The energy transition is creating a profound shift across industries and global economies. Amplified by technological innovation and intense competition, it is reshaping sectors and shifting economies toward renewable energy. This change is not only an environmental necessity but also a catalyst for economic growth, challenging the traditional dominance of fossil fuels. With capital investments increasingly directed toward renewable energy infrastructure, investors are aligning their priorities with sustainability, signaling that profitability and environmental stewardship can coexist. Yet, the ongoing prominence of oil and gas underlines the complexity and scale of this transition. 

In parallel, the circular economy is gaining momentum as businesses address the dual challenges of material scarcity and carbon reduction. At COP29, there was significant discussion about how a circular approach focused on rethinking supply chains, redesigning products, and optimizing resources could reduce dependency on finite materials while driving sustainable economic growth. By adopting circular economy principles, businesses can minimize waste and keep valuable materials in circulation, contributing to a more resilient and sustainable future. 

The Role of Business in Transforming Climate Commitments into Tangible Outcomes 

One of the central discussions at COP29 was the need for harmonizing global standards for carbon reduction and accounting. Foreign policy players, along with the private sector, stressed the importance of mobilizing finance for sustainable capitalism. In particular, there was a call for clearer and standardized reporting frameworks to simplify the process and ensure transparency. One critical area was the importance of accurate data collection for carbon markets and product-level carbon accounting, which can help businesses engage consumers and reduce emissions. 

There are three ways technology plays a pivotal role in addressing some of these challenges: 

• is available in every organization鈥檚 ERP system, so it鈥檚 time to start automating data collection and reporting processes to ease some of the regulatory burden.
• Companies should leverage IT spending to support sustainability initiatives, specifically to optimize climate solutions and create circular products.
• Companies must shift focus on the to pinpoint areas with the most significant impact.

From Policy to Practice: How Technology and Global Standards Can Accelerate Climate Action 

Empowered by technology and guided by clear policies, businesses have a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between high-level climate commitments and actionable, on-the-ground strategies. 

Central to this is aligning sustainability and financial priorities. Effective demands collaboration between chief sustainability officers and chief financial officers, as climate change has evolved from an ethical and environmental issue to a pressing financial imperative. 

To accelerate progress, we need globally harmonized policies, rigorous carbon accounting frameworks, and advanced technology solutions. By embedding AI-driven innovation, robust reporting standards, and actionable insights into business operations, we can ensure that COP events, such as COP29 in Baku, are remembered as turning points 鈥� not just discussions. While the challenges ahead are formidable, the opportunities for transformative action are even greater 鈥� and is here to lead the way on a low-carbon, future. 

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Sophia Mendelsohn is chief sustainability and commercial officer at SAP.

Perhaps surprisingly, private equity firms are a huge driver of this trend, whether via investments in solar, wind, biomass, or some other type of renewable energy. These companies recognize not only the social, humanitarian benefit but the economic benefit of renewables: low-cost power, reduced dependence on imported fuel, and more secure, reliable energy supply.

The numbers bear out this trend. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence data, private equity and venture capital transactions in the global renewable energy sector reached , the highest total in the last five years. More so, funds raised in recent years are approaching the value of fossil fuel asset fundraising, per The Impact Investor.

However, there are challenges inherent in this tectonic shift. With broader strategic change in how we produce and consume energy comes more narrow change 鈥� and difficulties 鈥� in areas like engineering, manufacturing, procurement, supply chain management, human resources, and finance. These areas make it hard for private equity investors to easily operate and scale businesses, highlighting the present need and opportunity for scalable, cost-effective solutions that truly support the renewable space鈥檚 growth and future success.

With Great Power鈥�

A crucial element of today鈥檚 state of play in the renewables space is the rapid acceleration in load growth made manifest by today鈥檚 technology advancements. Whether it be ChatGPT, Bitcoin, or some other artificial intelligence- or machine learning-related innovation, our tools are requiring more energy production and consumption than ever.

That means there is expansive economic benefit to finding cheaper, faster, less energy-consuming ways to run these tools and solutions 鈥� not to mention widespread social benefit.

Companies across the industry are already embracing 51风流solutions to use less energy, improve business operations, and meet sustainability goals. One global market leader in energy storage solutions and services recently selected 51风流to help it scale faster, improve supply chain visibility, and boost overall efficiency. Another business 鈥� an established provider and owner of clean energy solutions nationwide for commercial and industrial businesses 鈥� chose 51风流to help amplify its growth efforts via the acceleration of its ability to both scale and innovate in the energy space.

By iterating and streamlining processes to meet modern needs, companies like these can not only equip themselves for success today but for success tomorrow, as they grow and change alongside the evolving and progressing energy transition.

鈥omes Great Capability

In our current industry moment, renewable energy companies demand unparalleled visibility and insights into financing, projects, operations, and more. Whether it be land acquisition, asset construction, or maintenance, a centralized data model that facilitates intelligent business insights is vital. It鈥檚 how you empower everyone in the organization to make informed decisions that drive the company forward.

Take supply chain management. Renewable energy companies can鈥檛 just order new parts or materials with a short delivery time. Some of the materials necessary for renewable energy products, like graphite, have order lead times spanning years rather than months. Top technology solutions will meet engineering requirements for things like storage, transportation, and integration of natural resources into the production process so that they can ensure supply chain management goals are met. In short, efficient and effective development and implementation of renewable assets requires careful management of the supply chain.

So, yes, these companies and their private equity backers are innovating toward a cleaner future. But they may not always have the time or resources to fully innovate and advance their business processes, sometimes resorting to manual ones that slow things down and add risk. Companies like 51风流can offer a seamless platform for managing these enterprises鈥� various business needs, in an integrated way that can enable them to focus on their core business and not have to worry about IT risks.

No matter where a renewable company is on their journey, 51风流and its partners have solutions that can automate and optimize core business processes to help meet their maximum potential. This is due to elements like:

• Centralized ERP data providing a single source of truth and improved decision-making ability
• Fully managed supply chain procurement and logistics, with deep supplier networks
• Faster ROI thanks to repeatable, trustworthy, and accurate processes empowering business users

These seamless integrations and true end-to-end insights will power renewable companies well into the future, so that they can power us as well.

A Brighter Tomorrow

Leading private equity firms are leading for a reason. They see what鈥檚 possible in the renewable energy space and recognize the tremendous economic and social benefits that are available. For them, digital transformation is the skeleton key for unlocking a bigger and better future 鈥� one where they can easily scale up or down depending on their needs.

Leading ERP solutions can meet these companies where they are, with the speed and flexibility necessary to streamline business processes and build on them in exponential ways.

For the renewables space, it鈥檚 about setting the foundation for whatever comes next 鈥� not just for individual companies, but for our world and the way we all consume energy.

Mark Hollis is an industry executive advisor for Renewable Energy & Utilities at SAP.

To address this challenge, Vestas, a major wind turbine manufacturer, launched a quality initiative powered by 51风流solutions and 51风流Business Network.

Pillars of the Energy Transition

Faced with the climate crisis, many countries around the globe are investing heavily in zero-emission renewables. China鈥檚 14^th Five-Year Plan is driving the market for renewable energy, as are the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States and the Green Deal in the European Union. In these parts of the world, wind energy is regarded as the pillar of the energy transition and is the largest source of renewable energy.

But the wind energy sector is highly competitive, experiences rapid innovation, and is prone to massive supply chain issues. Manufacturers must source raw materials, manage global logistics operations, and mitigate the risks of supplier dependency while still keeping pace with demand. They also need to be confident that all the components in their turbines meet rigorous quality standards and deliver performance and reliability. Quality control issues can result in faults, repairs, and 鈥� at worst 鈥� major failures.

