Author Archive

Mission Possible Partnership: Elevating the role of sectors in the global story of decarbonisation

Posted by Alex Cameron

Mission Possible Partnership: Elevating the role of sectors in the global story of decarbonisation

Alex Cameron, Founder of Decarb Connect & Paul Bodnar, Managing Director, Rocky Mountain Institute

In this episode, Alex talks with Paul Bodnar, Managing Director of Climate Finance at Rocky Mountain Institute about the need to elevate sectors in the global discussion of decarbonisation. The Mission Possible Partnership seeks to build on what the Paris agreement did for nations and we talk about the set up, purpose and core supports that it can offer to industrial leaders globally.

Paul Bodnar brings extensive experience of climate finance and policy from his early career in investment through to his role in the Obama administration and his more recent leadership role at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Amongst the many projects he has led and influenced, Paul took a principal role in formulating the U.S. strategy for the Paris Climate Conference. He is also a senior associate (non-resident) at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and serves on the Board of the Carbon Tracker Initiative.

Hot on the heels of the Mission Possible Partnership’s launch at Davos, Alex and Paul talk about the MPP, the mechanisms that can be developed to link finance and investment to improving co2 per tonne of product – and about the how the nation-based approach developed in the Paris agreement can be augmented by platforms and policy that support the major emitters (which work across borders) in delivering net zero.

Episode Links:
https://rmi.org/press-release/mission-possible-climate-action-partnership-launched-to-help-transform-heavy-industry-transport/
www.decarbconnect.com

    Thanks to Matt Wallace at Janno Media for his support with production and editing of the Decarb Connect podcast: www.jannomedia.com

    Our podcast series is available on itunes and spotify. Select your favourite and follow our channel so you don’t miss them.


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    Carbon Pricing, Technology Readiness and the Value of Patent/IP analysis

    Posted by Alex Cameron

    If you like data, strong views and a clear perspective on what will make decarbonisation viable, this session is for you. Alex talks with Rob West about Thunder Said Energy’s recent analysis of millions of patents and lines of data around the core technologies linked to net zero.

    Renewables, industrial efficiency, CCUS & hydrogen are all up for discussion – as is the analysis that points to nature-based solutions being the a key route to deliver ing net zero. Whatever your interest in decarbonisation, settle in for different perspective and (sometimes) controversial insights.

    We talk carbon pricing, technology readiness and the value of patent/IP analysis in determining the right rout forward.

    Catch up with Rob or join his newsletter list at ThunderSaidEnergy.com.

    To volunteer to join a podcast episode, or to find out more about the work we do, go to www.decarbconnect.com

    Many thanks to Janno Media for all their help in producing this podcast. www.jannomedia.com

    Our podcast series is available on itunes and spotify. Select your favourite and follow our channel so you don’t miss them.


    Listen on Spotify Here.

     
    Listen on iTunes Here

     

     

    Survey

    Posted by Alex Cameron

    Participate in, and share the results of, the Decarb Connect Survey

    Most of what we hear about decarbonisation highlights that many industrials feel unclear on what others are doing, how their plans compare and whether their plans stack up… and this is within industry siloes – there’s even less clarity on what others are doing and achieving in other energy-intensive sectors.

    So would you consider contributing to the first global benchmarks being built to explore how hard to abate sectors are planning, investing and deploying around their decarbonisation strategies?​

    This cross-sector review of activity seeks to highlight the progress, but also pain points, that are part of the status quo:

    • Are people hiring or reallocating existing resource?
    • Has covid slowed investment or galvanised activity?
    • What levels of investment are planned in the next 18months and 5 years?
    • Which technologies are the priority of each sector?
    • Which vendors are seen as trusted partners?
    • How many live projects are there in companies across the hard to abate sectors and where are people seeing results?

    Industrials completing the survey will get access to the full report and can also attend the free online benchmarking roundtable in November.

    For anyone else involved in industrial decarbonisation projects, fill in your part of the survey and you’ll be able to access the exec summary.

    All attendees of the Decarb Connect Digital Festival will receive a full report into the metrics and takeaways that we will be writing with one of our sponsor partners.

    Get in touch if you’d like to know more or if you’d be interested to co-sponsor the report and contribute to the analysis.

    (complete the survey below, or open it in a new window here.)

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    Are you an unlocker or an accelerator of decarbonisation?

