Compressor Talk – Alexander Pavlov | Powering Your Green Journey

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Welcome to the Atlas Copco

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India Podcast Episode Powering Your Green Journey,

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where we explore innovations and success stories

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in the world of sustainable solutions at Atlas Copco.

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Today we embark on Atlas Copco India's remarkable Green Journey.

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I'm Shalini your host for today.

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And joining me is our special guest, Alexander Pavlov.

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Welcome, Alex. Hello, Shalini.

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Thank you for having me.

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I'm absolutely delighted to be here recording our first podcast

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and discuss more about our green journey at Atlas Copco, India.

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Incredible.

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To start off, Alex, you have now been here in India for a year.

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Can you tell us a little more?

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How has this first year been?

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Well, I could tell a lot, but I believe

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Shalini we are a bit limited in time.

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In three words.

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It's been an amazing experience, an adventure.

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I met so many fantastic people at Atlas Copco and outside.

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Been to so many different places, tried a lot of different food.

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Business wise, I can only say that India is a country of huge opportunities

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and I've been involved in so many massive projects.

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Something I didn't really experience in my previous job.

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Thank you. Coming to the green Journey.

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You've lived and worked all of your life in Europe

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and have now been here in India for the past year.

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How do you see the comparison between sustainability, green initiatives

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and the entire green journey between India and Europe?

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Okay.

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If we talk about the green journey,

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then we can imagine the roads leading us from our current reality

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to a beautiful green world of the future.

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That road is certainly an uphill road

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as there are many obstacles and setbacks on the way.

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So sorry to say, but if I today place on that road, Europe and India,

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then India would be quite behind somewhere in the beginning of the journey.

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Not to criticize, of course.

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So we all understand that the initial conditions were quite different.

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A lot to be done in India, especially in power

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generation, transport, sector, waste management.

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Those are main contributors to the pollution and carbon emissions.

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Manufacturing industry is another big source of pollution

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and that's where we can really make a difference.

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Unfortunately, what I see in India is that too many customers still buy

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compressors purely on price and don't look at the longer term

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impact on the carbon footprint and on their operational cost

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as those two things always walk hand by hand.

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Let's talk about this green journey for Atlas Copco compressors.

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How do you see it and why are we suddenly talking so much about it?

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Well, our commitment to

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maximizing energy efficiency of our customers is not new.

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However, today, more than ever, the whole world

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is committed to transition to net zero manufacturing.

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And we are one of the 2000 companies

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who subscribed and fully commit to the science based targets.

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If you're not familiar about the science based targets

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for climate change, please Google it and read about.

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Today.

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We see with many companies that focus shifts from pure money talk

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where again, energy saving solutions save

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lots of money, but it shifts to the green benefits.

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So customers ask how your solutions

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can help us to reduce our carbon footprint

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and then we can offer so much for world's most energy

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efficient vs the and centrifugal compressors to energy, less air dryers,

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nitrogen and oxygen generators, chillers, very efficient blowers,

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energy recovery systems, steam boosters and expanders.

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So today, Indian customers who already invested

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in very efficient compressors call us and ask, Please Atlas Copco

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help us with more ideas on how we can reduce emissions.

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Can companies

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actually do something to contribute without having to make hefty investments?

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Very good question.

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And the answer is yes, they can and we can help a lot there.

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In Atlas Copco, we have our biggest division,

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which is dedicated exclusively to the aftermarket and service.

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They're on top of regular preventive

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maintenance with genuine spare parts, which is, by the way,

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extremely important to maximize the efficiency of compressors.

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We offer remote monitoring, energy audits, leak detection services, energy

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recovery and control systems, all to optimize the existing installation

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without replacing or adding the new compressors.

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That sounds impressive.

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So what is your personal favorite solution from Atlas Copco

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as many solutions to help customers in their green journey?

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Well, 20 years ago I started in Atlas Copco in Belgium as a project manager

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for remote monitoring, something what is called the Internet of Things.

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We call it the Atlas Copco Smart Link.

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So we were pioneering those solutions 20 years ago.

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Today, globally, we have about 300,000 compressors connected to that system.

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And then I was a product manager also for control systems, for central controllers.

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It's unbelievable how much savings can be achieved by simply

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adding a central controller to a big compressor installation.

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So those monitoring and control solutions are my favorite.

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I also believe that energy recovery systems allowing you

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to get hot water from air compressor for free.

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Yeah, those systems are very much underrated today.

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Again, to achieve ambitious green targets for the manufacturer in industry,

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we have to recuperate as much heat as possible

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instead of wasting it. Talking about our own operations

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What do you think are the most significant steps

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that we've taken to reduce the carbon footprint from our own operations?

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Well, today in India, our biggest factory covers

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80% of its electricity demand from the solar panels on the roof.

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Actually, 80% is the maximum, according to Indian legislation.

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I don't really understand why it cannot be 100% anyway.

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Electricity that we source for most of our sites in India is also green

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from from green sources,

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and we have been focusing on it a lot during the last years.

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We introduce bus routes for our employees in Pune

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and we investigate regarding adding electric cars

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into our fleet and in manufacturing process

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we carefully select our suppliers as we expect that they should also focus

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a lot on the reduction of carbon emissions as we do ourselves.

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Now, Alex, let's talk about your personal green journey.

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Can you tell us about some of the actions you've taken in your personal life

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that contribute to making the environment and planet more sustainable?

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Well, for me personally, it's a major shift

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has to do with electric cars.

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Before coming to India, I lived in England and in 2018

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I exchanged my diesel company car to a plug in hybrid.

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That battery had only 30 kilometers range,

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but for my daily commuting it was just enough.

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So west majority of time I was driving on battery.

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It was a great experience and zero pollution

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as my electricity at home was supplied from a renewable source.

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That was my first step into that world of EV.

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And in 2020 I exchange that car to a full electric car

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with 450 kilometers range.

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So since then, I never, ever had to thank my car

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and was enjoying clean but really powerful driving.

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Thank you so much, Alex, for your time and for the insights

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and personal examples that you've shared with us today.

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Thank you, Shalini.

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Thank you for this talk and really look forward

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to new episodes of the Powering Your Green Journey podcast.