As a market leader in wind turbines, Vestas Wind Systems, headquartered in Aarhus, Denmark, launched a large-scale quality initiative. Its 29,000 employees in 88 countries develop wind energy projects worldwide and manufacture, install, and service the turbines for them. The 85,000 turbines Vestas has installed to date generated 173 gigawatts of electricity and over 151 gigawatts under service as of September 2023. Several newly commissioned major projects will see that output increase significantly in the coming years.

“Collaboration with suppliers and partners is of crucial importance to Vestas when it comes to creating a sustainable future for the world by leading the global demand for onshore and offshore wind energy,” Adeola Abegunde, director of Technology Area Lead Digital Procurement and Supply Chain at Vestas, says.

Sourcing Quality with 51风流Business Network

Today鈥檚 wind turbines are made up of more than 10,000 individual parts. Since the companies that produce these parts are based all over the world, the supply chain is highly complex. To help manage this complexity, Vestas relies on , the B2B platform used by millions of companies across 190 countries that can connect buyers with contract manufacturers and suppliers.

51风流Business Network enables Vestas to run all its procurement and supply chain collaboration processes online 鈥� even beyond company boundaries. Employees use its supply chain functions to collaborate on orders and subcontracting orders. When a supplier confirms an order and sends a shipping notification, staff at Vestas and its contract manufacturers see this information right away. Vestas employees therefore know whether raw materials or the components for an order will arrive at the contract manufacturer on time.

Projects of this scale need to run smoothly and according to plan. This is where the quality collaboration features in 51风流Business Network come in. Before a supplier confirms or sends an order, it has to complete predefined quality tests and document them on the network. Vestas employees are then aware in advance of any quality issues further up the supply chain and can take corrective action. Through the network, employees can pass on changes to specifications if, for instance, one particular part had to be replaced sooner than expected and needs to be improved. If quality defects lead to incidents, the network can make these failures transparent to all partners and provide an audit trail. That helps everyone in the supply chain understand what went wrong and solve the problem.

“51风流Business Network allows Vestas to offer its trading partners a platform that makes all sorts of collaboration scenarios transparent from end to end. This means that Vestas is better able to mitigate the impact of disruptions in its global supply chain, making it more robust, future-proof, and sustainable,” Florian Seebauer, senior director of the 51风流Business Network unit at SAP, says.

Reducing Supply Chain Friction

Suppliers also benefit from the network鈥檚 forecasting capabilities. Vestas can provide them with information from the planning tool so that they can prepare for changes and capacity increases. This helps suppliers plan more accurately and can minimize friction losses in the supply chain.

51风流Business Network also supports Vestas鈥� sustainability goals since it allows users to select and rate suppliers by sustainability criteria. When compared to electricity generated from fossil fuels, Vestas鈥� solutions have saved 1.9 billion tons of carbon emissions 鈥� equivalent to 88 million cars driven for a year. Vestas has established sustainability performance as a core priority across its entire value chain and introduced pioneering initiatives such as its 鈥淐ircularity Road Map鈥� for the circular economy. It is no surprise then that Vestas is ranked as one of the world鈥檚 most sustainable companies, featured regularly at the top of lists such as .

Vestas and 51风流have a long-standing relationship. Vestas has been running 51风流as its ERP system since 2007. In 2017, it adopted 51风流Ariba solutions for e-procurement and 51风流Business Network. Through 51风流Business Network, it now has access to a vast pool of potential trading partners. And, because the network is connected to Vestas鈥� ERP and the complex ordering and collaboration processes running in the background, users don鈥檛 have to switch away from the systems they are familiar with. With SAP鈥檚 help, Vestas is breezing into a bright future.

Top image: Borssele 3 & 4, The Netherlands, Courtesy of Vestas Wind Systems A/S

Reflecting on the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), the scale of SAP鈥檚 transformative potential 鈥� helping companies record, report, and act on net-zero targets and beyond 鈥� has never been clearer.

I observed two key trends that will advance climate action in meaningful ways 鈥� a shift towards simplifying data sharing and a transition to sustainable energy 鈥� where 51风流is poised to help.

A Shift Towards Simplifying Data Sharing

In recent years, more and more companies have made net-zero commitments 鈥� often before knowing how to execute these lofty goals. At COP28, I saw business leaders wrestling with how to deliver on these commitments and publicly report on progress amid growing public pressure. They face two significant data challenges: the need for cooperation across the value chain and collaboration around a common language for data exchange.

While many companies successfully measure their own emissions, reaching net zero requires an understanding of Scope 3 emissions, indirect emissions that occur in the value chain, where approximately of carbon emissions fall. This means that to get to net zero, businesses need to share emissions data across the value chain. This requires a high level of collaboration and information sharing among businesses and their suppliers. 51风流Sustainability Data Exchange can simplify this process by tracking actual Scope 3 carbon emissions data, not averages and estimates, and facilitating cross-company data sharing.

With solutions like 51风流Sustainability Data Exchange, more companies can measure their carbon emissions data and share it across the value chain. However, this proves futile if companies cannot exchange data in a common format. They need to exchange information and understand what it means. Today, many emissions and accounting technology solutions fail to speak the same language with one another. To overcome this obstacle, 51风流works closely with the (PACT), hosted by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), to create a harmonized data exchange system. Together, we are establishing the methodology and technical infrastructure for product-level greenhouse gas emissions data exchange and measurement so businesses can share real carbon footprints across the supply chain with increased interoperability. 

No entity can conquer the decarbonization challenge alone. But, with cooperation across the value chain around Scope 3 emissions and collaboration around standardized carbon emissions data, we can move close to net zero together.

A Transition to Sustainable Energy

Given the focus on how to deliver on net-zero commitments and decarbonize operations, businesses look to energy as one crucial path to accelerate progress. Beyond aiming for net zero, geopolitical tensions underscore the urgency of bolstering energy security and diminishing reliance on overseas providers. As governments pursue energy independence and implement emissions regulations, corporations are compelled to adhere and transparently track their progress.

As companies face growing pressure from all sides, the pace of the sustainable energy transition intensifies, realizing unanticipated benefits along the way. For example, firms experience enhanced reputations and boosts to market value. And, in the search for cost-effective and efficient energy mixes, many companies find improved operations. A surge in production efficiency often accompanies reduced emissions. These changes inspire more diverse business models, identify new revenue streams, attract new clients, and yield a broader customer base.

As businesses move toward alternative energy sources, fostering transparency and trust through accurate data tracking and measurement proves challenging. Take green hydrogen as an example. Generated by the electrolysis of water using renewable sources like solar or wind energy, it offers a carbon-emission-free energy solution. However, fostering demand for green hydrogen requires a high level of transparency to ensure authenticity, build trust among consumers, businesses, and governments, and measure its environmental impact. 

51风流works closely with governments, the CEO Alliance for Europe, H2Global, and Hydrogen Europe to address the critical need for transparency across the entire lifecycle of green hydrogen 鈥� from production to distribution. Establishing a digital layer for green hydrogen guarantees its authenticity and differentiation from other grades of hydrogen aiding certification and proof of origin. This creates a clear market for green hydrogen, helping consumers understand its intrinsic value and positive environmental impact. utilizes an energy-efficient blockchain method that helps provide this visibility into the hydrogen journey and can enable auditable volume movements among various partners.

