Siemens CEO: there’s no silver bullet for decarbonisation

There is no “silver bullet” when it comes to decarbonisation, so corporations need to move faster and on all fronts, according to Siemens AG President and CEO Roland Busch.

In an Energy Talk interview on Day One of ADIPEC, Busch flagged government regulation as necessary, but cautioned that it needs to make sense or it won’t work. That involves allowing a corporation to work up to 100 percent green hydrogen by permitting red or blue in segments, for example, or ramping up to full transparency across the entirety of a supply chain.

“We will get there faster if we stagger,” he said. “It’s impossible to get there all at once.”

At the same time, AI, digitisation and other technology is consistently helping optimise operations and reduce costs. Take the example of speeding up the car crash simulation process, or using digital twins in a building full of chillers to find the one that is underperforming, he said.

Busch sees most supply chain issues stemming from Covid as behind us, and said while there are still semiconductor shortages, he was cautiously optimistic about bypassing a major global recession.

Contrary to popular opinion, Busch also doesn’t believe AI will replace human labour. That’s because not only is much of the world ageing, many countries are facing labour shortages – including the United States, Germany, Europe and China. In many cases, AI compensates for that lack of growth, serving as a co-pilot or productivity lever.

“People who are working, we need them in places where we need them for people, service and healthcare,” he said. “I don't need people pushing beds around, I need a nurse sitting with a patient.”

In renewable energy, the high price of building facilities is offset with low or zero operating costs once the assets are written off, said Busch. AI isn’t that different, in that it costs a fortune to train AI foundational models but those drop dramatically over time as processing power and data volume increases.

One challenge facing a company like Siemens, which is coming up with new AI solutions “every day”, he said, is scaling those innovations. Unlike the gaming industry, with its audience of billions, Siemens must work out how its work for one major customer can be passed on to 10 more. Still, Busch is optimistic: “The best is ahead of us.”