The Voice Of Rainer Scharr, Managing Partner of Friedrich Scharr KG
The Voice is delighted to speak with Rainer Scharr, Managing Partner of Friedrich Scharr KG as our new IC member!
The Voice: What’s the history of the family-run Scharr Group? When did the company start and what are your main operations?
Rainer Scharr: The FRIEDRICH SCHARR KG was founded in 1883 by my great-grandfather as a coal trading business in the south of Stuttgart, Germany, where our headquarters are still located. For 141 years, now in the fourth generation, the company remains 100% family-owned and family-led. Over the years, we've expanded into various business areas. Today, our main activities are centered on three pillars:
- Energy & Heat: This includes both fossil and renewable forms of LPG, heating oil, natural gas, and electricity plus e-mobility solutions.
- Technology: This covers everything related to heating technology, building automation, photovoltaic systems, industrial plant construction, and water/wastewater technology.
- Operating Materials: This includes lubricants, chemical products, aerosols, special gases, and alkylate fuels.
In addition to our responsibility for over 900 employees, we prioritise environmental compatibility and climate protection. Our subsidiary, “Fokus Zukunft,” specialises in corporate sustainability consulting, helping companies achieve ambitious sustainability goals.
TV: What are the primary objectives and driving forces behind Scharr Group's operations and expansion efforts?
RS: Staying true to our motto, "SCHARR brings energy to life," our primary focus is on customer benefits. While the forms of energy and related technologies have evolved over the past 140 years, the customer’s need for comfortable home heating, flexible process heat, and efficient mobility remains constant. SCHARR is committed to being a reliable partner in these areas. Sustainability is paramount, and transforming the energy supply is one of our greatest challenges, which we approach with enthusiasm. As one of Germany's leading LPG distributors, we are dedicated to reducing CO2 emissions through energy efficiency and a shift towards renewable energies.
TV: What do you believe are the key opportunities for the European market in 2024 and how does Scharr Group aim to leverage them for further expansion both domestically and internationally?
RS: The advancement of renewable liquefied petroleum gas (Bio-LPG) production presents a significant opportunity and necessity for our industry to maintain our "license to operate," especially in Europe. In collaboration with our Italian and North American “CoolLPG” development partners, we are working to establish a sustainable and affordable pathway to produce Bio-LPG from organic waste. Our goal is to accelerate the market launch of the CoolLPG process and make it available as a technology platform to as many players in the global LPG industry as possible.
Additionally, we still see significant potential in maintaining or even expanding the market share of LPG in the future energy mix, particularly in rural areas.
TV: Reflecting on your membership with the WLGA since 2015, what do you feel are the significant advantages of your membership? What are your aspirations as a recently appointed member of the WLGA Industry Council?
RS: As a board member of the German LPG association DVFG, I started attending WLGA events in 2004 in Berlin, and I believe I've participated in almost every forum since then. We became a direct member in 2015, and I consider myself a veteran of the Association. Reflecting on numerous events and meetings of WLGA members in which the SCHARR GROUP has participated, several benefits come to mind, leading us recently to expand our membership by actively participating in the Industry Council. I greatly value the exchange of diverse perspectives and innovations that we experience in workshops or forums with other global industry leaders. Membership in the WLGA offers excellent networking opportunities, which remain the most direct way of exchanging ideas and developing new business concepts. This is especially true for the Industry Council. Only as an internationally united group of experts can we shape the future of our industry and identify new technologies and developments that can be successfully established in the market.
TV: Anything else you may wish to add.
RS: I look forward to seeing the whole WLGA family at LPG Week in November in Cape Town!
