Technology giant Siemens has announced a pilot trial of its SiGreen emissions-tracking system, its first in Australia.
The trial is being conducted with Food South Australia (Food SA), with Siemens on the hunt for an SA F&B organisation to be the first in the country to use SiGreen.
SiGreen is a tool which allows companies to capture and quantify complex emissions data, including those in supply chains – known as ‘scope three’ emissions (read more about these emissions here). Siemens says the system does not infringe upon the company’s data sovereignty.
The pilot program was welcomed by SA Deputy Premier and Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Dr Susan Close.
“South Australian businesses know that we need to reduce carbon emissions, but can find the process of tracking their emissions to be daunting,” Dr Close said.
“Supporting our strong-performing food manufacturing sector to identify, track and reduce their carbon footprint will be critical to South Australia’s future economic and environmental sustainability.”
Siemens ANZ CEO, Peter Halliday, provided more detail on the benefits of the system.
“Most companies don’t realise this, but a commitment to net zero means a commitment to measure, track and reduce your emissions in your direct supply chain – otherwise known as scope three emissions,” Halliday explained.
“Put simply, our industries need to accelerate their efforts and capabilities around net zero or they risk being locked out of critical local and global supply chains.”
Siemens claims that SiGreen means that companies can have a full picture of the emissions contributions of every aspect of their business and suppliers, ‘enabling a cross-company effort towards decarbonisation and net zero targets.’
The system works by through using techniques like ‘industrial peripheral computing’ to exchange data between companies along the supply chain.
Catherine Sayer, the CEO Food SA, which is facilitating the pilot, believes the program will shape net zero discussions in the F&B industry, and help SA companies meet international benchmarks.
“One of the recommendations from the South Australia Food and Beverage five-year Export Strategy was to implement a recognised food and beverage environmental sustainability accreditation system,” Sayer commented.
“We know our industry needs to understand and be ready to meet the global demands of environmental sustainability and we’re pleased that Siemens has chosen South Australia to pilot this important technology.
“This pilot will not only give a company the opportunity to obtain a product’s true carbon footprint in each manufacturing process and support companies in tracking their product carbon footprint but also help validate current and future emissions against their set goals,” the CEO continued.
And this is an important step in an extremely valuable industry to the state the Food SA head states.
“The F&B sector in South Australia is worth over $11 billion – and we are working towards getting the right systems in place to make it more sustainable for future generations,” Sayers concluded.
Companies can register their interest here.