Covering various renewable and sustainable energy needs

Wind turbine at sunset at a biogas plant
Biogas Production
Sustainability
Wind and Solar Energy 

Stable and sustainable energy production is integral to many of the challenges and needs our world faces today, such as climate change, safety, and agriculture. Global population growth, digitalization, and industrial needs are reflected in the global energy demand. To meet the future requirements, production and consumption of renewable energy need to become more efficient. These are the key points also in the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) Affordable and Clean Energy. In this area, Vaisala is involved in multiple ways, helping wind, solar, and biogas energy producers get more value out of their power plants.

SDG Clean energy

Many of Vaisala’s solutions are directly and indirectly linked to sustainable energy production and efficiency. For example, our measurement technologies optimize the control of many industrial processes and thus improve energy efficiency, especially in energy intensive industries. Also the energy efficiency of buildings can be optimized by adjusting the heating and ventilation system according to demand, based on measurements of humidity, carbon dioxide, and temperature.

More directly, in power production, Vaisala supports smart electricity grids with online condition monitoring of power transformers. Reliable online monitoring enables operators to detect faults in time and thus prevent power outages that would risk the safety and operation of society. On the other hand, Vaisala’s weather instruments are used to forecast weather, based on which energy demand can be assessed and energy distribution and production optimized further. 

Most essentially, however, Vaisala helps the power operators to tap into renewable energy sources cost-efficiently, which goes a long way in increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. With Vaisala’s measurement technologies, wind and solar power as well as biogas production can be optimized. 

Harnessing the power of wind

Leosphere, a Vaisala company, is the world’s leading provider of wind lidars – crucial measurement technologies that help developers and owners get more out of their wind farms: investments in wind energy production are based on reliable data on wind conditions and wind field behavior. With our remote wind sensing solutions – our WindCube lidars – wind developers and operators around the world can make profitable decisions, select the best location for production and harness the power of wind energy efficiently, safely, and cost-effectively while minimizing risk.

Our comprehensive suite of compact, mobile WindCube lidar solutions can be used both onshore and offshore to measure the viability and productivity of a prospective wind farm in the development phase, which helps to secure financing. In the operational phase – when the wind farm is already active and producing energy – the lidars are used to measure wind speed and veer, for example. This way the turbine performance can be continually optimized to ensure the wind farm is producing energy at maximum capacity.

WindCube lidars provide coverage over the rotor sweep of modern wind turbines, as opposed to traditional met masts. WindCube is also compact, and compared to the traditional tall met masts, it provides cost efficiency, a safe working environment as well as easy installation and maintenance. All these benefits combine to secure sustainable energy production and ensure that profitable wind farms can become operational quickly, speeding up the establishment of profitable renewable energy. Wind farms are also often accompanied by transformers that require monitoring: in this sense, Vaisala truly offers a one stop shop for smart and sustainable energy production.

Turning waste into value

Waste management presents a significant challenge to societies, and governments around the world are seeking to lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfills. Biogas provides significant opportunities for profitable waste management as well as for global renewable energy demand. Biogas plants can generate more value out of waste by using Vaisala MGP261 Multigas measurement instrument to monitor key parameters in the process.

The key parameters to measure for an effective biogas process optimization are methane, humidity and carbon dioxide. Vaisala’s MGP261 instrument for the biogas process optimization enables customers to generate more value from waste by measuring these parameters directly inside the production process pipe, which has not been possible before. With reliable measurement data, customers can improve biogas quality as well as protect CHP (combined heat and power) engines,  active carbon filters, and biomethane upgrading equipment. This decreases production costs, making biogas production more profitable and efficient.

“Biogas production is an organic process, affected by many variables. The better you can monitor your entire process and react to changes, the more efficient the plant becomes. This helps extract more energy from waste, lower GHG emissions, and recycle agricultural nutrients,” says Product Manager Antti Heikkilä, Industrial Measurements, Vaisala.

Global population growth with associated waste management issues and energy needs, combined with the need to lower greenhouse gas emissions, represent a major challenge in the modern world. Profitable and efficient wind energy and biogas industries are an important part of the solution to produce clean and affordable energy.

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This is the fourth post in our article series about Vaisala’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Vaisala’s multifaceted business is brimming with stories, and in this article series, we illustrate with concrete examples, how our business is truly linked to the SDGs. Stay tuned for more information on how our solutions, practices, and mission Observations for a better world reflect the goals.

 

Read more about Vaisala's link with UN SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Power / electricity grid at sunset

Smart energy production and utilization

Industrial agricultural facilities and silos

Resource efficiency and circular economy

Value for customers

Value for customers

With our measurement solutions, our customers can make reliable decisions as well as enhance quality and productivity of their operations.

Value for society and the environment

Value for society and the environment

Our measurement solutions enhance information, resource efficiency, and safety in societies.

Green city view

UN Sustainable Development Goals

We have identified the most relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals for Vaisala. By integrating the goals to our strategy work, we can better assess our impacts on sustainable development and develop new business and sustainable business practices.

Comment

vinay

Oct 27, 2023
I'm genuinely appreciative of your commitment to sharing this invaluable knowledge.

Vaisala

Nov 2, 2023
Dear Vinay, Thank you for your kind comment.

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