As head of one of the ‘greenest companies’ in America, Pall’s Keith Webb has a duty not only to his stakeholders, but also to the global community as a whole. It’s a responsibility he ably administers, driven by a zeal for innovation and corporate success. Here, he tells PES about the company’s rapid growth, its creative technological developments, and its focus on European operations.
PES: Welcome back to PES magazine, can you tell us how your company has been performing within the wind market since we last spoke?
KW: Pall Corporation’s wind energy business has grown tremendously over the past few years. Sales, to this application, doubled last year. We have expanded our reach away from our traditional European base towards America and Asia. The key wind turbine application currently in our portfolio is the protection of the turbine gearbox lubrication system for bearings and gears. Pall filters are also used to protect the hydraulic systems inside the nacelle.
PES: And how much of your total business is now dedicated to wind energy? Is this still an area in which you wish to see continued growth?
KW: From one per cent five years ago, wind energy is fast approaching 10 per cent of Pall’s sales to the power generation market. Within that market, we’re working with producers of emerging renewable sources including wind, solar and biofuels, to help them overcome issues of capacity, efficiency, cost and convenience. Removing these barriers will help clear the way for broader adoption and a sustainable and clean energy supply.
Helping customers to protect the environment is in Pall’s DNA. In essence, our job is, and has always been to remove things – solids, liquids, gases – from a given environment we wish to protect. It can be a turbine lubrication system, a nuclear reactor, a glass of wine, or simply the air we breathe. Pall has been called the “original clean technology company” since so many of our products deliver sustainable social benefits. Last year Pall was named one of the highest ranked of the greenest companies in America, so not only is the wind industry a good business to be in, but it’s the right business for Pall to be in, naturally. It’s also a true technological challenge, and that plays into what we know best: innovation and product performance.
