Each week new studies reveal how climate change is having an impact on our planet, from shoreline erosion in the UK and Senegal to vanishing Arctic sea ice and worsening air pollution in US cities. The world is far from realising the 2015 Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to below 2C.
Time is running out to prevent the worst effects of climate change, according to the most recent United Nations Environment Programme Emissions Gap report, with no “credible pathway” to 1.5C in place. Only an “urgent system-wide transformation” can avoid climate disaster.
To achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions, it is crucial that communities, governments and businesses have a common mission. As the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has noted: “Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement requires collective action from governments and non-state actors, in particular the private sector.”
Triggering durable change
Despite multiple global challenges — from inflation and disrupted supply chains to geopolitical tensions and threats to energy security — there is hope that the Paris Agreement goal can still be achieved by scaling up and accelerating the global transition to sustainability.
But action is needed, and as part of its global response, international engineering and energy company Worley is increasingly developing solutions and collaborating with Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment to meet the challenges ahead.
In From Ambition to Reality: Weaving the threads of net-zero delivery, Worley’s first paper in its partnership with the Andlinger Center, the company outlined five required shifts in thinking. Worley believes these shifts will be necessary in changing the way infrastructure is developed and delivered, and drive the enormous scale and pace needed to reach net zero.
The five are: 1. Broadening how value is defined; 2. Keeping technology options open; 3. Standardisation through designing one, building many; 4. Communicating and collaborating through creating partnerships; and 5. Enabling and monitoring through digital platforms.
The follow-up paper by Worley in collaboration with the Andlinger Center, entitled From Ambition to Reality 2: Measuring change in the race to deliver net zero, showcases examples where transformational delivery thinking has been brought to bear on projects, employing and building on the shifts defined in the first paper. “If you look at the numbers, the infrastructure needed is overwhelming,” says the paper’s co-author Dr Paul Ebert, Worley’s group director, sustainability and energy transition leadership. “The good news is that we think it is possible – we can achieve a net-zero point – but it will take radical transformation of the way we deliver the infrastructure needed.”
The five shifts can be explained in more detail as follows:
1 Broadening value
Projects must deliver more than financial value. They must include social and environmental outcomes, accommodate the persity of communities and offer real benefits.
An example of broadening value is keeping energy systems secure and stable. Schneider Electric, an engineering company that signed a digitalisation partnership agreement with Worley in 2021, has helped electricity networks address challenges with grid management systems, voltage control and flexibility solutions. Egypt is investing in a new smart grid for more than 20mn people, designing a power system to provide over 40 per cent renewable energy by 2035.
2 Enabling options
Governments and businesses must do two things: deploy the technology we have and invest in the technology we need. To do that and put nations on the path to net zero, they need to spread the effort — and the investment.
We saw this shift in global action in the quest for a Covid-19 vaccine. Research and development teams at laboratories and companies shared DNA sequencing to streamline operations. An Oxford University-led team developed the successful AstraZeneca jab in record time, working in parallel with groups seeking a vaccine using different technologies and keeping their options open.
3 Standardisation
Standard and modular designs save time, optimise resources and speed up the supply chain, but they also require compromises.
There are many examples of standardisation across multiple industries. Vehicles and telecoms systems use standardised parts and strategies, for instance. In urban infrastructure, Laing O’Rourke has championed modular assemblies to reduce the time needed for bridge design and construction. The company can assemble a complete bridge, from piles to deck, in as little as a week.
4 Creating partnerships
If governments, communities and projects do not share their goals and the collective imperative to reach net zero, the social challenge of decarbonisation will likely be far greater than the technical challenge. Community groups must form new types of partnerships, with governments leading from the front. And we must empower new coalitions to hit net zero targets and deliver value to the communities they serve.
For example, the UK government has formed six major industrial clusters to foster collaboration in the development of new energy technologies. One key component is an industry blueprint for accelerated delivery, developed by Microsoft, AMRC, Accenture and Avanade. This is demonstrably improving the pace and performance of collaboration, helping to drive UK cluster ambitions forward.
5 The digital accelerant
Unlocking the potential of digital technology will accelerate the transition and drive the speed and scale in net zero infrastructure. Digital platforms will be the foundation of transparency, community trust and, ultimately, shared value.
The world needs about $4tn in clean energy investment per year to be on track to achieve net zero by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency. But it will be difficult to mobilise that amount of capital without changes to how we make financial investment decisions.
To unlock the potential of digital technology and improve speed and scale, Worley has partnered with HSBC, IBM, SIF, NowCM, TPICAP Group and SCALE to form the FAST-Infra Platform Consortium. Its aim is to provide a digital architecture to increase trust in project information, reduce duplication in approach and eliminate the need for delays for all stakeholders involved, including governments, developers, financiers and asset owners.
Act now in this critical decade
These five key shifts are not exclusive — they work in concert with each other. “This we’ve seen through real-world examples, and know from our own project work, but we have a long way to go before their application becomes standard practice,” says Dr Clare Anderson, co-author of the two papers and director of sustainability performance at Worley.
“We must dramatically rethink the way we deliver infrastructure. And now is the time to act,” Anderson says. “By 2026, the paradigm shift must be well underway and must be complete by 2030. We need authentic partnerships, standard designs, confident supply chains, fully immersed communities, a digital overhaul, honesty, transparency and a collective imperative. That’s how we get to net zero.
Source: This content was paid for by Worley and produced in partnership with the Financial Times Commercial department.
