Are you an unlocker or an accelerator of decarbonisation?

With so many competing priorities in hard to abate sectors, actionable clarity on how to achieve deep decarbonisation remains elusive for many companies.

Clearly, sectors are a very different stages: some are enacting zero carbon strategies with clear targets and pilots in progress; some are still working out how and what to measure and have only the top line emissions-reduction targets in place; some companies are only just starting to establish how they can lower carbon emissions (let alone decarbonise entirely).

Over the next couple of blog posts I’m looking at both tech and organisational approaches that could help those hard to abate companies just starting to seek out options for lowering or eliminating co2 emissions.

No one doubts it is a tough environment to do this in, but waiting for perfect/one-size-fits-all solutions is going to lead to problems with legislative (and public/consumer response) problems. So action, in the form of alignment across the key functions and in selecting the right technologies for specific aspects of your business, is essential.

You might recognize the framework that I’m adapting a being the three stages of decarbonisation that Shell’s recent shipping decarbonisation report used:

Unlock — Accelerate — Scale.

Shells focus was on how shipping and ports infrastructure could effective chart a path to net zero. (A great report, by the way, and if you work with the shipping industry – do read it).

Decarb Connect’s clients are in the hard to abate process industries, so I’ve taken the headings from that report and have tailored them a little:

Here’s my question: Are you an “Unlocker” or an “Accelerator” at this point?

1. Do you have access to a global (or regional, depending on operations) map of key policies and associated investment pots?
2. Have you agreed which industrial pathway is the feeder to your company-wide decarbonisation strategy?
3. Is there a timeline that your strategy, innovation, technology and energy management teams are in alignment on?
4. Have you identified 5+ projects in other sectors that could give valuable lessons to your own initiatives?
5. Are you building your strategy and plans based on in-house or cross-hard-to-abate-sector data?
6. Have you identified and establishes your first pilots and demos?
7. Have you engaged with your own sector to agree commitments on what/how to measure + targets?
8. Have you sought out the customers that need decarbonisation wins the most to agree pay-for-play on low carbon or zero carbon products & services?

Get in touch to tell me what information, insights or partnerships would help you most as you push forward this year. Moving into accelerator-mode isn’t easy – what is it that you need to deliver progress?

In the next post we’ll explore which technologies can get you to net zero, and how to tailor plans and investments around the right technology mix. This may include: ccus, h2, energy, efficiency, electrification, renewables for industrial heat, circular economy and more.

So… Are you an Unlocker or an Accelerator?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and comments –

Alex Cameron
Founder
Decarb Connect