Europe aims to become climate-neutral by 2050. In line with this target, the chemical industry is working on technologies to achieve this goal. What are the opportunities, challenges, and obstructions? How can the necessary political framework and incentives be shaped? Which financial instruments are required? These questions will be addressed at the opening event of Achema entitled "Climate-Neutral Chemical Industry" on August 22, 2022 from 5 pm at the end of the first exhibition day.

After the welcome address and opening of Achema by Klaus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer of Covestro and Chairman of Dechema, Martin Brudermüller, President of CEFIC – The European Chemical Industry Council and CEO of BASF, will present the perspective of the European chemical industry in his keynote speech. Open questions will be discussed in the subsequent panel discussion, with Martijn Smit, Business Development Director of Northern Lights, and Ernst Rauch, Chief Climate and Geo Scientist of Munich Re, joining the panel.

Solutions for a more Sustainable Future

The challenges and solutions for a more sustainable future are also addressed by the “Green Innovation Zone”: This special area brings together pioneers, experts and solution providers from industry, politics, and science with decisionmakers and users. The zone highlights green innovations and the challenges faced by the process industry on its way to climate-neutral production. Five areas in particular will be in the spotlight at Achema: climate-neutral production, circular economy, industrial water, sustainable chemistry, and bio-based economy.

“The process industry will have to electrify its facilities across the board and use hydrogen as an energy source in the medium term if it wants to live up to its responsibility for sustainable value creation,” adds Frank Jenner, Global Chemicals & Advanced Materials Industry Leader at EY, the main green innovation partner of Achema 2022. “The industry is already going to great lengths and it’s a huge challenge, but it can be done.”

„With this year’s Achema – perhaps more than ever – we are sending out a signal that technological cooperation across industry boundaries, but also across national borders, is indispensable for solving the significant crises of our time,“ says Thomas Scheuring, CEO of Dechema Ausstellungs-GmbH. Björn Mathes, Member of the Board of Dechema Ausstellungs-GmbH, adds: „As an industry platform, we can create a nucleus in our lecture formats and in the discussions at the stands, in which the industry works together on a solution.”

Digitalization at Your Fingertips

The topic of digitalization has finally claimed a top spot on the agenda of the process industry. The new exhibition group "Digital Hub" contributes to this: It is the central meeting point for digital experts and all participants interested in or actively involved in the digital transformation of the process industry. The exhibition area with a central stage puts digital showcases of the process industry in the spotlight and offers the latest insights from experts and solution providers and facilitates future-oriented discussions.

A total of six use cases for the connected and digitalized laboratory will be presented at the Digital Lab Action Area – the smart lab of tomorrow to experience, touch and try out. Equipment and software manufacturers will demonstrate cross-manufacturer digitalization solutions using relevant practical examples. The spectrum ranges from Cobot-assisted work processes for sample preparation and analysis, user-oriented process control with Laboratory Execution Systems, to horizontally and vertically connected yet modularly adaptable equipment solutions with the perspective of shared laboratory infrastructure and seamless integration between sample input and quality-assured analysis results. Innovative software and device solutions are supported by the Laboratory & Analytical Device Standard (LADS) for OPC UA.

„Digitalization, sustainability, security of supply – the challenges ahead are enormous and can only be overcome together and across sectors”, says Scheuring. “Let us therefore use Achema in August 2022 as the world’s only comprehensive showcase of the latest technology trends in our industry to find and tackle solutions together.”