Digitalisation is more effective than carbon offsets
Source: https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/digitalisation-is-more-effective-than-carbon-offsets
Author: Alp Kucukelbir
Any meaningful emissions reduction plan must take the industrial sector into account as one-third of global emissions come from manufacturing. Noting the scale of the problem, manufacturing leaders have set bold goals to reduce emissions in the coming years. However, the challenge is filling the gap between those goals and tangible progress. Many firms, fearing exorbitant costs to invest in long-term hardware projects, have turned to market-based carbon offsets. By purchasing credits from green energy providers, and engaging in some creative mathematics, they can claim to have lowered emissions without the perceived financial impact of investing in large-scale reduction efforts. The truth is that reducing emissions does not have to come at an enormous cost. Digital solutions can reduce emissions without the significant investment typically required of hardware projects. Even more importantly, digital solutions are available right now. Hardware-based solutions, such as carbon capture and storage, are critical to reducing industrial emissions, but they are long-term initiatives and carbon capture alone cannot be the full solution. In order to truly become sustainable, process industries need to emit less to begin with.