Asset administration shells and the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)

It is becoming increasingly common for the combination of asset administration shells (AAS) and the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) to be mentioned in many discussions and expert reports. But where does the term "PCF" come from? The basis for all reporting relating to carbon footprint and CO₂ emissions can be found at European level. The stated political objective is to reduce CO₂ emissions in the long term. To achieve this aim, in future companies will have to meet two mandatory requirements.

CO₂ reporting at company level

At company level, there will in future be an obligation to publish all of a company's CO₂ emissions in a report. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) forms the basis for this. To put it simply, the CSRD obliges companies to list and publish all of the CO₂ emissions they produce in a year. This also covers, for example, emissions generated by company vehicles and by heating office buildings and facilities. This applies to all companies which meet the following criteria:

• Balance sheet total > 20 million euros
• Net sales revenue > 40 million euros
• Number of employees > 250

CO₂ reporting at product level

Alongside CO₂ reporting at company level, in future the carbon footprint at product level must also be available and disclosed. The basis for this is the new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation ("ESPR" for short), which is currently being discussed at European level. Discussions and drafts have reached such an advanced stage that we can state with a reasonable degree of certainty that this regulation will be implemented in future. The objective is to make products more sustainable, eco-friendly and reparable. To do so, manufacturers will have to provide a Digital Product Passport (DPP) in future.

The introduction and implementation of the Battery Passport is currently being used as a template for the DPP. This is where the asset administration shell comes into play. As things currently stand, this is a leading technology when it comes to making the PCF available in the form of a data model. With this aim in mind, the Industrial Digital Twin Association ("IDTA" for short) is already working on a corresponding submodel. The intention is for this submodel to be able to illustrate the content of the following PCF-related standards:

• ISO 14067
• ISO 14040
• ISO 14044
• EN 15804
• EN 16258

If you combine the asset administration shell with the corresponding PCF submodel and a digital nameplate according to IEC 61406, you have everything you need for a DPP that will meet the predicted specifications.

It is important to note that, since the final version of the ESPR has not yet been adopted by the EU and the standardisation of the DPP and DPP system is still in progress, changes may still be made. This means that the standards do not yet define the implementation outlined here in a legally binding form. However, at R. STAHL we think it is likely that the standardisation bodies and the EU Commission will integrate this implementation into the relevant standards and regulatory texts.