While digital technologies actively drive the transition to renewable energy, we recognize the indispensable role of collaborative, action-oriented partnerships in propelling these efforts forward. Ahead of COP28, 51风流joined global efforts led by the to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030, accelerate the clean energy transition, and scale up investments in renewables. 51风流also supports the , a business initiative urging governments to phase out fossil fuels. The future requires collaboration with all stakeholders 鈥� value chain partners, NGOs, industry groups, and more.

As the conference concludes, the real work begins. Reflecting on last week and the resounding call for global climate action, 51风流remains committed to helping our customers simplify data sharing and transition to sustainable energy. The technology and the data exist. Now, we need to deploy these tools effectively and harness them to drive meaningful impact across a vast ecosystem of organizations. A sustainable future starts today, and the responsibility lies with each one of us doing our part.

Learn more about 51风流Sustainability at .

Sophia Mendelsohn is chief sustainability and commercial officer and co-GM for 51风流Sustainability.

This discussion led to more significant development than anyone at that table imagined: one of Spain鈥檚 first pure solar photovoltaic, or PV, developers and independent power producers. Seventeen years later, that company 鈥� Solarpack Corporaci贸n Tecnol贸gica, S.A.U. (Solarpack) 鈥� has risen as a leading producer of renewable energy in Spain. And now, it鈥檚 undergoing a hypergrowth phase that includes rapid expansion in countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America.

鈥淪olarpack doesn鈥檛 just want to grow. We鈥檙e also committed to building awareness across new regions with different perspectives and understanding of renewable energy. This requires a technological foundation that provides the stability and flexibility to deliver offerings that are part of a global solution for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050,鈥� says Borja Guerrero Echarte, chief digital officer of SolarPack.

Transitioning the Startup Mindset to a Scaleup Mentality

Following its IPO in December 2021, the company came under the ownership of EQT AB, a prominent Swedish investment organization. The voluntary takeover has since raised the bar for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards while facilitating Solarpack鈥檚 journey toward operational excellence, market leadership, and sustainable growth.

Receiving the latest expertise, proven best practices, and innovative technological resources from EQT, Solarpack became empowered to flourish sustainably. In 2022, the company initiated an organizational review addressing significant growth challenges and developing a new strategy rooted in advancing the transition to clean, affordable energy and creating shared value with a positive impact.

鈥淒uring the IT capabilities assessment, we realized the company鈥檚 tendency to customize systems, use homegrown applications, and allow ad hoc implementations left its cybersecurity vulnerable and operations unable to adapt quickly,鈥� explains Echarte. 鈥淭he technologies we choose must not only keep up with Solarpack鈥檚 growth but also help the business become a global company.鈥�

Working with a combination of experts and solutions from 51风流empowered Echarte and his team to rethink Solarpack鈥檚 digital landscape. For example, locally developed technologies 鈥� including spreadsheets, databases, and other isolated applications 鈥� were replaced with a single, unified platform of standardized solutions and value-added customizations. This approach provided the stability the company needed to fast-track its expansion into new regions, such as Germany and the United States.

According to Echarte, this opportunity to stabilize the IT architecture and tailor applications in ways that give a significant advantage over competitors is accelerating Solarpack鈥檚 transition from a fast-growing scaleup to a multinational company. 鈥淥ur business systems can address each country鈥檚 unique taxonomy when capturing data, consolidating the information, and complying with various tax requirements 鈥� all at the same time,鈥� he states.

Echarte adds that this scaleup engagement enables his team to elevate the user experience. Solarpack鈥檚 workforce is better equipped with the right tools, streamlined processes, and easier access to business information. And this is leading to higher productivity, faster outcomes, and more meaningful contributions to business results.

Part of an Ambitious Plan for Our Planet

What began as an idea over lunch has grown into one of Spain鈥檚 leading producers of renewable energy. Now with a renewed focus on ESG standards and continuous technology advancement and innovation, Solarpack is on a hypergrowth trajectory that currently includes expanding its presence in the United States.

鈥淥ur transformation from a hypergrowth scaleup to a multinational energy provider facilitated a strategic shift in IT capabilities,鈥� concludes Echarte. 鈥淪tabilizing our operations and tailoring business systems to meet unique requirements has empowered us to accelerate the realization of an ambitious plan for our planet 鈥� a more sustainable, environmentally friendly future for everyone.鈥�

Learn how the听 program听can help prepare your company for exponential growth through Series B to the pre-IPO and post-IPO stages, or visit the scaleups team at and register for a one-on-one discussion.

Fran Querol is an account executive for 51风流Cloud ERP at SAP.

As leaders, it is our responsibility to drive change and create a positive impact. We can help create a more harmonious relationship between humanity and our planet by embracing sustainability, fostering innovation and collaboration, and advocating for policy change.

I鈥檝e heard CEO Steven Tebbe鈥檚 warning loud and clear: he states that persistent overshoot leads to more prominent symptoms, including unusual heat waves, forest fires, droughts, and floods. This, in turn, increases the risk of compromising food production. His conclusion: it is in the interest of cities, countries, and business entities to foster their own resource security if they want to prosper 鈥� to the benefit of the Earth as well.

It鈥檚 encouraging to see how organizations across the globe collaborate for a sustainable future that will help us #MoveTheDate. According to the , 5,500 companies are taking actions to reduce emissions. More than 2,100 companies out of those have made net-zero commitments. Businesses have realized that it is important to incorporate sustainability in their business strategies to mitigate the evolving investor pressure, consumer demand, and regulatory constraints. As the rightly pointed out, more rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary to achieve deep and sustained emissions reductions and secure a livable and sustainable future for all.

But how can we make this happen? Actually, there are several levers that might significantly move Earth Overshoot Day closer to year鈥檚 end 鈥� and companies like 51风流can contribute to them.

Reducing the carbon component of humanity鈥檚 ecological footprint by 50% would move Earth Overshoot Day by 93 days, or more than three months.*

The change with the biggest impact as identified by the Global Footprint Network is carbon reduction. 51风流has continuously expanded its since 2009. It became the first German company to work with science-based emissions reduction targets in 2017. Two years later, 51风流was one of the first seven global companies to have 1.5掳C-aligned reduction targets for 2050. We accelerated this timeline last year by committing to becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030, 20 years earlier than the original target.

While walking the talk is key, providing digital solutions and services to help every business run as an intelligent and sustainable enterprise is how we can scale these efforts. We can support thousands of customers in managing their carbon footprint, reducing material waste, and becoming socially responsible businesses.鈥� For example, helps businesses gain material sourcing transparency and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data across their supply chains. This includes the material input scope 3 carbon footprint as it moves from supplier to supplier. SAP鈥檚 new green ledger initiative helps companies track their carbon accounting with more precision and control by using actual data across their business operations and supply chains instead of estimates.

Increasing global, low-carbon electricity sources from 39% to 75% would move the date by 26 days.*

At SAP, we have been using 100% renewable energy to power all our data centers and offices since 2014. It enables us to offer customers carbon-neutral cloud software solutions that help them reduce their overall carbon emissions.

In alignment with our commitment to the RE100 initiative, we use two strategic levers. Firstly, we invest in high-quality, EKOenergy-certified EACs to foster renewable energy generation. Secondly, we produce renewable electricity at selected 51风流locations. One example is the 51风流Labs India location in Bengaluru. It runs on the power generated from the on-site solar power grid along with Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting systems. To innovate and scale businesses in support of the clean energy transition, we work with energy customers such as , , and .

