Sustainable Automation Trends Reshaping Industrial Energy Use

The world’s most essential industries have a golden opportunity to implement sustainable automation to reduce their impact. Construction, chemicals and steel, among others, must do so because they are also the most energy- and carbon-intensive sectors on the planet. These technological and strategic trends are paving the way for decarbonization and energy-efficiency.

Are There Drawbacks in Sustainable Automation?

There are eco-friendly industrial trends demonstrating feats of innovation and engineering, while others show a less desirable pattern. Sustainable automation benefits many sectors, and with each advantage, there is potential for an equally impactful negative trend.

Transparency

How energy-efficient can automation be when these technologies consume so much upstream and operational energy? Ethical considerations could make industries question the validity of these trends. However, working with responsible suppliers committed to global climate objectives dissuades fears.

Worker Displacement

From welding to manufacturing, many industries face overwhelming job vacancies. Companies are taking action via automation to stay afloat. It mends skills and labor gaps, which cause downtime and long lead times. Implementing any automation — sustainable or not — can also put people out of work and permanently remove positions from the field.

Automation is a balance of implementation and upskilling. Choosing robots or artificial intelligence (AI) to champion energy-efficiency upgrades should be an educational outlet for current staff. Simultaneously, it should be an insight into an emerging niche in the industry for people onboarding.

The Digital Divide

Inconsistent technological education exists worldwide. This causes many not to apply or enter the workforce because they need more expertise. This presents equity issues for many, as developing nations and disadvantaged communities cannot facilitate digital education. Additionally, sustainable automation introduces accessibility concerns if the machinery is not accommodating to those coming from the digital divide.

What Are the Trends Changing the Game?

How can sustainable automation tools help sectors, including agriculture, transportation, urban planning and more?

Waste Management

Computer vision-empowered photo eyes in robotic sensors are categorizing materials at recycling plants more productively than manual sorting. Nuclear power plants can take waste heat from steam and repurpose it as more energy. These happen with little human intervention, making operations more energy-independent without intensive maintenance.

A unique deployment of automation for waste management is in the aquaculture sector. Sludge removal requires tons of power to execute, and a Norwegian company has found a way to automate it and upcycle the by-product. The business incorporated a cloud-based equipment advisor to notice when pumps and other machinery started to run poorly. This has allowed the process to increase profits by 25% because it incurs less downtime and repurposes the sludge waste as fertilizer.

Energy Regeneration

If possible, technology should capture or regain the energy it wastes. Most people see this in the automotive sector with regenerative braking, making cars less energy- and fuel-intensive.

Manufacturing is the best place to see creative regenerative tools in large-scale machinery. For example, assembly lines rely on servo motors to keep product moving. Models leveraging rare-earth metals have stronger magnets, demonstrating an efficiency rating of over 90% compared to traditional rotational motors.

Environmental Control

Health care facilities use tons of power because of their constant operations. The lights are always on, and this is an element of the industry researchers want to fix. A case study explored automating energy-efficient upgrades in a hospital. It went beyond motion-controlled lights and explored these techniques to see what automation tactics worked and did not:

• Manual light control: Over 25 weeks, patient-controlled lighting saved 13% of power in a neonatal unit compared to automated cycle lighting.
• Automated shading: Installing new sun-path-linked blinds reduced energy consumption by 9.8% and had a payback period of only six months.
• Building information modeling: The software automatically tracked energy consumption to inform future installations.
• Passive cooling: Analyses suggest self-managing devices like thermal chimneys and double-skin walls automate ventilation improvements by outcompeting conventional building elements.

Addressing Energy With Technology

Technological advancements and resource exploitation have led industries into high energy use patterns. It is solvable with intentional process optimization and sustainable automation tools. Industries cannot afford to wait to lower energy consumption. The rate at which companies are using resources is unsustainable in the long term, so professionals must advocate for transitioning to more conscious operations immediately.