The industrial decarbonization challenge

Electricity and energy supply

The Exponential Roadmap estimates that adopting solar and wind energy could contribute nearly half of emissions reductions required by 2030.

However, increased dependence on solar and wind sources also creates management and operational challenges for electricity producers. One is the growing risk of network disturbances, as renewable power generation is variable and uncertain. Electricity is also difficult to store, meaning power companies must carefully balance generation and consumption, a process which unpredictable renewables further complicate. A third challenge is that renewable energy generation sources are often small and widely dispersed, which puts pressure on load balancing and energy planning efforts—increasingly so as growing numbers of homeowners install solar panels and look to sell their excess generation back to the grid.

Better data management, enhancements to energy storage, and distribution management systems help address these issues. 5G technologies in particular will, in turn, be a critical tool in enhancing edge connectivity, as they provide higher levels of reconfigurability for power grids, allowing local networks to work separately from the main network, and help renewable energy installations operate more dynamically and efficiently.

Manufacturing

The Exponential Roadmap estimates that material reuse and recycling could make the single biggest impact on carbon emissions reduction in the manufacturing sector, potentially accounting for nearly half of emissions reductions by 2030.

Cellular-connected production management systems and internet of things (IoT) tracking could also play a significant role. Manufacturers and producers are already leveraging these systems: more efficient temperature and humidity control in factories and warehouses can reduce electricity consumption, lessen inventory wastage, and extend the shelf life of sensitive materials such as prepared food, vaccines, or microprocessors.

5G connectivity combined with the latest technology can produce significant efficiency gains on the manufacturing floor as well as collaboration across different industries.

Transportation

Much like the energy sector, the operational structure of the transportation industry closely emulates that of a communication network. The economic success of each depends on the efficient conveyance of units of value (of vehicles, people, and goods in the case of transportation, or of data in the communications sector) across shared infrastructure resources (be it road, rail, or cellular networks). The synergies that result from collectively and systematically integrating transportation and communication networks—such as telematics, smart city analytics, and traffic management solutions—can quickly lead to efficiencies that reduce emissions.

“The transportation world will soon be ubiquitously connected, electrified, and autonomous,” says Tony Sandberg, director of e-mobility for the Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Scania Group. These trends, in turn, will cause an entire ecosystem of connectivity to grow around transportation industry participants, says Tony Sandberg, Director of E-Mobility, Scania.