{"id":9411,"date":"2025-06-06T14:45:39","date_gmt":"2025-06-06T14:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/2025\/06\/06\/green-tech-at-the-hinterland-of-things-from-hollow-words-to-business-strategy\/"},"modified":"2025-06-18T12:10:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T12:10:17","slug":"green-tech-at-the-hinterland-of-things-from-hollow-words-to-business-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/2025\/06\/06\/green-tech-at-the-hinterland-of-things-from-hollow-words-to-business-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Green tech at the Hinterland of Things: from hollow words to business strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Green tech at the Hinterland of Things: from hollow words to business strategy<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The climate crisis no longer features in the coalition agreement. The press headlines are currently prioritizing other issues and green technologies are hardly getting any attention. However, the reality of the climate crisis has not disappeared. Companies are faced with the urgent task of making their business models fit for a climate-neutral future, not just for image reasons, but also with regard to the profitability of their companies. Sustainability has gone from being a sideshow, a nice-to-have, to a competitive factor. <\/p>

This has long been accepted in the industry, Mittelstand and start-up scene. Investing in sustainability today will ensure security of supply, gains in efficiency, confidence of investors and a more resilient market position tomorrow. The Hinterland of Things conference shows just how serious entrepreneurs are about this. At the various panels, visitors heard how it works: with scalable solutions, concrete partnerships and the clear goal of bringing sustainable technologies into the economic mainstream. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Changing perspective: from image brochure to integrated processes<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Sustainability does not start with the image brochure, but deep within the structures of companies: in production processes, supply chains, energy flows and data systems. The claim must be: If you’re going to do it, do it right. Companies that only see ESG criteria as fulfilling a duty are falling short. It is much more important to understand green tech as an integral part of the business strategy. This is because climate protection measures usually address several problems at the same time – for example, process optimization not only achieves climate-relevant reductions, but also saves personnel costs at the same time through greater efficiency. “I think it’s important that we successfully manage the issues that lie ahead of us. I see them as an invitation to change our perspective,” says Jochen Ziervogel, Co-Founder Enpal. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Regulation that motivates: Why attitude wins out over frustration<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Regulation was a dominant topic at the GreenTech panels. There is hardly anywhere as much of it as in Germany, which also results in losing some motivated founders to other countries. <\/p>

However, Jochen Ziervogel invites people to change their own attitude: “Of course, energy is highly regulated in Germany, but the important step here is to enter into a joint dialog. Because everyone here actually shares the interest in changing something,” says Ziervogel.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Visibility creates impact: green tech needs storytelling<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAt Hinterland of Things, it was impressive to hear how Mittelstand and tech scene are working together to solve more than one challenge. Communication also plays a key role, as Natalie Kreindlina, Consultant at Kekst CNC, and Christian Schmierer (HyImpulse) explained using the example of HyImpulse. “Everyone reported on how this rocket runs on candle wax because the story was so good. By translating the technology into stories, public perception is created, which then generates interest from investors,” says Kreindlina. A win-win situation. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Technology with an impact: green tech that solves problems\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tYet many green technologies are about so much more than counteracting climate change. For example, Hendrik Kramer, CEO & Co-Founder of Fernride, explains how his start-up is also creating real added value in the shortage of skilled workers through autonomous driving. Because: “Robotaxis may be a nice invention, but ultimately they don’t solve a real problem. We solve real problems when we bring AI into the jobs that keep the economy running and are done by people who don’t actually need or want to be there,” said Kramer, who cited vehicle control in logistics and agriculture as areas of application. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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He is one of numerous founders at the Hinterland of Things conference whose start-ups demonstrate that earlier visions of the future have long since become marketable today, with added value in both directions: Companies are reducing their emissions, saving energy costs and automating regulatory obligations. All thanks to tangible technology and not as a marketing gimmick, but with great savings potential. At Fernride, for example, this is already happening at the Port of Hamburg, where one person looks after four autonomous trucks and can provide support in the event of problems: “It works 95% of the time without any errors.” <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Digitalization is key: no sustainability without data<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThere are many other examples, such as smart lighting systems that save electricity in production or battery storage systems that balance out peak loads. The administrative effort for ESG reporting can also be massively reduced with AI and a structured database. The key point is: Sustainability only works with data. The collection of ESG key figures as well as AI-based optimizations need a structured, consistent data basis. Digitalization is the cornerstone for everything that follows. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Circular economy: when ecosystems drive innovation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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A real hook lies in the consistent implementation of the circular economy. Those who think in terms of ecological cycles not only reduce waste, but also create new business models: by reusing resources, through shared platforms and by intelligently combining production, usage and recycling. <\/p>

However, this only works with genuine collaboration – between start-ups, Mittelstand, research and capital. Hinterland has shown how it works: this is where those come together who not only think ideas, but also implement them. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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From prototype to practice: why scaling is crucial now<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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There is also consensus on this point: many technologies are ready. What they often lack is the leap from niche to industrial scale. This requires not only capital, but three more things: courage to standardize, political support and clear target markets. “We have to plug the energy supply gap now, but we have to think more long-term and politicians have to set the course for this. That means building decentralized systems and tackling regulation,” says Florian Hildebrand, founder of greenlyte. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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GreenTech: Those who change today will win tomorrow<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe panels at Hinterland clearly show that the technologies are there, as is the know-how. What counts now is the will to implement them – and to keep at it. Because sustainability is not a hypothetical ideal, but a concrete economic advantage. “Climate change is the biggest problem facing mankind. We would do extremely well to find solutions to the problem and, in my opinion, these are climate-friendly technologies. I am deeply convinced of this,” says Hendrik Brandis (Earlybird) and adds: “I am convinced that attention will turn back to this topic.” So those who invest today will benefit tomorrow. And those who do it together will reach their goal faster. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The climate crisis no longer features in the coalition agreement. The press headlines are currently prioritizing other issues and green technologies are hardly getting any attention. However, the reality of the climate crisis has not disappeared. Companies are faced with the urgent task of making their business models fit for a climate-neutral future. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9065,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hinterland-of-things"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9411"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9412,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9411\/revisions\/9412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9065"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hinterlandofthings.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}