About Net Zero by 2050

We have published many posts at this site (200 in the year 2022 alone). Most of these posts have been to do with one of two topics: Net Zero by 2050, and Process Safety Management.

Climate Change Response

The internet is awash in reports, web pages, blog posts and social pages that describe the causes and likely impacts of the climate crisis. However, there are far fewer publications that provide realistic guidance as to how we can respond. Such responses as do exist are often on the lines of, “They must do something”. But it is not clear as to exactly who “They” are, or what they are actually meant to do at 8 o’clock on Monday morning. There is a lack of practical leadership.

A theme of this site is that business and industrial managers can provide some of that missing leadership. Their motivation is not to “do good”, but to be commercially successful in a rapidly changing world. The objective of the posts at this site is to provide realistic information and guidance to executives and managers to do with implementing Net Zero programs. The focus is on engineering and project management realities.

Background Information

Although this site is not to do with the causes and impacts of climate change, background information to do with climate change and its consequences is provided at A Climate Change Framework.

A Business Opportunity

Business and industrial managers generally perceive climate change as a challenge, even a threat. Storms, droughts, rising sea levels and “once in a thousand year” floods are increasing in frequency and severity. These events threaten the financial viability of many enterprises.

Managers are also concerned about background changes to the business environment such as the transition from fossil fuels (oil, coal and natural gas) to electricity generated by renewables such solar and wind. Changes such as these call for massive investments in new infrastructure with no assurance of an acceptable return on the investment. But the mangers have to go along with the changes, otherwise they face their own ‘Kodak Moment’.

But these changes also present an opportunity. The leaders of the companies that understand what is taking place and that are willing to adapt can become leaders in their industry or business area.

The posts at this site are written for those leaders. We provide guidance to do with standards, regulations, technology and what it might take to reach the ultimate goal: Net Zero by the year 2050.

Note: Most of the material at this site is written by Ian Sutton, a chemical engineer. We do not offer legal or professional advice to do with climate change regulations.

Regulations and Standards

Business and industrial leaders are not the only ones responding to our rapidly changing climate. Regulatory agencies around the world are issuing rules that will require companies to report on their climate-related activities. The rules are often long-winded, confusing, difficult to understand, and create many open-ended questions. One of the goals of this site is to provide an interpretation as to what the rules require, and how companies can meet their requirements.

Many of the government rules are based on standards written and published by organizations such as the TCFD (Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures), the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. These standards are included in our analyses.

We analyze standards and regulations using a Table structure such as the one shown below. The first column shows the page number of the proposed SEC Climate-disclosures rule. The second column is a direct quotation from the rule. The third column provides commentary and interpretation.

Process Safety Management

We publish many posts to do with process safety management (PSM). The focus is on the updates that the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is proposing to make to its PSM regulation. (Details of these posts are provided at Update to OSHA’s Process Safety Management Regulation: An Index.

Publication Policies

Our publication policies and strategies are discussed in this section.

Subscription and Free Posts

Starting in 2023 we will publish a subscription post each week describing how organizations can develop realistic ‘Net Zero’ programs. These posts will cover regulations, standards and technology.

The following are the benefits of subscribing.

• You will receive detailed analyses of climate-related regulations and standards, including those from the United States SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and the TCFD (The Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures). These analyses aim to translate language that is often bureaucratic and difficult to follow into plain English.

• You will receive assessments of alternative technologies such as nuclear power (both fission and fusion), geoengineering and energy storage.

• You will receive information to do with new developments that could affect your climate program. Examples of these developments include new or updated legislation, and evaluation of new technologies.

• Above all, our intent is to provide readers with “actionable information” — information that is useful at 8 o’clock on Monday morning.

We will also continue to provide free posts to do with climate change and process safety management.

Your Author

Most of the material at this site is written by Ian Sutton, a chemical engineer who has written and published many books such as Process Risk and Reliability Management, Offshore Safety Management and Plant Design and Operations. Mr. Sutton’s technical background provides an important perspective on climate change issues.

No one has anything close to a complete answer to the “What to do?” question. What we try to do in these posts is to provide realistic ways of addressing that question — with an emphasis on the word realistic. We hear from all sides that, “We need to listen to the scientists”. Fair enough, but it is now even more important to listen to the engineers, project managers and investors.

Editorial Principles

The following principles are followed at this site.

• We may advocate for certain political actions, such as the implementation of climate disclosure rules. However, we avoid partisan politics.

• We will declare any commercial interests that may affect the objectivity of our work.

• We aim to back up statements of fact with an appropriate citation or reference from a recognized source.

• We try to provide material that is useful, particularly to busy managers.

• We occasionally publish videos that supplement the written materials.