Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems division has been awarded the special Global Transition High Potential prize as part of the Handelsblatt Global Transition Awards with which the German daily business newspaper recognizes companies that have taken practical steps with their strategies and goals to prevent the earth from warming by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100 and are thus considered pioneers.
“Winning this Global Transition Award means a lot to us. It shows that Rolls-Royce Power Systems, a company with a 110-year tradition in making internal combustion engines, is on the right track with its ‘Net Zero at Power Systems’ transformation program to become a manufacturer of sustainable solutions for drive-power and energy needs,” said Dr. Otto Preiss, Chief Technology Officer and COO at Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems division. The company’s mtu propulsion and energy solutions are used in a wide variety of applications including commercial shipping, heavy land vehicles, trains, yachts and power supply systems.
The panel of judges singled out Rolls-Royce Power Systems for special praise for credibly building its climate targets into the company’s processes and organization structures. The judges were similarly impressed by the company’s strong product portfolio focus.
Aim: net zero in 2050
“We recognized in good time that we would have to change course if we and our customers are to shape a sustainable future. That’s why we are supporting our customers in their climate protection efforts with our new, climate-neutral solutions, driving the transformation of our company and fulfilling our social responsibility – of which we are very aware,” said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems. The establishment of the Sustainable Power Solutions business unit last year made it clear just how seriously the company takes this undertaking.
The new unit is exclusively concerned with expanding sustainable and climate-friendly system solutions across all application areas. By 2030, one third of the company’s product line-up is to consist of entirely zero-carbon solutions such as fuel cell systems, electrolyzers and battery storage systems. The other two thirds are made up equally of combustion engines for sustainable fuels such as hydrogen or methanol and for fossil fuels. In this way the company is aiming to cut carbon emissions by 35% by as early as 2030, compared with its 2019 product portfolio, with a target of net zero emissions by 2050.
Climate awareness across all parts of the company
The ‘Net Zero at Power Systems’ climate protection program is not all about new products and solutions under the mtu brand. “It’s equally important for us to embed climate protection awareness in all parts of the company, implementing centralized management and bringing about a company-wide cultural change,” stressed Dr. Daniel Chatterjee, Director of Sustainability, Technology Strategy & Regulatory Affairs at Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems division. The available carbon budget is broken down to individual business units and products, and underpinned by targets. Great importance is also attached to building employees’ skillsets for the challenges ahead. Not only are new employees being sought for the Sustainable Power Solutions business unit, but existing employees are also undergoing skills training – for example under the ‘Pioneer’ training program in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology which sees Rolls-Royce Power Systems funding the re-skilling of its own engineers in areas such as systems development, electrical engineering and automation.
“Winning this Global Transition Award motivates us to remain fully committed to our ‘Net Zero at Power Systems’ climate protection program, doing our part to meet the 1.5-degree target set out in the Paris Climate Accord,” added Chatterjee.