Curing the pharmaceutical industry’s sustainability sickness with decarbonisation

Today, the pharmaceutical industry emits more greenhouse gases globally than the automotive sector, equating to about 48.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide for every $1m generated. Every single stage of the pharmaceutical supply chain has a carbon footprint, from the moment raw materials are sourced, to the energy-intensive processes in building molecules, and all the way to shipping packaged products to hospitals and pharmacy shelves.

According to ABPI at COP26: “80% of the world’s largest biopharma companies have pledged net zero or carbon neutrality targets.” This raises the imperative to transform existing processes and make a tangible impact on emissions.

Forming purposeful partnerships

Critical environments must be maintained in pharmaceutical production in terms of temperature, humidity, room pressurisation, sterilisation, and containment. As a result, the industry is incredibly energy intensive. Like many others in the commercial sector, most energy consumption arises from within the process itself and the systems that support it.

Requirements differ between businesses, with each needing a meticulously tailored solution that aligns with their specific infrastructure and components. Each business requires steam to be delivered at the right temperature, quantity and quality to the point of use. But there is no reason why pharma manufacturers need to come up with these solutions alone. By leveraging strategic partnerships, pharmaceutical companies can use third-party expertise to identify the approach that best suits their operation, optimises their systems, and reduces their carbon impact.

Steam-based thermal processes are undeniably necessary in pharma, given the importance to maintain precise conditions and steam’s role in manufacturing processes. But decarbonising does not mean de-steaming. Leveraging these kinds of external partnerships will allow businesses to decarbonise their steam generation while retaining most of their existing steam infrastructure, resulting in less disruption and cost.

Driving transformation with data

Unlocking a full view of your operations in the key to optimisation. The pharmaceutical industry has already made impressive strides in data-driven digital transformation. It is now time to focus that technological expertise and digital-friendly attitude on its thermal operations.

Without knowing exactly how their system runs, businesses cannot make a system completely efficient. This requires a simultaneous process of taking a full stock of how a system works, auditing where energy consumptions reductions can be made, and reviewing where more sustainable sources might be available. Therefore, understanding current energy consumption begins with smarter data collection and analysis. Lack of real-time data has, previously, impacted the industry’s ability to implement strategic energy management initiatives. This has been recognised by firms with 50% of respondents to Deloitte’s study on digital transformation in the pharmaceuticals industry ranking data lakes/hubs as one of the most innovative technologies that their function is currently investing in.

Digitalisation and data also have a role post-decarbonisation. With emerging technologies such as AI and ML becoming increasingly available and sophisticated, there is an opportunity to integrate these into the facility’s ecosystem to enable predictive maintenance, adapt energy usage based on varying requirements across the plant and automate monitoring and reporting.

The decarbonisation journey

There is little point working from a foundation that is not fully efficient, so laying down the groundwork to improve the efficiency of systems and processes should always part of a wider, simultaneous processes of elimination and optimisation. This baseline should be constructed upon actionable data and the support of trusted thermal partners. Once achieved, then, and only then, should pharmaceutical firms begin to decarbonise.

It is not simply a case of switching energy production to renewable sources. In the pharmaceutical industry, energy demand is so high that such a switch is not easily made and many of these processes are locked into carbon fuels. Fortunately for these organisations, technology to decarbonise some industrial heating is beginning to become available – from solutions that can decarbonise steam heating by electrifying both new and existing boilers, to flexible approaches to storing and using renewable energy. Those organisations that are connected with the right energy partner early on in their decarbonisation journey, such as Spirax Sarco Engineering, will be best positioned to capitalise on these emerging technologies as soon as they become available.

The pharmaceutical industry’s vast energy appetite presents a complex but critically important challenge for sustainability leaders. Achieving energy efficiency and eliminating carbon footprints is crucial and these companies should deploy data and partnerships to aid them on their journey. Pharmaceuticals are vital to our wellbeing but, when it comes to the health of the world, they must turn to reducing their emissions.