How to simplify your decarbonisation technology choices
For manufacturers, implementing decarbonisation technology is typically the largest step (50-70% of site emissions reduction) to meeting net zero targets for operations. But there’s a plethora of technologies available and usually a combination of options is needed rather than just one- so the possibilities are far too many when considering the best route forward.
Some combinations of options will be better than others and any choice will require a balance of risk and a high level of investment, so the decision making can be a complex task. This is why technology screening assessments are a popular service among our manufacturing clients. They are a low-cost way to narrow down the best decarbonisation technology routes for further investigation. By leaning on the expertise of our team, you will confidently identify priority options without needing to spend hours learning about all of the possibilities yourself.
We caught up with Thanos Patsos to find out more about what the screening assessment looks like in practice.
What the technology screening assessment involves, a case study example:
The problem
One of our food manufacturing clients has an ambitious target, to become net zero carbon by 2030. They had started to explore biomass heating options for one of their sites but were unclear if this was their best option - needing a great deal of knowledge that they didn’t have within their teams. The manufacturer felt that it was an expensive and risky decision to make without initial due diligence, so Verco were contracted to carry out a high-level heat decarbonisation technology option evaluation for two of the clients’ sites.
Stage 1: Evaluation
Working closely with the client, Verco developed a clear rationale for considering and screening technology options. This included tailored evaluation criteria including business ambition, heating and electrical demand profile, technological fit to operations and renewable energy generation potential. Every site is different, so we applied a bespoke criteria selection approach to reflect client priorities and achieve results in the real world.
Stage 2: Report presentation
The full evaluation was presented to the site teams, with detailed points to consider, especially around risk and future resilience, based on our broad industry experience and technology type expertise. This was also summarised in a handy one-page visual for easy communication to other stakeholders within the business.
As well as detailing the options to progress, we noted those options which were disregarded and the rationale to ensure transparency. This meant that the client fully understood the whole picture, improved their knowledge, and was in a good position to ask and answer questions.
Stage 3: A clear direction and investment decision
Clear next steps were given in a summary and recommendations report with underlying evidence and assumptions so the client could progress with exploring a significantly narrowed down list of the best options. The client have now embarked on their investment journey after making an informed decision to progress with feasibility and engineering studies and they are confident on their path to achieve their net zero targets.
Technology screening assessment service:
If you’re interested to know more about this service, take a look at our explainer document here:
Technology screening assessment service
Resources to help you:
For details on the different technology options you might like to have a look at our mini guides and webinars:
