As an "old friend" of the CIIE, Heraeus booth is located in "Energy, Low Carbon and Environmental Protection Technology Zone" for the first time this year. Jan Rinnert, Chairman of Board of Managing Directors and CEO of Heraeus Group, said, "The CIIE has provided us with an excellent opportunity to share and explore opportunities. This year, we will combine Heraeus' technical expertise with the Chinese customers’ growing environmental protection needs, covering green steel, electric mobility, green energy as well as precious metal recycling, etc. Through these efforts, Heraeus hopes to join hands with customers and the industry to help China achieve it climate goals."
To this end, Heraeus this year focuses on the theme of "material technologies contribute to low carbon and environmental protection", and highlights the concept of green environmental protection in the design. For example, in the "green planet"- shaped showcase, Heraeus products and technologies are comprehensively displayed. During the six-day exhibition, it is expected to receive thousands of visitors on site, and will have in-depth exchanges with guests from the government, customers, associations, scientific research institutions, media and other guests, promote environmental protection cooperation, and help photovoltaic, Chinese electric vehicles and metallurgy to achieve high-quality development of related industries.
For example, the carbon emission of China's steel industry accounts for about 15% of the country's total carbon emissions and faces severe pressure to reduce emissions. Heraeus products are used for on-line measurement and analysis of liquid metal in metallurgy and casting processes, and have won the long-term trust of many metallurgical giants with high-precision technology and high-quality services. This time, Chameleon™, which came from far away from Europe, as an innovative technology, helps to explore the optimal potential of electric arc furnaces in the metallurgical industry, and provides continuous and accurate temperature measurement for electric arc furnace equipment. Electric furnace steelmaking process saves energy, reduces carbon and increases yield, and improves product quality.
In order to maximize the effect of the CIIE, Heraeus will use more digital means to reach more audiences and expand its influence. From November 6th to 9th, experts from Heraeus will join hands with speakers from Tongji University, Shanghai University, Ernst & Young and other guests to hold online forums, focusing on electric vehicles, new energy, metallurgy and other industries moving towards low carbon from multiple perspectives, including opportunities and challenges, industry-university-research cooperation to explore green development paths.
In recent years, under the guidance of the exhibition policy of "exhibitors becoming investors", Heraeus has actively displayed investment results and promoted investment projects at the CIIE. At present, the company has nearly ten projects in progress in various places, involving precious metal recycling, high-purity quartz products for semiconductors, electronics chemicals, special light applications, power electronics modules for electric vehicles, etc. In addition, Heraeus also vigorously enhances local innovation capabilities and cultivates excellent talent teams. This series of measures demonstrates Heraeus' firm confidence in long-term development in the Chinese market and the concept of "in China, for China", and will continue to bring more local innovative products to customers and accelerate the development of a number of high-tech industries .
"China is one of the most important markets for Heraeus globally." Dr. Ai Zhouping, president of Heraeus Greater China concluded, "Heraeus has participated in the CIIE for five consecutive years, and has signed a contract for the sixth one in advance. On this platform, we cooperate with partners from all walks of life. We have deepened our strategic cooperation and achieved fruitful results. In the future, we will continue to leverage Heraeus' material expertise to create more value for our partners. We will play a role in industries’ low-carbon transformation and high-quality development, realize the vision of 'green mountains and clear waters', benefit people's livelihood and improve the quality of life."
Climate change is a global problem facing mankind. In 2020, China clearly stated at the United Nations General Assembly that carbon dioxide emissions should peak by 2030, and strive to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. Under the guidance of this goal, all parties from the government to the industry and academia are working hard to drive China's all-round green transformation. Low-carbon development is long-term and sustainable, and has beneficial effects on the environment, society and economy. On the one hand, low-carbon development addresses the urgent climate change problem by polluting the quality; on the other hand, high-quality green employment opportunities promote social stability. By 2030, the output value of the national low-carbon industry is expected to reach 23 trillion yuan, and the contribution rate to GDP will exceed 16%.
As a responsible company, Heraeus actively strives for its own low-carbon development. Under the leadership of the Group, starting in 2021, all global business units will need to identify and implement corresponding actions on their own important ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) topics. For example, Heraeus Precious Metals (HPM) proposes to become "carbon neutral" by 2025 and to completely abandon fossil energy sources by 2033.