Reducing the footprint from driving by 50% around the world and replacing one-third of car miles by public transportation and the rest by biking and walking would move the date by 13 days.*

According to , 20% of the world鈥檚 carbon emissions are from transportation. To help reduce this, we track our impact in the global 51风流commuting survey. According to the survey, average CO2e emissions per employee per day dropped by 70% from 4.38kg in 2018 to 1.30kg in 2022 due to working from home and emission-free commuting.

51风流also stated that from 2025, all new company cars will be emission-free in operation. In support of this transition, we are enhancing the charging infrastructure at our facilities and intend to leverage 51风流E-Mobility, a standardized, cloud-based solution. It can provide a complete package that enables charge point operators to run their business efficiently and profitably.

These are just three examples that would move Earth Overshoot Day closer to New Year鈥檚 Eve 鈥� the day when human consumption and Earth鈥檚 regenerative capacity would be in balance. But we are not there yet. Today, Earth Overshoot Day serves as a poignant reminder that despite the strides made, our efforts are not yet enough to mitigate the growing ecological crisis. We have witnessed positive shifts in attitudes and actions towards sustainability, but the urgency of the moment demands that we intensify our commitments and actions.

It is time to rethink, recalibrate, and redesign our way of living and doing business in alignment with the planetary boundaries. The responsibility to protect and nurture our planet does not rest solely on the shoulders of policymakers or industry leaders; it rests on each of us. Let us collaborate towards a more balanced relationship with our planet and a sustainable future that safeguards Earth鈥檚 resources.

Daniel Schmid is chief sustainability officer at SAP.
*Source:

51风流is now the second-fastest growing cloud company, having successfully moved thousands of customers to the cloud over the past several years as part of the company鈥檚 strategic transformation.

鈥淥ur customers want flexibility, reliability, and security from SAP, but they also want sustainability,鈥� said Scott Russell, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, Customer Success. 鈥淥ur RISE with 51风流and GROW with 51风流solutions help customers move to cloud data centers, which play a significant role in helping them achieve their net-zero targets and deliver more sustainable practices throughout their business processes.鈥�

51风流and other cloud providers are increasingly investing in building and operating green data centers. Green data centers prioritize sustainability, aiming to minimize environmental impact and carbon footprints. To minimize the negative environmental impact, SAP-owned data centers run with 100% renewable electricity. The company achieves a 鈥済reen cloud鈥� by investing in high-quality, EKO energy-certified energy attribute certificates (EACs) to support renewable energy generation. These facilities incorporate energy-efficient design principles, use renewable energy sources, and employ eco-friendly cooling methods.

Moving SAP鈥檚 data centers to more energy efficient cloud computing is a key part of our own carbon emissions management. SAP鈥檚 net-zero commitment goes far beyond SAP鈥檚 internal data center usage. 51风流aims to reduce or ensure renewable electricity for all cloud computing usage by customers, including partner hyperscaler data centers running 51风流solutions. Even when RISE with 51风流and GROW with 51风流customers opt to use hyperscalers, the partner data center鈥檚 emissions relating to 51风流customer usage is accounted for in SAP鈥檚 own scope 3 emissions reporting.

Cloud computing, whether in an 51风流data center or a partner hyperscaler data center, offers several sustainability advantages over traditional on-premise computing. There are many ways cloud computing contributes to net-zero strategies:

Energy Efficiency
Cloud service providers operate large-scale data centers that are optimized for energy efficiency. These data centers are designed with advanced cooling systems, efficient hardware, and virtualization techniques, which reduce energy consumption compared to individual, on-premise servers. Cloud providers can achieve economies of scale and consolidate computing resources, leading to more efficient energy usage.

Resource Utilization and Scalability
On-premise computing often results in underutilized servers, as organizations typically focus their infrastructure to handle peak workloads. This leads to a significant amount of idle computing capacity during periods of low demand. Cloud computing allows organizations to dynamically scale their computing resources based on demand. Instead of overprovisioning on-premise infrastructure to accommodate future growth, businesses can easily scale up or down in the cloud. This scalability feature eliminates the need for excessive hardware purchases and allows efficient resource allocation, minimizing the environmental impact.

Shared Infrastructure
Cloud computing allows multiple users to share the same infrastructure, reducing the overall number of physical servers required. This shared model optimizes resource utilization, decreases hardware manufacturing demands, and lowers energy consumption and electronic waste generation.

Data Center Location
Some cloud providers strategically select data center locations based on factors such as access to renewable energy, cooling efficiency, and local climate conditions. They aim to place data centers in regions with lower electricity costs and higher availability of renewable energy, optimizing their operations for energy efficiency.

Direct Renewable Energy Purchases
Hyperscalers are increasingly signing long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy providers. These agreements ensure a stable and predictable supply of renewable energy at competitive prices. By directly purchasing renewable energy, companies can reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and support the growth of renewable energy projects. They often invest in wind, solar, and hydroelectric power plants.

On-Site Renewable Energy Generation
Some cloud providers are building renewable energy infrastructure on-site. They construct solar arrays, wind farms, or other renewable energy facilities near their data centers to generate electricity. These on-site renewable energy projects enable the companies to have greater control over their energy supply and reduce transmission losses associated with transporting energy from remote locations.

Energy Attribute Certificates and Carbon Offsets
Cloud providers may purchase energy attribute certificates or carbon offsets. EACs represent the environmental attributes of renewable energy generation and can be bought to match the company’s electricity consumption. Carbon offsets, on the other hand, allow companies to invest in projects that reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions to compensate for their own carbon footprint.

Grid Integration and Renewable Energy Contracts
Some cloud providers collaborate with local power grids and governments to support the development of renewable energy infrastructure. They enter into contracts that incentivize the grid operators to increase the share of renewable energy in their overall energy mix. This collaboration promotes the growth of renewable energy in the local region and enables the hyperscalers to access cleaner energy sources.

Innovation and Research
Cloud providers invest in research and development initiatives to explore new technologies and methods for renewable energy integration. They actively participate in collaborations and partnerships with academia, government agencies, and other industry players to drive innovation in renewable energy storage, management, and utilization. These efforts aim to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy and overcome the challenges associated with its scalability.

Collaboration and Remote Work
Cloud computing facilitates remote collaboration and remote work, reducing the need for employees to commute as frequently to physical offices. This leads to a decrease in carbon emissions associated with transportation.

Large cloud computing companies are reducing their carbon footprints and contributing to net-zero programs around the world. RISE with 51风流and GROW with 51风流have strong momentum in helping move 51风流customers to the cloud and helping both 51风流and customers achieve ambitious climate action goals.

Michael McComb is global head of Sustainability Communications at SAP.

51风流helps oil, gas, and energy companies make this transition, providing them with innovative solutions that can optimize legacy energy sources, integrate low- and no-carbon alternatives, enhance energy network resilience, and unlock growth opportunities through reinvented business models.

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In a recent webinar, “Sustainable Energy Transition for a Low Carbon Future,鈥� hosted by the Oil & Gas Journal, Benjamin Beberness, vice president and global head of Oil, Gas, and Energy at SAP, shared his insights alongside other industry professionals. Together, they shed light on how businesses in the energy sector are taking action to redefine the future of energy and drive the sustainable energy transition ahead.

Transitioning to Net-Zero Carbon Energy Sources

To facilitate the energy sector’s successful transition to sustainable sources, close cooperation between technology companies and energy companies is paramount. Together, they can identify economically viable and efficient methods to deliver an optimal energy mix during this transitional period. By working in tandem, they can harness appropriate digital technologies to drive profitable operations that prioritize both the well-being of individuals and the preservation of our planet. This collaboration involves gaining comprehensive knowledge of regional regulations, staying abreast of evolving business requirements, and effectively monitoring and reporting day-to-day operations.

