AES Engineering Ltd, the parent group for AESSEAL (Pty) Ltd, Johannesburg, went beyond Net Zero in 2021, with its global business activities delivering C02e savings equivalent to the environmental impact of more than 18 million trees, based upon audited figures by a leading standards body.

AESSEAL (Pty) Ltd is an industry leader providing reliability services and mechanical seals to major industries across Africa, with branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Sasolburg, Secunda, and Richards Bay. The company has helped companies in major industries including Mining, Pulp and Paper, Petrochemical and Chemical to dramatically reduce their water and energy use.

In what may be a first for a major engineering company, by helping global customers reduce their carbon footprint the parent group’s activities generated CO2e savings of 464,000 tonnes, resulting in a net benefit of 375,000 tonnes of CO2e, since the Scope 3 emissions in the supply and value chain were just under 90,000 tonnes of CO2e.

The calculations of CO2e have been audited and verified by the leading standards body, BSI. Using standard conversions, the group’s CO2e saving record is equivalent to offsetting the CO2e emissions resulting from the production of 416,000 tonnes of cement or 97,000 tonnes of steel and is also equivalent to preventing the burning of 150,000 tonnes of coal.

How to save >23,280,000 litres of water per year …and the planet. AESSEAL South Africa helped a Mining group in Namibia by upgrading their gland service water system to heavy-duty double slurry mechanical seals and water management systems. This helped them save 23 million litres of water per year and reduced their cost saving per year by US$69,600 - $104,000 per year.

AES Engineering Ltd pledged last year to invest $40 million by 2029 in environmentally-friendly projects. More than $9 million has been committed already but the company intends to keep on going and will continue to support the Betterworld.Solutions initiative that encourages global industry to prioritize environmentally-friendly investments.

Shane Chester from AESSEAL (Pty) Ltd says they are proud to be part of a reliability group that is putting the planet first. “I would like to thank all of our customers for placing their confidence in us and helping to spread the message that the introduction of known technology can sharpen their competitive edge and also benefit the environment.”

The group says that the journey to prove it had gone beyond Net Zero was not an easy one, since most existing accreditation schemes for Net Zero only calculate the carbon ‘balance sheet’ for the direct emissions in company-owned facilities or vehicles, and indirect emissions from electricity, steam, heating and cooling, and do not take into account emissions in the supply and value chain.

AES Engineering’s Managing Director, Chris Rea, said: “I would like to congratulate BSI for working with us to find a solution to calculating the net impact of the group when Scopes 1,2 and 3 are all taken into account. This is vital since controlling supply chain emissions in industry (Scope 3) is essential if the planet is to reach the Net Zero target.

“Global industry needs to show it has a conscience about the environment,” he added. “In the 1950s and 1960s, businesses were all about naked capitalism and making profit. In the 21st century we learned to embrace all ‘stakeholders’ - employees, customers, suppliers and communities. Our $40 million investment pledge makes the statement that our most important stakeholder is the planet.”