As a high-tech company, Liebherr aims to play a major role in advancing technological innovation.

Subhajit Chandra, Divisional Head- Mobile Crane Division, Liebherr India

How important is sustainability to your company’s mission and values?

As an independent family-run company with a long-term focus, Liebherr is aware of its responsibilities and is committed to sustainable development. Its products, processes and infrastructure are geared to the minimum possible consumption of resources. We are convinced that we shall only achieve long-term success if we remain aware of this responsibility in all our activities. As an OEM, we have all required competencies and it is our responsibility to push, drive, and realise decarbonisation. From reducing CO2 emissions to developing future drive concepts for its products – Liebherr takes responsibility for the environment and society.

What types of sustainable construction equipment does your company manufacture, and how do they differ from traditional equipment?

Liebherr has accelerated the development of low-emission and zero-emission technologies across its wide range of products, making significant progress along the way. Compared to traditional equipment, it is observed that an electric drivetrain is more efficient than hydraulic solutions – with 90% and 70% efficiency respectively – and also achieves significant savings in energy consumption.

Liebherr manufactures Hybrid compact mobile cranes in Ehingen-Germany, electric crawler cranes and Piling Rigs in Nenzing-Austria.

What specific technologies or features do you incorporate into your sustainable CE (e.g. electric or hybrid power, reduced emissions, recyclable materials)?

As a high-tech company, Liebherr aims to play a major role in advancing technological innovation. Last year, the Group invested € 588 million in research and development activities.

Liebherr has added six new electric drive models to its unplugged range. The unplugged portfolio consists of battery-powered, locally emission-free crawler cranes upto 400 t capacity.

Liebherr Mobile cranes with ‘E’ symbol have an optional electric motor for crane operations. They can be switched between diesel-hydraulic and electro-hydraulic power unit for crane operations flexibly and quickly to satisfy all the zero emission requirements at site. The new LTC 1050-3.1E compact crane is equipped with an electric motor as well as a conventional drive.

Having successfully adopted the new Stage V emissions limits, we have demonstrably and effectively reduced our nitrogen emissions in daily use, both on the road and on construction sites.

We have converted our entire crane range to the Single Engine concept, i.e. we now install only one engine in each crane instead of the former two. This further helps reduce our carbon footprint in production.

The new LICCON3 crane control in the LTM 1110-5.2 and LTM 1100-5.3 models laid the cornerstone for a new, digitalised generation of mobile cranes.

ECOdrive in drive mode: -5% CO₂ and fuel consumption

ECOmode in crane operation: -10% CO₂ and fuel consumption

We are working hard to make our entire fleet HVO-ready. HVO is a synthetically produced fuel that is largely derived from waste materials.”

How does the cost of sustainable construction equipment compare to traditional equipment, and what steps is your company taking to make sustainable equipment more affordable?

An electric drivetrain is much more expensive to procure. For example, compared with a diesel-hydraulic system, it takes many operating hours to recoup the additional costs of using a diesel-electrical system, due to the reduced fuel consumption. With construction machines, which operate up to 2,000 hours per year, this process obviously takes significantly longer than with machines such as mining vehicles, which operate for 5,000 hours or more.

Hence, the benefits of diesel-electric transmissions are most obvious when it comes to high power applications and when dealing with very long operating times.

To make the Equipment more affordable, We are in close communication with customers inside and outside the company group throughout the development process. They know their work sectors and available budgets better than anyone else.”

How does your company ensure that the equipment is environmentally friendly throughout its entire lifecycle, from production to disposal?

We have been working consistently on making our mobile cranes more environmentally friendly and sustainable for many years. Over the last 20 years, we have been able to steadily reduce exhaust emissions by more than 95 percent. Our soot particle emissions are at the lower threshold of what can be detected by existing measurement technology.

Below is a comparison of the CO₂ emissions of different drive types using the example of the LTM 1160-5.2 mobile crane.”

How does your company measure the environmental impact of the equipment, and what metrics does it use to track sustainability?

Liebherr equipment and components are playing an important role in the global transition to a decarbonised economy.

To find out what does the carbon footprint of construction machines include, Liebherr carried out a comprehensive life-cycle analysis of the greenhouse gas emissions of standard construction machines in cooperation with business consultancy Frontier Economics. Exactly the same machine model was equipped with different drive solutions and examined. The study has shown that holistic, life cycle-based analysis of construction machines and heavy equipment is necessary in order to achieve the climate goals laid down in the Paris Agreement.

Also, improvements in traction drive and crane drive technology, combined with our progress in lightweight construction, have enabled us to substantially reduce the fuel consumption and thus the carbon footprint of our cranes in relation to their lifting capacity.”

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