For example, with its unique digital twin on a blockchain, the 听helps businesses gain material sourcing transparency and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data across their supply chains.

Implementing Intelligent Asset Management

Intelligent asset management plays a critical role in supporting the sustainability objectives of oil, gas, and energy companies. Industry leaders are adopting digital technologies and proven solutions to enhance their manufacturing processes, embracing cleaner fuel alternatives, and exploring optimization opportunities across their global operations.

Research from found that a 10% increase in production efficiency can lead to a 4% reduction in emission intensity, reinforcing the focus on running assets efficiently to minimize environmental impact. To determine the need for asset replacement, businesses assess factors such as vibration, heat issues, and asset life span, considering cost, safety, and ESG criteria. Integrating ESG information into asset management strategies has become an increasingly significant priority for companies.

With , channel the power advanced machine learning and analytics to help optimize asset health, performance, and risk.

Changing Business Models for Diversification

Business leaders in the energy sector understand the growing urgency to diversify their offerings, from providing services at electric vehicle charging stations to implementing low-carbon technologies in new maintenance and operations projects. Recognizing the importance of adaptability, these companies seek flexible technology platforms to revitalize their operations, expand their retail presence, and venture into renewable energy markets. Technological advancements help companies diversify offerings, accelerating the transition towards renewable energy sources.

Technology solutions, such as , can support the transition to renewable energy sources by providing companies with the capabilities needed to build, run, and manage electric vehicle charging networks all on one platform.

Driving Continuous Innovation

ESG regulations present businesses with an opportunity to reduce their ecological impact while fostering innovation to help them achieve their sustainability goals. By keeping core operations clean and scalable, companies can focus on sustainability, foster a culture of innovation, and differentiate themselves from competitors. This approach involves establishing a dedicated optimization office and leveraging technologies like automation, optimization, and artificial intelligence (AI). Facilitating intrapreneurship and engaging employees and the wider community allows for the translation of high-level sustainability objectives into practical solutions for day-to-day operations. Access to sustainability-related data is also essential, with digital solutions and technology playing a key role in collecting and analyzing data to drive sustainability goals. Implementing tools such as a green ledger system helps businesses track emissions and adapt to new regulations while inspiring collaboration and innovation.

Industry cloud solutions from 51风流sit on top of , a platform built with flexibility and choice in mind, so that its users can accelerate innovation and unlock business potential.

Identifying Key Performance Indicators for Sustainable Energy

Businesses need to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for sustainable energy. While revenue remains a significant KPI across industries, energy companies strive to achieve a balance between financial stability and emission reduction, ensuring the satisfaction of employees and shareholders alike. Crucial KPIs include the percentage of energy produced from renewable sources and embodied carbon, which refers to emissions throughout the entire lifecycle of raw material extraction, production, transportation, and construction, as well as measures around decarbonizing operations, improving building efficiency, and prioritizing safety and environmental policies in infrastructure development.

With , businesses can improve their sustainability performance by monitoring progress and gaining actionable insights from dependable sustainability data.

Realizing the Significance of Sustainable Procurement

Sustainable procurement plays a central role in any sustainability strategy. Companies proactively seek out suppliers that adhere to sustainable practices, so they can reduce scope 3 emissions, implement robust measurement systems, promote supplier diversity, and improve communication, driving a transformative shift in procurement practices. Companies, from corporate-level initiatives to individual buyers, prioritize compliance with regulatory requirements, including due diligence laws and SEC reporting. Sustainable procurement practices are seamlessly integrated into supplier risk management and qualification platforms, ensuring a comprehensive approach to sustainable sourcing.

Monitor the production, supply, and use of your energy sources across the entire supply chain with technology solutions like , available on 51风流Store.

By leveraging intelligent asset management solutions, facilitating business model diversification, driving continuous innovation, identifying KPIs, and promoting sustainable procurement, oil, gas, and energy businesses can channel the power of industry-specific solutions to ensure a secure, affordable, and sustainable future for energy.

about how innovative solutions from 51风流and our partners help oil, gas, and energy businesses fuel profitable operations while also protecting people and the planet.

Kelly Cannon is part of Content Creation & Strategy for Content Lab at SAP.

, a global initiative led by the Climate Group in partnership with the , unifies companies with an annual electricity demand over 100,000 megawatt hours that are committed to 100% renewable electricity. These businesses must match 100% of their electricity used globally with renewable sources by 2050. Renewable energy can either be produced in-house or be procured from suppliers and generators in the form of green tariffs, power purchase agreements (PPAs), and energy attribute certificates (EACs). However, to avoid greenwashing, it is important that the credibility of the energy produced and purchased is validated by quality labels through strict sustainability criteria.

In 2013, the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation in collaboration with other environmental NGOs launched , an鈥痠nternational not-for-profit ecolabel for energy, envisioning a world where energy is generated and consumed sustainably. EKOenergy aims at helping businesses speed up the transition to 100% renewable energy through the EKOenergy label, an internationally recognized mark of quality for renewable energy. The EKOenergy label is described by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, LEED for green buildings, CDP, and RE100 as a solution for companies that want to take a step towards 100% renewable energy. EKOenergy was also awarded the European Citizen鈥檚 Prize 2020 by the European Parliament in March 2021.

The label acts as a communication tool to demonstrate companies鈥� commitments towards renewable energy. EKOenergy鈥檚 secretariat annually checks if all labeled megawatt hours are reliably tracked and if EKOenergy鈥檚 additional sustainability criteria have been fulfilled. These annual audits are based on reliable proofs, such as documents issued by public authorities or reliable third-party certification organizations. The label ensures that the production and the consumption of the energy takes place in the same market. EKOenergy-labeled energy is always 100% renewable.

The EKOenergy ecolabel adds a positive impact to consumers鈥� renewable energy choice and can be combined with energies procured through green tariffs, PPAs, or unbundled energy certificates. It can also be used on energies that are produced in-house. Since the launch of the label, EKOenergy has aided disadvantaged communities by financing 79 new renewable energy projects in 29 developing countries through its Climate Fund.

鈥淚n many countries, EKOenergy was amongst the first to endorse renewable energy solutions to businesses that are looking for sustainable solutions. 51风流is a good example of this,鈥� Steven Vanholme, program manager at EKOenergy, says. 鈥淚n 2016, when EKOenergy became available in China, EKOenergy worked with 51风流to identify renewable energy solutions in China. This, in turn, helped and encouraged us to focus more on Asia, to translate parts of our texts to Chinese and other Asian languages, and to reach out to more local companies.鈥�

With sustainability at the heart of its strategy, 51风流has already identified and aligned existing initiatives with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainability Development Goals. 51风流is committed to the (SBTi) to reduce emissions by 85% by 2050 compared to the base-year level 2016, including its entire Scope 3 value chain emissions such as products-in-use emissions at customers. 51风流has further accelerated its climate ambitions by committing to become a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030, achieving a balance between the greenhouse gases put into the atmosphere and those taken out.

to power all its data centers and offices since 2014. In the journey to 100% renewable electricity, 51风流chose the internationally recognized EKOenergy label. For each megawatt hour of EKOenergy-labeled electricity, 51风流contributes 0.10鈧� to EKOenergy鈥檚 Climate Fund, which focuses on alleviating energy poverty and contributing to climate protection and renewable energy.

