Decarb Connect

Routes to industrial decarbonization may run from CCUS to fuel switching and energy efficiency, but no area is gaining greater interest that how co2 itself can be transformed into valuable products. Cemvita's approach is already showing that valuable products (bio ethylene is just one example) can be created for clients by taking nature-inspired processes and synthesising them. This combination of biotech, energy and synthetic biology offers a route to economical, carbon negative solutions - and products that are both profitable and climate-positive.

Join Alex and Tara for a conversation about how you can create valuable products from co2, replicating genetic pathways to achieve green products and to hear how Cemvita is joining the dots between scientific disciplines from genetics and biotech to engineering and space tech to get exciting results.

Links:
https://www.cemvitafactory.com/about-cemvita
www.decarbconnect.com

How could forming industrial clusters help create co2 and other waste offtake opportunities for energy-intensive sectors? Imagine heat, co2, waste and other outputs being used efficiently to create valuable products. 

Rhys Roth joins Alex to talk about his experience in bringing Industrial Symbiosis as a concept to Washington State and the potential that all sides of the political spectrum there see in it, including opportunities for decarbonization as well as regional investment. 

Links: 

https://www.sustaininfrastructure.org/

Join Rhys for his panel discussion about how industrials can create market and carbon opportunities from clusters rooted in symbiosis  Check out Decarb Connect North America (June 15-17): http://bit.ly/DCNA2021-Speakers

Many thanks to Janno Media for their editorial and production support.  

Energy-intensive sectors are well and truly under the spotlight with decarbonization action demanded by investors, customers and in legislation. Xavier D'Hubert joins Alex Cameron to look at the frequently cited challenge - how do industrials finance the transition when projects financing requirements can run in to hundreds of millions?

How do we decarbonize hard to abate industries whilst protecting their ability to compete (and retain the millions of jobs that they provide)?

Xavier outlines specific examples of financing approaches and how they can be applied at-scale, complex projects.

Links:
For more insights and examples - check out Decarb Connect North America (June 15-17): http://bit.ly/DCNA2021-Speakers

Many thanks to Janno Media for their editorial and production support.  

Patrick Child joins Alex to explore how Mission Innovation works across 24 governments to stimulate global clean energy innovation efforts. We talk about the amount of public investments driven to date ($4.9billion) and the work they are doing to bring at-scale investment from private sector to the issue alongside public sector funds.

Listen in to learn about the roadmap that MI is pursuing to get to Net Zero and the next phase of their work.

Links:
http://mission-innovation.net/our-members/
Country highlights report: http://mission-innovation.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/3.-MI-Country-Highlights-2020.pdf

For info about Alex Cameron and the team at Decarb Connect, plus their work in the industrial decarbonization space, check out decarbconnect.com

Many thanks to Janno Media for their production and editorial work on this podcast series: JannoMedia.com

Advanced Infrastructure’s digital twin model allows UK corporates to get a full picture of their co2 intensity from energy. With emerging co2 reporting regulations pointing to a time when accuracy in co2 reporting will be more than a reputational risk, we discuss how this data can reveal commercial opportunity and what types of gains customers are already seeing from it.

Just one example is the ‘kite mark’ approach – allowing industrials to put a stamp on low carbon products. Listen in and find out what other value-adds can be gained from the data and the types of companies already benefiting.

Links:
www.advanced-infrastructure.co.uk
www.decarbconnect.com
https://www.advanced-infrastructure.co.uk/post/high-resolution-data-is-lighting-up-the-path-to-net-zero

In a change from our recent episodes which focused more on the finance and innovation themes in decarbonisation, this week we explore the roadmaps that hard to abate companies need to have in place.

Cem Gercek, the Area Manager and Decarbonisation Lead at Carmeuse, talks with Aya Pariy about the main elements of their in house decarbonisation roadmap. He also discusses the abatement work that is under way and how their wider value chain is assessing the CO2 opportunity/challenge.

