An energy crisis looms for Europe’s industrial giants. For GEA Group, it’s an opportunity

In a factory in Vantaa, a city in southern Finland, scientists and engineers are working on a groundbreaking innovation that converts carbon dioxide and hydrogen into a protein powder called Solein.

The mustard-yellow powder, developed by Solar Foods, can be used in protein shakes and bars, pasta, and meat alternatives.

The company claims Solein has dramatically lower emissions than conventional protein, and almost completely decouples protein production from land—reducing the need for intensive agriculture.

German engineering company GEA Group invested €8 million ($9.2 million) in Solar Foods earlier this year, taking a roughly 5.5% stake in the Finnish company and becoming its strategic partner.

It is the latest example of GEA’s commitment to sustainability—backing not just the idea of a more sustainable food system, but the technologies that could make it commercially viable.

“I strongly believe that it is necessary to do something to save this planet,” says GEA Group CEO Stefan Klebert.

“We are in climate change—nobody, I think, can ignore this anymore.

We can do better.” Beyond the Solar Foods investment, GEA is embedding sustainability into its core business.

It is currently redesigning the machinery and systems it manufactures—which are used to produce food, drinks and pharmaceuticals—to make them significantly less energy intensive (its technologies are used in dairy processing, food drying, fermentation, freezing, and packaging).

The company is targeting net zero across its value chain by 2040, with plans to invest around €175 million ($201.9 million) over that period in decarbonizing its own factories.

“We are in climate change—nobody, I think, can ignore this anymore.

We can do better” GEA Group CEO Stefan Klebert As the debate rages about whether European companies can realistically meet their net-zero targets while achieving the growth needed to remain competitive with China and the U.S., GEA’s stance stands out.

Earlier this year, a survey of more than 300 European chief sustainability officers by management consultancy Horváth suggested that around two in five companies are reassessing their climate ambitions in the face of short-term performance pressure and geopolitical uncertainty.

More than half (57%) of respondents to a survey of European businesses by EY said sustainability initiatives would be among the first to go if they had to make cuts.