In 2020, the EU identified green hydrogen as a cornerstone of a climate-neutral energy system to be in place by 2050. At that time, hydrogen accounted for consumption and was primarily used to produce chemical products, such as plastics and fertilizers. Ninety-six percent of this hydrogen was produced with natural gas, resulting in significant amounts of CO2 emissions.

The other aspect driving this strategy is the need to reduce the dependency on imported fossil fuels. Diversification and access to new forms of renewable energy such as hydrogen will make the region more resilient.

The European Commission resolved to produce 10 million tons of renewable hydrogen and import 10 million tons by 2030. While green energy can be produced anywhere, countries with high availability of solar and wind energy such as Brazil offer more favorable conditions for efficient and affordable production. With its hydroelectric plants and policies favoring renewable energy as a substitute for fossil fuels, Brazil is a promising candidate for strategic green fuel trade partnerships with Europe.

However, Brazilian companies trading green hydrogen nationally and exporting it to regions such as the European Union must provide transparent proof of origin based on certification schemes.

The Public-Private Partnership between 51风流and GIZ

In order to validate the general requirements and develop concepts for a software to support the green hydrogen certification for Brazil and Germany, 51风流has formed a public-private partnership with the (GIZ). To help Brazilian suppliers prove their hydrogen is truly green, the project will evaluate and summarize certification rules and test digital solutions as well.

鈥淭his cooperation aims to promote sustainable hydrogen projects in developing and emerging countries,鈥� said Sabine Bendiek, chief people and operating officer and member of the Executive Board at 51风流SE, after signing a Letter of Intent (LoI) outlining the understanding between all parties. The LoI was later countersigned by GIZ Brazil at a delegation ceremony attended by the German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck.

“One of SAP鈥檚 first collaborative aspirations with GIZ is to develop a pilot project to digitize the hydrogen certification processes for Brazilian companies. We鈥檙e excited to work with GIZ on this project, which will eventually allow certification data to be exchanged and evaluated along the value chain in a tamperproof, cost-efficient, and traceable manner,鈥� said Bendiek.

The GreenToken by 51风流solution, for example, can provide supply chain transparency right back to the origin of any material using a blockchain based chain of custody for trust based on recognized standards such as ISCC PLUS, ISCC EU, and REDcert2. This unique digital twin on a blockchain approach can provide transparency into ESG (environmental, social, and governance) facts such as commodity origin, child labor, and recycled and/or sustainability status across company borders.

Building the Green Hydrogen Economy

鈥淏razil has the ideal conditions to become a global player in this area, including the infrastructure needed to create a relevant domestic market and become a major exporter of green hydrogen. This makes Brazil an excellent partner for countries like Germany that intend to import green hydrogen,鈥� said Dr. Markus Francke, GIZ vice country director in Brazil. 鈥淎s Brazilian hydrogen companies are looking to sell their products in domestic, European, and other markets, this project will help prepare them for the requirements of region-specific certification processes.鈥�

Funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the results of the partnership are expected to benefit small and medium enterprises as well as large companies in Brazil.

While decarbonizing the economy, the development of a green hydrogen industry in parallel can boost economic growth and resilience, creating local jobs in countries that produce green hydrogen such as Brazil. The new partnership between 51风流and GIZ will contribute significantly to developing the hydrogen economy in Brazil by creating the necessary proof points through reliable certification for Brazil, Germany, and 鈥� and through its compliance to European directives 鈥� the European Union Member States.

Nine whales recently washed up dead or dying on U.S. northeast beaches, not far from where hundreds of wind turbines are being constructed in the Atlantic. Although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Management said that to date no whale deaths have been attributed to offshore wind projects, some environmentalists are calling for a study.

The massive project is part of the Biden Administration鈥檚 goal for such windmills to provide 30 gigawatts of power by 2030. The effort represents a huge boost for American manufacturing and job creation.

SAP鈥檚 Take

Whale well-being is just one hurdle the fledgling wind energy industry faces.

鈥淭he complexity of what needs to be done is what folks are struggling with,鈥� said Darcy MacClaren, 51风流North America senior vice president for . 鈥淭he supply chain to do this is extremely complicated.鈥�

The equipment is complex and specialized materials are required to make the turbine blades. The logistics of transporting the blades, which can be as long as a football field, is also challenging. Additionally, constructing something in the middle of the ocean requires special ports and harbors.

鈥淭here’s also a lot of uncertainty about the scope of such a supply chain and the development time frames needed to build these critical resources,鈥� MacClaren said.

The level of investment required, the benefits to local communities and workers, and the gaps in existing manufacturing, ports and vessels remain uncertain, MacClaren explained.

One wildcard is regulation — not just from the federal government, but also from the myriad of local municipalities that can have a say. That could impede production, which would add risk and impact the investment needed to bring these projects to fruition.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to break down those barriers,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou’ve got to get all these organizations working together.鈥�

While technology cannot change the regulatory landscape, it can help from a design, procurement, supply chain, logistics and manufacturing prospective.

鈥淲e can help set up a sustainable, resilient intelligent supply chain with all these involved parties,鈥� MacClaren said. 鈥淚f we can solve the uncertainty of the future 鈥� the regulation issues that people are concerned with 鈥� we can set up a strong foundation to help create a supply chain for offshore and the wind energy industry.”

鈥淭he initiative needs a catalyst, an industry proponent that blasts through obstacles, brings disparate parties together and gets a viable industry off the ground.鈥�

鈥淲e need an Elon Musk,鈥� she said, referring to Tesla鈥檚 ability to successfully mass produce and sell electric cars. 鈥淲e need a change agent. I鈥檓 not seeing that.鈥�

Contact:
Ilaina Jonas, Senior Director of Global Public Relations, SAP
+1 (646) 923-2834, ilaina.jonas@sap.com

Utility-scale solar power generation in the U.S. is surging. This year, almost half the 46.1 gigawatts (GW) of generating capacity added to the grid will be solar, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and solar has contributed more than 30% of all new capacity in five of the last six years.

SAP鈥檚 Take

鈥淒omestically as well as globally, there is a strong mandate to move to a net-zero greenhouse gas economy,鈥� said Stefan Wolf, vice president and a solar expert in SAP鈥檚 .

鈥淭he power generation industry today is one of the key producers of greenhouse gas and 鈥� because we are talking mostly about industrial size units 鈥� it is easier to change than transportation, for example, which has a tremendous number of small units, the cars we are all driving,鈥� Wolf explained. 鈥淪olar is one of the proven renewable energy sources and it has location-based advantages over wind and hydro power.鈥�

Photovoltaic (PV) power generation has the benefit of using hardly any moving parts other than the tracker, which keeps the solar panels positioned at an optimal angle to the sun. In addition, Wolf said that solar panels today are much more efficient than 10 years ago, enabling them to be very cost effective, even in less sunny regions. Wolf pointed out that utility-scale solar and residential or commercial rooftop solar are not an 鈥渆ither/or鈥�; in fact, they can complement each other and complement other forms of power generation well too.

One downside to utility-scale solar is the need for a rather sizable area for the panels. This space is often only available far away from densely populated areas and commercial users, which means that like other forms of power generation, the electricity must be transported to where it is needed.

The biggest problem for any utility-scale energy generation is the need for large infrastructure investments to build the necessary transmission capacity. Power plants are typically owned by private investors and require planning permits and other approvals, which can take years to secure, while transmission lines are usually owned by a regulated, controlled utility. Authorizing those investments and getting agreement for the recovery of these investments through the energy rates is a much more complicated processes, unless there are government mandates and support.

