Every heat exchanger that saves energy also cuts emissions. Once carbon carries a price, that saving also becomes a sound investment. Alfa Laval, a Swedish engineering group, has worked on heat transfer technology for more than a century. Its equipment, installed and serviced around the world, is estimated to avoid around 50 million tonnes of CO₂ a year.

In this story, Thomas Møller, President of Alfa Laval’s Energy Division, explains how carbon pricing shapes the company's investment decisions and what he expects from future carbon pricing instruments.

The role of carbon pricing

Putting a price on carbon strengthen the business case for energy efficiency. Once emitting carbon carries a cost, every unit of energy not consumed carries more financial benefit. This enhances the investment case for electrification, heat pumps and heat recovery. Measures once seen mainly as environmental choices become commercially rational. Efficiency stops being a by-product of good engineering and becomes a line item on the balance sheet.

Where the efficiency is used

Heat transfer equipment is used across data centres, renewable energy, heating, ventilation and refrigeration. In each of these sectors, operators gain from lower electricity costs and lower emissions at the same time.

Innovation through collaboration - Laakso Joint Hospital

The Laakso Joint Hospital project in Helsinki is a clear example of collaborative innovation at work. To integrate an efficient cooling system for the new hospital area, the project team installed five Alfa Laval TL10 gasketed plate heat exchangers manufactured using two low-emission steels: SSAB Zero™ carbon steel and Outokumpu Circle Green® stainless steel. This combination cut the units' product carbon footprint by up to 60%.

The achievement sits within Alfa Laval's Concept Zero™ initiative, which targets a 50% cut in scope 3 emissions by 2030 and aims to deliver the world's first zero-fossil-carbon gasketed plate heat exchanger. What makes the case notable is that the carbon reduction wasn't achieved by Alfa Laval alone: it required steelmakers SSAB and Outokumpu, installation partner Gebwell, and the hospital's ambitious goals to align across the value chain. This is proof that cross-industry, cross-border collaboration fueled by carbon pricing can scale low-emission solutions and serve as a model for other cities tackling energy use in the heating and cooling sector.

The transition by numbers

tonnes of CO₂ avoided per year through installed and serviced heat exchangers by Alfa Laval

2030

the year by which Alfa Laval aims to be carbon neutral, alongside its work with SSAB on a net-zero heat exchanger

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