"The question is: How do we preserve the industries and become climate-friendly at the same time?"

The industrial site at Alusingen-Platz 1 has a long tradition. Aluminum has been processed there since 1912. The company has been renamed several times. Today, internationally active companies such as Amcor, Constellium and 3A Composites are located on the site of the former aluminum plant. What has not changed is the great importance of the site for the region. The three companies alone employ over 3,000 people.

For climate and energy policy spokesperson Andreas Jung, two questions took center stage in his home constituency today: What technologies can be used to heat the gigantic production halls and warehouses at the site in a climate-friendly way? And what do the companies need to secure their locations and jobs? Andreas Jung:

"The question is: How do we preserve the industries and become climate-friendly at the same time?"

The fact that there is an answer to both questions became clear during the on-site visit. The old heat supply to the site via steam-powered hot air heating systems was largely dismantled. Not only to support the coal phase-out, but also because this type of heating had become excessively energy-intensive and expensive in high halls. Thomas Kübler, a specialist in the climate-friendly heating of halls, explains why this is literally in the nature of things: "It's quite simple. For physical reasons, warm air rises to where it is not needed in halls: upwards under the roof. And that costs an unnecessary amount of energy".

None of the operators at the Alusingenplatz site have regretted their decision to modernize the heating system with highly efficient decentralized infrared dark radiators. Instead of warm air, these infrared systems use the natural heating principle of the sun. They only develop their warming effect when the infrared rays hit floors or objects, i.e. precisely in the areas where people work. This reduces energy consumption by up to 70 percent or more. Thanks to the enormous cost savings, the investment was amortized within a very short time and even the energy price increases of recent years no longer hurt quite so much. Ultimately, this helps both sides: the environment and the business location.

"I was able to get an impression of how efficient heating systems can make a valuable contribution to economic efficiency and the environment."

said Andreas Jung after the tour of the site. When asked how he can support the industry in ensuring that sensible technical solutions, rather than ideologically driven laws, are decisive in the future, the Deputy Federal Chairman replied: "We need to set the right framework conditions now, and that means CO₂ and not prescribe technologies. When it comes to climate protection, this is precisely what is crucial: that we move away from CO₂ come down. There is not one way to do this, there are different ways. And that is precisely why the framework must be set in such a way that the most efficient technology prevails."