Putting solar panels on rooftops and other urban and suburban surfaces is therefore still a good approach because producing power where it is needed avoids the cost of transporting it, while also supporting local resilience and independence. Having solar panels on the roofs of homes, businesses, schools and parking lots allows those owners to participate commercially in the energy network and reduce their overall energy costs.

But solar isn鈥檛 the only alternative energy source worth pursuing, according to Wolf: 鈥淧V-based energy generation will not solve our energy problems single-handedly. Wind and hydro are equally relevant. And there are other non carbon-based energy sources we have not started to tap into.鈥�

For example, 鈥淚f we look further into the future there is tidal energy. Compared to听solar听and wind, the tides can be forecast precisely so it could be a very dependable source of energy.鈥� Wolf noted however, that a tremendous amount of research is still needed to understand the impact that tidal energy farms have on marine life, as well as their impact on other commercial uses of oceans.

Then there are nuclear options like fusion and small-scale fission. But those have their own challenges to be worked out.

Wolf said ultimately, 鈥淲hen it comes to empowerment of the consumer and bringing energy generation to the place of consumption, solar听is hard to beat.鈥�

Contact:
Ilaina Jonas, Senior Director of Global Public Relations, SAP
+1 (646) 923-2834, ilaina.jonas@sap.com

鈥淭here is no life on earth without the sun, and it鈥檚 there for everyone,鈥� said Anselma W枚rner, COO and one of the three cofounders of Exnaton, a Swiss company that develops software for communities trading renewable energy in local neighborhoods.

W枚rner was explaining how her company created a smart energy system at the recent听听in Munich, Germany. 鈥淲e have a new generation of prosumers 鈥� people who consume and produce their own energy 鈥� who are using new connected technologies and renewable power like solar to exchange energy through the grid.鈥�

Sun Powered

Humans have always depended on the sun for light, heat, and food, and its all-encompassing power has influenced cultures and religions around the world. Although advances in technology have decreased our dependence, the importance of solar energy in our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint is a reminder that we still depend on it for survival. That鈥檚 why the cofounders picked the name 听for their enterprise. Looking for a word that connects 鈥渆nergy鈥� and 鈥渆xchange,鈥� they hit upon the Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten (pronounced Echnaton) who raised the status of the sun above that of all other gods and created an early monotheism that briefly became a state religion.

The goal of Exnaton is to help integrate prosumers into the grid. Currently, the legal framework is very complex, and there is no clear ROI for them. There are no feed-in tariffs or policy mechanisms designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers.

鈥淎t the moment, there is no value for the community, and we want to change that,鈥� said W枚rner, who is responsible for fundraising, data science, and recruiting at Exnaton. 鈥淲hat most people don鈥檛 realize is that renewable energy is not always produced when it鈥檚 needed most. So, when it is available, prosumers should be able to sell their energy directly.鈥�

People who own solar panels could actually sell a lot of energy to other households, if only they had the means. W枚rner and her team believe it should be as easy to sell to other consumers as it is to sell any other products on the market. 鈥淧rosumers are faced with fragmented solutions, complex regulations, and frustrating user experiences. What they need are simple solutions, trusted local providers, and proactive community and user groups,鈥� she explained.

Community Centric

Enter Exnaton鈥檚 EnergyCommunity software add-on for听 solutions, which won an听听in the Partner Paragon category together with Best Practice Consulting (BPC) and is now available on 51风流Store. This user-centric extension enables utility companies to empower prosumers to buy and sell energy within their local communities and also track all relevant data.

Here鈥檚 how it works. Any prosumers in the community can sell their solar energy to any consumers in the grid. The EnergyCommunity tracks their energy data and informs them exactly where the energy is coming from and how much CO2 it is generating. The utility company can easily bill these energy exchanges with their regular 51风流billing system thanks to the integration offered by Exnaton in working with the 51风流system integrator BPC. At the same time, the utility company can sell additional hardware installations to members of the community, making it an attractive option for all parties.

鈥淭he EnergyCommunity makes it easy to exchange energy within the community. Participating in their local community creates a closer bond between people, and the platform provides a new customer channel for the utility company,鈥� said听the technology expert, who has a PhD in Information Systems. 鈥淎t the end of the day, with Exnaton鈥檚 energy sharing software-as-a-service platform, energy suppliers can offer their customers more independence.鈥�

Exnaton is responding to the challenge faced by prosumers who currently have no possibility to sell their extra energy directly on the market and the one faced by utilities companies as they realize they must offer new models as they transition to renewables with a decentralized approach. A number of utility companies are already running the solution in communities across Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, and Switzerland, and the goal is to expand to other European countries where there is a strong regulatory framework. More importantly, the solution enables energy companies to equip their customers for a sustainable future.

Future Focused

Over 733 million people on the planet still don鈥檛 have access to affordable, sustainable energy, which is why providing energy is goal seven on the list of the听. For Exnaton, goal seven is its core business, but at the same time, it is equally committed to goal 11, developing sustainable cities and communities; goal 12, enabling responsible production and consumption; and goal 13, taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impact.

The good news, according to the recent听听report, is that renewables overtook fossil fuels as the number one power source in the European Union for the first time in 2020. Renewables generate 38% of electricity, compared to 37% for fossil fuels. Also, at least two million people in the EU are already involved in more than 7,700 energy communities, and engagement is rising. Energy communities have also contributed up to 7% of nationally installed capacities of renewables, estimated at 6.3 GW.

For W枚rner and the team at Exnaton, producing energy where it is consumed decreases the dependence of the region on imported resources. Energy from the sun is practically limitless, and it more than covers the entire demand of the planet. With advances in technology and solutions like the EnergyCommunity, households and small businesses benefit from electricity powered by the sun, making renewable energy accessible and cost effective. What could be more natural, sensible, or sustainable?

.

The startups in the cohorts are building innovative solutions to drive sustainability for consumer and retail companies across the value chain in areas including reusable packaging and responsible and ethical supply chain. The startups will also focus on helping companies in the energy and natural resources industries manage sustainability goals including compliance, regulation, tracking and carbon trading.

Over the next 16 weeks, the startups will work alongside curated sustainability and technology experts from Accenture and SAP, with access to 51风流technology and application programming interfaces (APIs) and opportunities to collaborate with 51风流and Accenture customers around the world. The startups will integrate with 51风流solutions such as and and leverage Accenture鈥檚 and broad industry knowledge, building upon the companies鈥� long-standing partnership and shared commitment to . The following startups are participating in the SAP.iO Foundries North America sustainability cohorts:

Consumer and Retail

• offers a circular platform that encourages consumers to buy in a more convenient, affordable way with zero waste and connects people, brands and retailers to change consumption habits.
• calculates the carbon emissions of business activities, then programmatically offsets those emissions by funding impactful certified carbon offset projects like planting trees or building windfarms.
• leverages blockchain and Internet of Things technology to offer transparency into supply chains for clarity on quality, origin, sustainability footprint and compliance standards.
• helps customers run their business differently with real-time data intelligence from each of their products end to end, from factory to consumer and beyond.
• provides a dynamic and risk-assessment-based quality compliance program for digitalization, automation, transparency and traceability.
• is a platform for sustainable shipping including reusable packaging, real-time tracking and predictive analytics.
• delivers a purpose-built platform for specification management that changes how brands, suppliers, manufacturers and retailers manage data and collaborate to bring products to market.

