All businesses must play a part in the transition to a low carbon energy system required to reach net zero by 2050.

Moving away from the traditional fossil fuel systems that much of our society and businesses are built around means that we’ll need to think and act differently – and not just when it comes to how much electricity we use, but how and when we consume it.

We all need to become more engaged to deliver system that works for everyone.

Meeting the challenges of the clean energy transition might sound daunting. However, they are not only achievable, but they offer financial, social and environmental benefits to the businesses prepared to get involved now.

A more sustainable system

In a low carbon system, generation sources will be greener, but also more distributed, more intermittent and less dispatchable.

On the face of it, this creates a series of challenges. But through technology and behavioural change, we can be smarter and more responsible with our electricity use, by adjusting consumption in line with the system’s needs. This flexibility will keep our system balanced and drive a secure and affordable zero carbon future.

For businesses, this could mean optimising the electricity consumption of operations such as industrial machinery, refrigeration or HVAC to harmonise with the grid’s needs.

This could involve ramping up energy use during periods of high renewable generation and avoiding peak energy demand periods to reduce system strain, or becoming more efficient in the electricity used.

Ultimately, flexibility enables our businesses to do more with less – something that is absolutely essential for a net zero energy system.

Optimisation makes sound business sense

An ominous climate science report from the United Nations in 2021 offered one hopeful thread amid warnings of rising seas and strengthening storms. Once all countries nix greenhouse gas emissions, it noted, warming is likely to stop pretty quickly.

The finding provided extra motivation for the world’s net-zero campaign, suggesting as it did that the fruits of everyone’s labor could show up without much delay. But the encouraging conclusion was also fuzzy. While surface temperatures might stabilize quickly, other shifting parts of the climate are harder to slow once set in motion. Science needed a better crack at the question.