CLiCE-DiPP funding project

The Climate Protection Act has established greenhouse gas neutrality for Germany by 2045. Emissions are to be reduced by 65 percent by 2030 compared to 1990. There is a great need for action here, especially for industry. However, many companies have little knowledge of which emissions are generated along the entire value chain, particularly outside their own company. In addition, the EU’s ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) requirements will in future demand transparency in the use of data and resources, including in the draft of a new Ecodesign Regulation,

The kick-off event for the CliCE-DiPP (Climate-neutral circular economy enabled by Digital Product Carbon Pass) research project was recently held at Software AG in Darmstadt. The aim is to develop a digital CO2 product passport that contains all relevant sustainability and energy data across companies, using the example of the metalworking industry and measuring equipment sector. The digital product passport is not only intended to provide information about the respective product-specific CO2 footprint. Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)), but also make it possible to optimize the production process in terms of energy and resource consumption – across the entire value chain.

This requires extensive monitoring of the relevant production facilities, which is why they are equipped with appropriate sensors. If this is not possible, the necessary data is obtained from the manufacturing execution or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in order to enable the PCF to be determined on a source-centered basis.

The CliCE-DiPP project is developing digital assistance systems for the circular economy in order to achieve energy-efficient overall plant effectiveness. Assistance tools are also being developed to raise employees’ awareness of sustainability and energy- and resource-efficient store floor management. Demonstrators are used to prove that the actual CO2 footprint can be determined from machine data. The aim is to ensure that all companies involved in value creation are able to store the information required to determine the PCF in the asset administration shell.

“A link between digital product passport, CO2 balancing and the management and planning of the circular economy has never been investigated in this way before,” says Andreas Görmer, Director Research at project coordinator Software AG, emphasizing the unique selling point of CLiCE-DiPP. The CO2 product passport creates transparency and makes ecological and economic sustainability measurable with digital technologies.”