries is surging across the globe, now is the time to effectively work toward minimizing the carbon footprint from battery production and use. Siemens digital solutions will support process manufacturers for lower energy consumption and emissions across the supply chain.
By engaging with GBA, Siemens also supports the development of industry standards for measuring and reporting of the carbon footprint in the whole industry. The latter will guarantee the accountability of above-mentioned companies and will give incentives to companies operating in the battery business to act environmentally friendly.
Human Rights and Economic Development
Apart from environmental sustainability, the GBA is going to be concerned with integrity—namely, human rights and economic development—around its battery supply chain, where the raw materials for lithium and cobalt are sourced and used in a way that realizes human rights and economic benefits for communities.
Siemens’ involvement in the GBA will advance these causes even more by enabling better transparency of and accountability within the value chain. For instance, the passport of the battery will help in tracing where the material has come from and the responsible sourcing. This is particularly crucial in those regions where mining practices have been linked to human rights abuses and environmental devastation.
A Step Towards a Sustainable Future
The Siemens and GBA partnership is one of the important forerunners within this industry for a more sustainable and ethical battery sector. Siemens will support the project with its lever of digitalization in promoting positive and transformative changes through the battery value chain in material sourcing up to life-end disposal. It actually upholds the bigger commitment of the company in making sustainability real, with all the effort and drive in leading manufacturing for state-of-the-art solutions in relation to the low-carbon economy.
And for sure, this sustainable and ethical battery industry developing with the increased use of electric vehicles and renewable energies is indeed more the job of projects like the GBA. Siemens plays an important role in the GBA initiative since it is part of this project that positions the company among the proponents of a future that is green and fair to all.
The Siemens Digital Industries Software, therefore, is fully committed to driving sustainability and ethical practices in the battery industry as a member of the Global Battery Alliance. To this end, Siemens incorporates digital solutions across the battery supply chain, ensuring enhanced transparency, efficiency, and accountability vis-à-vis the GBA vision for a circular, low-carbon economy. As the industry matures, Siemens will have a significant contribution to advancing even more sustainable energy solutions for people and the planet in the GBA.
Source: Siemens