Interview with Dirk Saldsieder, Head of R&D at Wienerberger
What is your vision for decarbonising heating and cooling in Europe by 2050?
Our and my vision is that Europe should have a neutral energy balance by 2050. This will be a big challenge especially for the background of the political development in Europe. Heating and cooling is not only a topic for the industry but also for every person. Therefore we see an additional responsibility as a brick producer to optimize our products for buildings to help reaching this goal.
What is your contribution to this vision as stakeholder in your professional environment, but also as individual?
The clear goal of Wienerberger is to reduce the use of resources in production. Due to the fact that the drying process is the highest energy consumer we see that the energy recovery from dryer exhaust air with heat pumps is a very promising approach. Nevertheless we accept the challenges to look for ways to reduce our energy consumption in our plants within the engineering teams.
Who do you think is the strongest ally in making your vision of a decarbonised Europe a reality?
The strongest allies are these institutes who work with high graduated engineers on solutions for energy savings in future. Nevertheless these institutes and with respect the industry need the support by governments and the EU to handle the future developments.