Schneider Electric has earned recognition from the World Economic Forum’s Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, with its pioneering medium-voltage switchgear technology, AirSeT, named Champion of the Scope 3 Downstream Solutions Challenge in the Sustainable Design category.
In a statement announcing the feat, the firm reaffirmed its efforts to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions from electrical equipment.
“By replacing sulphur hexafluoride (SF₆), a greenhouse gas with 24,300 times the global warming potential of CO₂, with pure air and vacuum technology, AirSeT eliminates one of the most potent contributors to Scope 3 emissions in electrical infrastructure,” it stated.
Head of Climate & Nature Economy, Member of the Executive Committee, World Economic Forum, Pim Valdre, stressed that product design is where downstream impact often begins.
He noted that sustainable design reduces costs, enhances safety, ensures compliance and minimises emissions throughout a product’s lifecycle.
AirSeT for instance, fully eliminates SF₆, helping customers reduce regulatory risk, enhance worker safety, and lower long-term operational costs.
“Since the launch of AirSeT, we have helped avoid 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e), as of June 2025, a contribution validated by third-party auditors as part of Schneider Sustainability Impact,” the statement read.
“Since the 1950s, SF₆ has enabled the industry to reduce switchgear size and improve safety. However, this has come at a significant environmental cost.
“AirSeT, which is the only readily available solution powered by purified air, rather than SF₆, is easy to manage and integrate, while being resilient to evolving environmental regulation.
“Delivered in familiar form factors and with the same operating procedures, AirSeT is also natively digital, enabling smarter grids and AI-driven condition-based maintenance at scale across data centres, industrial sites, and infrastructure. Designed with circularity in mind, AirSeT features: enhanced electrical and mechanical components for x5 more operations, spare parts, retrofit and modernisation capabilities with removable breakers for extended lifespan.”
