Honeywell: The Force Multiplier Towards A Sustainable Future

At Honeywell, protecting the environment, people and communities, while continuing to create value for their shareholders, is of prime importance as a global thought and action leader in the ecosystem. 

Towards this end, Honeywell has been innovating to solve the world’s toughest Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) challenges.  When the Paris Agreement on climate change outlined what was necessary to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, countries were called upon to create long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategies by 2020 in order to establish a carbon-neutral economy by 2050.  

The corporation reports that it is well on its way to achieving this aim. Their commitment to being environmentally responsible is reflected in their extensive sustainability portfolio – with the main thrust areas being to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increase energy efficiency, conserve water, minimize waste, and drive efficiency throughout their operations.  

THE INNOVATION QUOTIENT 

Honeywell is innovating every day to create sustainable technology by making products safer, thus furthering the necessary impact. A total of 6,100 sustainability projects completed since 2010, with more than $100M in annualized savings is one of the indeces of the company’s efforts.  

On Oct 11,2022, Honeywell announced a new, innovative ethanol-to-jet fuel (ETJ) processing technology that allows producers to convert corn-based, cellulosic, or sugar-based ethanol into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Depending on the type of ethanol feedstock used, jet fuel produced from Honeywell’s ethanol-to-jet fuel process can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% on a total lifecycle basis, compared to petroleum-based jet fuel, based on the EPA’s summary LCA of GHC emissions for sugarcane.   

Demand for SAF continues to grow, yet the aviation industry is challenged by limited supplies of traditional SAF feedstocks such as vegetable oils, animal fats and waste oils. Ethanol offers producers a widely available, economically viable feedstock. Honeywell’s ready now technology uses high-performance catalysts and heat management capabilities to maximize production efficiency, resulting in a cost-effective, lower carbon intensity aviation fuel.  

Honeywell’s UOP eFining™ technology, a ready-now solution for producing low-carbon sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will be deployed by HIF Global, the world’s leading eFuels company, to produce eSAF. 

The Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) is another solution announced recently by Honeywell that enables the long-distance transportation of clean hydrogen. This cost-effective solution can help meet the growing requirements for hydrogen use across various industries by leveraging existing refinery and transportation infrastructure. 

Earlier this year, Honeywell had also announced the Emissions Management Solution (EMS), an automated and continuous outcome-based solution that simplifies methane emissions measurement, monitoring, reporting and reduction at the plant-level for a wide range of industrial markets. 

Honeywell’s carbon capture technology prevents carbon dioxide’s release into the atmosphere and prepares it to be stored permanently. This holds great promise for global emission goals. This has had a significant impact on the customer ecosystem – this technology will be integrated into the design of ExxonMobil’s low-carbon hydrogen production facility and enable it to capture almost ten times – 98 percent to be exact - of associated CO2 emissions. 

“As India’s corporate landscape is moving rapidly towards digitalization and sustainability, we can expect significant sustainable growth in the foreseeable future. Honeywell is committed to supporting this industry-wide change and our local engineers are developing sustainable solutions for both India and the global market” said Ashish Gaikwad, Managing Director, Honeywell Automation India Limited. He continued, “Developing refineries of the future and identifying sustainable, cleaner fuel alternatives including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel, hydrogen and others will help build the platform for India’s sustainable future.” 

IN THOUGHT AND ACTION  

As a global leader in thought and action, Honeywell launched its Environmental Sustainability Index. The index is the first quarterly indicator of key trends pertaining to global efforts in climate change mitigation and other sustainability initiatives. The ESI tracks sentiment data on corporate climate priorities and approaches to environmental sustainability. More than 60 per cent of Honeywell’s research and development is dedicated to solving ESG challenges. “Our data shows that companies aren’t wavering in their commitment to sustainability,” said Vimal Kapur, President and Chief Operating Officer of Honeywell. “Not only are leaders keeping it at the top of the priority list despite other looming challenges, but they are also increasingly taking actions. This upward trendline in optimism goes hand-in-hand with technology adoption -- more organizations are turning to newer, more efficient, more sustainable technologies to help achieve their goals. Honeywell’s solutions are ready now to support ESG efforts and help organizations around the world reach their sustainability targets.”  

Honeywell India recently announced the launch of its first ever Sustainability Center of Excellence (CoE) in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The CoE will be focused on developing engineering and technology-driven solutions for achieving sustainability goals, and the same will be accessible for Honeywell’s clients and partners. Honeywell said that the CoE will be used in achieving the company’s internal goal of being carbon-neutral by 2035 — and also support its partners’ environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and targets. 

Honeywell’s Solstice® low-global-warming-potential (GWP) products and solutions have been one of its significant innovations. These have reduced greenhouse gas emissions by an amount equal to the emissions from 55 million cars in a single year. These have been selected as one of the champion cases for the 2022 United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Global Call, sponsored by UNIDO and initiated by the UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) in Shanghai.  

Honeywell’s efforts have been acknowledged with several accolades and awards, one of which is the Golden Peacock Innovative Product/Service Award” at the 30th Annual World Congress for its revolutionary Ethanol-to-jet technology. This award recognises Honeywell’s maturity and significant achievements in promoting and innovating sustainable operations, renewable energy and cleaner fuels. 

Honeywell’s Environmental Goals  

Pledge to be carbon neutral in our facilities and operations by 2035  

Commitment to set a science-based target aligned with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)  

Five-year “10-10-10” target to, by 2024:  

Reduce global Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions intensity by an additional 10% from 2018 levels  

Deploy at least 10 renewable energy opportunities  

Achieve certification to ISO’s 50001 Energy Management Standard at 10 facilities 

Breadth of Capabilities 

Installation of a broad range of sustainability solutions designed for the unique needs and scale of industry. 

Proven Solutions 

Developing solutions to help industries operate more efficiently for 100+ years 

Investing in the Future 

In-house Innovators 

A global team of sustainable experts creating solutions every day 

PEOPLE AT ITS HEART 

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of Honeywell’s deep commitment to working towards a sustainability for people and planet is the way it has involved its employees in their mission. The recently completed Honeywell Accelerator online database allows all employees, irrespective of their specialty, to learn about the company’s sustainability efforts so they can embed those goals into their daily activities.  

Honeywell has established an ESG Review Board consisting of several senior executives to oversee multiple aspects of the sustainability initiative. The company has earmarked $50 million per year in capital to find projects all over the world and select ones that will have the greatest impact on the company’s GHG footprint. When these are completed, the process renews to discover the next projects. 

Ashish Gaikwad  

VP-GM of Honeywell HPS and UOP India and MD – HAIL 

AS INDIA’S CORPORATE LANDSCAPE IS MOVING RAPIDLY TOWARDS DIGITALIZATION AND SUSTAINABILITY, WE CAN EXPECT SIGNIFICANT SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. HONEYWELL IS COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING THIS INDUSTRY-WIDE CHANGE AND OUR LOCAL ENGINEERS ARE DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR BOTH INDIA AND THE GLOBAL MARKET. 

Vimal Kapur,  

President and Chief Operating Officer, Honeywell 

OUR DATA SHOWS THAT COMPANIES AREN’T WAVERING IN THEIR COMMITMENT TO SUSTAINABILITY, NOT ONLY ARE LEADERS KEEPING IT AT THE TOP OF THE PRIORITY LIST DESPITE OTHER LOOMING CHALLENGES, BUT THEY ARE ALSO INCREASINGLY TAKING ACTIONS. 

Disclaimer:

The above is a sponsored post, the views expressed are those of the sponsor/author and do not represent the stand and views of Outlook Editorial.