Christian Hartel

President & CEO, Wacker Chemie

Search every verified Christian Hartel interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Christian Hartel, President and CEO of Wacker Chemie, participated in two DLD conferences in 2023 and 2024, focusing on industrial decarbonization and energy policy. At DLD 24, he discussed the chemical industry's energy intensity, explaining that the process of breaking and forming molecular bonds requires significant energy that cannot be substituted. He described efforts to electrify processes using green energy to achieve climate neutrality. Hartel also commented on the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, stating that while the principle is "not a bad idea," he believes it will be complicated to implement for complex products like cars or iPhones, suggesting it would require a large administrative capacity. At DLD 23, Hartel argued that "cheap abundant electricity is the key answer to all the problems of the world" and called for Europe to adopt a "bold vision" on energy, urging policymakers to prioritize "abundant green energy or abundant fossil free energy" on the political agenda. He emphasized the need for "courageous decisions" alongside ambitious targets. Hartel also noted that while existing technologies should be deployed immediately, investment in next-generation technologies like fusion is necessary to maintain competitiveness in the long term.