Clean Technology Intelligence

I lead technology strategy for a cement business with a kiln that should operate for decades. The EU carbon regime is changing, construction customers are asking for lower-embodied-carbon materials, and investors want a credible transition plan.

The familiar options are lower clinker content, supplementary cementitious materials, alternative binders, fuel and heat changes, and carbon capture. None works in isolation. A promising alternative binder may need new feedstocks and standards. Capture may need better separation, lower-energy heat, CO2 transport or storage. Electrification may depend on a technology that can deliver the required heat and atmosphere.

My technology team needs to find which combinations can unlock a pathway: a new binder with a dependable mineral feedstock, a kiln innovation that reduces process emissions, a separation technology that makes capture less costly, or an enabling infrastructure technology that turns a plant option into a product customers can use. The question is not simply whether the kiln can capture CO2. It is which technologies could change the set of viable cement pathways.

I lead technology strategy for an energy company developing a low-emissions hydrogen project for an industrial cluster. The technology is available, the project looks impressive on paper and several potential customers have signed expressions of interest.

The obvious answer is to build more electrolysis and renewable generation. But the project may still fail to unlock an industrial pathway if power is intermittent, storage is expensive, hydrogen transport is unavailable or the product cannot meet the customer’s specification.

My technology team needs to search for the missing enablers: flexible electrolysers, new storage or carriers, demand-side technologies, lower-cost water treatment, alternative hydrogen production routes, or infrastructure combinations that make supply and use fit together. The question is not only whether an electrolyser works. It is which technologies could turn a technically available molecule into a usable industrial option.

I lead innovation for a chemicals business serving customers that want lower-carbon products without losing purity, yield, reliability or price competitiveness. My research team has a promising catalyst and a route that could use a lower-carbon feedstock.

The lab result is encouraging, but it does not tell me whether the route can scale. The process may need a new catalyst, impurity-tolerant separation, a different reactor, a reliable waste or bio-based feedstock, electrified heat, or a recycling technology that changes the carbon balance. A lower-carbon molecule is not useful if the enabling technologies do not exist at the required quality, scale and cost.

My technology team needs to discover which combination makes the molecule manufacturable and saleable. The question is not only whether the molecule can be made. It is which technologies could unlock a repeatable route that survives qualification, lifecycle scrutiny and commercial production.

I lead technology strategy for an airline, aircraft programme or aviation-fuel portfolio. The policy direction is clear: European aviation must increase its use of sustainable aviation fuel, while customers still expect safe, reliable and affordable travel.

The obvious option is to buy more sustainable aviation fuel. But the supply of eligible feedstocks, clean power and certified fuel pathways may be limited. Other technologies could change the constraint: more efficient conversion, feedstock pre-treatment, synthetic-fuel processes, aircraft and engine efficiency, or propulsion and airframe innovations that reduce the amount of fuel required.

My technology team needs to find which innovations expand the set of credible pathways. The question is not only “Can this fuel fly?” It is “Which technologies could relieve the feedstock, conversion, aircraft or infrastructure bottleneck enough to make lower-emissions aviation scalable?”

I lead fleet technology strategy for a shipping company operating on routes that cross several jurisdictions. The IMO has set a direction toward net-zero shipping, cargo owners are asking about emissions, and I need to decide which vessels and fuels to order before the fleet turns over.

The familiar choices are methanol, ammonia, biofuels and efficiency measures. But the discovery field is wider: wind-assisted propulsion, batteries for selected routes, new engines, onboard carbon technologies, fuel synthesis, port systems and digital technologies that change how ships and cargo are operated.

My technology team needs to identify combinations that expand the set of viable routes and fuels. A vessel can be technically ready and still be stranded by the wrong port, fuel supply or cargo requirement. The question is which technology or combination can change that constraint before the next fleet-ordering cycle.