    Posted by Alex Cameron

    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

    Design, Deploy, Learn, Adapt: what are we learning from early projects and where next?

    Posted by Alex Cameron

    Alex speaks with Aniruddha Sharma, CEO of Carbon Clean Solutions about what they’ve learned from the demonstrations and pilots that they are leading with industrial clients.

    With $22m in funding recently secured, CCSL’s low-cost approach to carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and separation technology is getting backing and support from big names. Find out what is being learned from early projects, and also how industrials benefit from a more incremental approach to CO2 reduction.

    Our podcast series is available on itunes and spotify. Select your favourite and follow our channel so you don’t miss them.


    Listen on Spotify Here.

     
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    Leading industrial decarbonisation in the post-covid 19 era

    Posted by Alex Cameron

    The first in the Decarb Connect Podcast series we were privileged to talk with Pratima Rangarajan, CEO of OGCI, and Dominic Emery, Chief of Staff at BP. The conversation was an opportunity to get their thoughts on how companies across the hard to abate sector can deliver leadership on decarbonisation in the post-covid era.

    Central to the conversation was the eye-opening stat that the near-global shutdown had reduced emissions by just 4-8%. With this as context, we talked about how different companies are stepping up and the increasing ambition around targets and strategies that are being set. We also talked about the policy/leadership frameworks and workforce skills that will be essential to decarbonise at scale.  Dr. Pratima Rangarajan is the CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, a fund set up to reduce carbon emissions in the energy, industrial and transportation sectors. Before joining OGCI Climate Investments. Pratima was the General Manager for GE’s Onshore Wind product Line and the General Manager for GE’s Energy Storage Start up. She had previously held the role of Deputy Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President, Emerging Technology and Research at Vestas Wind Systems. Pratima has a PhD in chemical engineering from Princeton University and a BS in Chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Dr. Dominic Emery was the founding CEO of OGCI Climate Investments, a $1bn fund set up by oil and gas companies to invest in technologies and projects to reduce carbon emissions. Dominic is a geology graduate and has worked for bp since 1986. He has held positions in BP’s Exploration and Production Division, in Asia and the Middle East, and also in the UK North Sea. Dominic has led Gas and Power business development in Europe, as well as running power and utility assets at BP industrial sites. He joined bp Alternative Energy in 2007, ran Emerging Business & Corporate Ventures in 2012. In 2013 he moved to the role of VP, Group Strategic Planning, responsible for strategy development, long-term planning and policy.  He was appointed to his current role in February 2020 and is also on the Board of the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative).

    Our podcast series is available on itunes and spotify. Select your favourite and follow our channel so you don’t miss them.


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    Hello and Welcome to Decarb Connect

    Posted by Alex Cameron

    At Decarb Connect our Mission is to support those driving decarbonisation in the most energy-intensive sectors – those with complex challenges to solve. We broker access to hard-to-reach information and facilitate network relationships – all with the goal of accelerating decarbonisation. Working closely across industry, we find out what is most needed in terms of introductions, information and solutions, then we provide access to content, stories and voices not generally ‘on the circuit’.

    We will be bring you regular insight, articles, interviews and podcasts from those who share our vision.

    Our first milestone is the Decarb Connect Digital Festival 3 – 5 November where we will be connecting senior executives from hard-to-abate industries to intelligence, innovations, and cross-industry partners they need to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.

    Hello speech bubble isolated on the yellow background.

    The agenda has been built to support heads of strategy, technology, innovation, energy management and corporate venture from across energy-intensive industrials. Speakers represent cement, steel, glass, O&G, mining, power, utilities, ceramics and chemicals who will be sharing intel and innovations to the attendees. Throughout the event week participants will be able to make valuable connections and gather intel from peers in other sectors, so they can confidently speed up business plans, decisions, and avoid costly mistakes – and ensure they can make NetZero 2050 a reality.

    Next month we will be officially launching the Decarb Connect Community, specifically for hard-to-abate sectors, it is for those tasked with decarbonisation strategy and deployment to find out how others are tackling emissions in operations and value chains. Collaboration is key, sharing challenges and experiences to drive decarbonisation. If you are interested in becoming a member you can find out more here.

    We hope you will enjoy what we have to offer, and encourage you to be interactive, reach out and engage with us on our mission.

    Alex Cameron
    Founder
    Decarb Connect Ltd
    hello@decarbconnect.com

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