If you're working with hard to abate industries, or are interested in how the lime-cement-concrete value chain can decarbonize - this is ideal for you.

Cem is a founding member of the Decarbonisation Leaders Network - find out more here:
https://decarbconnect.com/decarb-leaders-network/.

Many thanks to:
Janno Media for their production support:
https://www.jannomedia.com/

Green steel, green ceramics – in fact green-any-hard-abate-material – decarbonisation discussions usually focus on fuel switching, energy efficiency or the increased recycling of these same materials. The work being led by Professor Veena Sahajwalla shows that innovative reuse, reforming and recycling of alternative materials (from old tyres to glass and fabric) offers an exciting, commercial and innovative route for producing low carbon materials for some of the toughest to abate sectors.

Listen in and learn about where the inspiration for alternative molecules for reforming/reuse comes from, how the team collaborates with industry and you’ll learn about the commercialisation of new processes for green steel and green ceramics (just a couple of examples).

We also talk about seeing renewable materials  in thee same way that we look at renewable energy, along with thoughts on microrecycling and the value of microfactories.

High energy, entrepreneurial, rooted in science, collaborating with industry; this is a great fit for investors, academics and industrialists committed to decarbonizing our most traditional industries but who are looking for next generation solutions.

Links:
https://www.smart.unsw.edu.au/
https://www.smart.unsw.edu.au/about-us/industry-partners
https://www.smart.unsw.edu.au/news-events/news/green-ceramics-video
www.decarbconnect.com

Many thanks to:
Janno Media for their production support: https://www.jannomedia.com/

The EIC offers up to €17,5 million in financing, blending grants and equity-based investments. Starting as a pilot programme within Horizon 2020 (2014-2020), the EIC has become one of the most ambitious and successful funding schemes worldwide.

Louis Papaemmanuel joins Alex to talk about its continued plans a part of the forthcoming Horizon Europe (2021-2027), with the EU pledging over €10 billion. We explore its origins as a highly selective program with only the very best proposals getting funded - we discuss how the fund has matured, what the questions emerging around how it is being applied. Still the most ambitous fund globally, with Climate a key component of its focus, but how can applicants get the best out of it?

Links:
https://myeuconsulting.com/
www.decarbconnect.com

Attention amongst hard to abate sectors is turning more to how to invest at scale in decarbonisation, and to do that - what business models exist to make co2 planning sustainable. Dr Paula Carey, Co-Founder & Technical Director of Carbon8, joins Alex to talk about the essential shift in mindset that is needed… viewing co2 as an asset rather than an expense or liability.

Listen in to the conversation as it explore why it’s taken so long for this mindset shift to start to happen – and how industrials can find markets for their captured co2.

Explore what impact this can have on the planning and financing of projects and the different forms of co2 utilisation and their relative impact in decarbonisation terms.
You’ll also learn about Carbon8’s own technology and their project at one of Vicat’s plants in France, where flue gas from cement production is being converted to an additive for aggregates.

Links:
https://c8s.co.uk/
www.decarbconnect.com

The voluntary carbon offsets market offers short term opportunities and possibly longer term gains as part of a net zero strategy. But with 17000+ opportunities to offset emission globally, how can industrials ensure that they choose the appropriate programme, and how can they further ensure that it can evidence accountability and true additionality.

A $300m+ market right now, offsets are set for massive growth - all while coming under significant pressure from detractors concerned at their unintended consequences. For industrials, though, where at scale solutions for decarbonization will take time to become investable and fully rolled-out - they represent an opportunity for meaning steps forward towards net zero.

The discussion explores Allied Crowd's experience of developing a database of these projects, the critical questions and deliverables needed from any offsets programme - through to an exploration of additional benefits when we look at "when is a tonne of co2 not (just) a tonne of co2'.

Links:
https://alliedoffsets.com/
www.decarbconnect.com