Energy and Natural Resources

• accelerates a clean energy future by enabling utilities and consumers to make data-driven energy decisions.
• empowers utilities and energy providers with systemwide visibility, forecasting and advanced controls to balance local renewable supply with flexible demand for a distributed, zero-carbon future.
• incentivizes transparent and traceable collection, sourcing and recycling of plastic waste globally.
• is the world鈥檚 first digital oil analyst. It leverages satellite technology and AI to create a digital twin of the oil supply chain, from well to wheel.
• is a data and analytics company that helps customers reduce their carbon emissions.
• covers the vendor management activities from vendor scouting to vendor qualification, vendor performance evaluation and assessment of vendor financials, compliance and sustainability.

Visit the . Follow 51风流on Twitter at .

Media Contact:
Stacy Ries, +1 (484) 619-0411, stacy.ries@sap.com, ET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com

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Luckily, there are already some great projects underway. One example is , a pioneering cleantech company in the farming county of Cornwall that collects fugitive methane and turns it into 鈥渂etter-than-zero-carbon鈥� fuel. Bennamann captures the biogas 鈥� gases from organic matter 鈥� from farms and processes, converting it into green fuel that鈥檚 collected from farms and aggregated with fuel from other sites and sold into the energy market.

Renewable Zero Carbon Fuel from Slurry Lagoons

Dr. Chris Mann, chairman and CTO, started the company when he tried to take his house off-grid using renewable energy. A former physicist from the space industry, he stumbled across the concept in Florida when he heard a local radio station warning of the dangers of exploding grass clippings in domestic garages. Fascinated by the levels of energy generated, he soon realized that the methane given off by slurry lagoons in his native Cornwall could be captured and turned into fuel.

鈥淏iomethane is a naturally occurring gas that is produced when organic matter such as farmyard manure breaks down. It is typically a harmful greenhouse gas that contributes towards global warming,鈥� said Dr. Mann. 鈥淏y capturing it from the material before it is emitted to the atmosphere, it can be used as an affordable, versatile, renewable zero carbon or, in the case of manure, better-than-zero-carbon fuel instead.鈥�

Circular Economy Powers Local Energy Revolution

Sourcing energy from local waste resources, distributing energy to local people, and creating local jobs without needing a connection to an electricity grid or gas main is a powerful strategy. Bennamann can produce 4,600 kilograms of methane per hectare of grass, roughly equivalent to seven and a half thousand liters of petrol from two football pitches.

Bennamann鈥檚 expansion plans to help address renewable energy imperatives are well underway. Based at the adjacent to the Cornwall Airport Newquay airfield, they have their own custom-built manufacturing facility as well as a research and development farm near Truro.

But they haven鈥檛 stopped there. With an investment from Case New Holland Industries, Bennamann is poised for global expansion, busy rolling out prototypes and first-of-a-kind commercial products across the fugitive and biomethane value chain. Tractors fueled by methane and an electric car charger that can charge a Tesla in an hour are also part of the development program. With over 30 existing staff, the company expects to double in size during the next few years.

Digital ERP Tech Supports Clean Energy Innovation

To keep pace with its high-growth plans, Bennamann recently teamed up with 51风流and partner to select as its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software solution. The objective is to have an intelligent digital core connecting business processes and people as the company expands. Starting with finance, Bennamann will be able to track activities in real time and eventually expand the scope of the project to include procurement and other areas as the organization grows.

Climate Change Starts Local to Go Global

In a recent public , Dr. Mann explained how Bennamann鈥檚 technology has the potential to remove one-quarter of all the man-made methane from the environment, which, as a greenhouse gas, is partially responsible for climate change. Using fugitive methane to run a gas tractor removes the equivalent of 680 cars off the road annually.

鈥淲e are proud to be a Cornish company that has the potential to radically change the global energy market, and we鈥痩ook forward to putting Cornwall at the forefront of pioneering renewable energy innovation,鈥� said Dr. Mann.

With breakthrough technologies and business models, Bennamann is moving ahead to help address climate change while creating rural jobs and green growth for the post-pandemic recovery and providing an alternate source of sustainable fuel 鈥� all from farmyard waste and managed grassland. This is a renewable energy model prime for replication across the globe.

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Having sufficient charging stations is just the tip of the iceberg. The transportation network is facing a major reboot, forcing automobile original equipment manufacturer (OEMs), utilities, corporations, regulators, and retailers to collaborate for innovation as never before.

Networks Power E-Mobility Innovation

Compared to gas-powered cars, EVs and the services around them are far more interconnected. This demands a new kind of collaboration across the e-mobility value chain from corporate fleets, regulators, and smart cities to service providers and consumers.

鈥淭he e-mobility network consists of multiple players from different industries and sectors with intertwined supply chains,鈥� said Ulrich Scholl, vice president of E-Mobility at SAP. 鈥淭o operate with flexibility and cost-efficiency they need to collaborate across stable, cloud-based that foster sustainable innovation around standardized processes, including invoicing and billing, as well as overall e-mobility management among partners.鈥�

EVs Spark New Business Models

As sustainability mandates and promises grow, one central question is how to make EV battery recharging as easy and convenient as refilling a gas tank. Utilities are drawn to bi-directional charging that simultaneously recharges EVs while adding the battery鈥檚 stored energy back into the electrical power grid. This turns drivers into energy producers and cars into mobile power storage. Retailers are starting to monetize their solar panel energy, offering consumers free car charging while they shop, increasing customer loyalty. Meantime, corporate fleet managers are taking action by increasing EV and charging infrastructure investments that support company sustainability commitments.

For example, Hanno Klausmeier, managing director of 51风流Labs France, received a award for leading the electrification of the company鈥檚 fleet of cars for hundreds of employees located across three sites.

Converting to EVs has been a seven-year journey at SAP, grounded in the company鈥檚 global commitment to sustainability, as well as the initial battery limitations of early EVs. After eliminating gas-fueled vehicles as a choice for employees several years ago, over 90% of the cars in the company鈥檚 fleet in 51风流Labs France are now EVs. Convenient access to charging stations along with new fleet management operations were critical to the successful roll-out.

鈥淲e knew that employees would need more stations to charge their cars so we installed super-fast charging stations conveniently located across our facilities,鈥� Klausmeier said. 鈥淲e revamped fleet management to make sure we could supervise and optimize charging stations for uninterrupted operations. Connecting the e-mobility ecosystem on one transparent platform is the only way for organizations to keep pace with the rapidly-changing industry.鈥�

Indeed, 51风流Labs France developed new software to remotely manage the status of its charging stations, installing it on-site and at employee鈥檚 homes. Now available publicly, the solution helps corporate car fleet operations manage relationships with fleet management service companies, OEMs, and other suppliers that are involved with charging stations. Managers have real-time visibility into e-fleet charging station status and can quickly solve problems remotely for an easier experience.

Market Fragmentation Gives Way to Network Convergence

Entirely new competitors are emerging with EVs, including 鈥渞oaming鈥� providers, which help consumers locate reliable charging stations and pay for the electricity as validated users. This is likely a temporary stop gap because it is unnecessarily complex and more costly for drivers.

鈥淲e need to shorten the e-mobility value chain for cost efficiencies to charge point operators and an improved experience for customers,鈥� said Scholl. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no need to have another layer between energy providers and customers. With an open mobility platform, the whole ecosystem has the ability to build relationships for service convenience and affordable innovation, especially incorporating the use of renewable energy that鈥檚 produced locally and stored in EVs.鈥�

Transforming the Transportation Sector

Just like the iPhone disrupted the cellphone industry, e-mobility redefines the purpose of a vehicle. Already some manufacturers tout EVs as self-powered RVs. Even bigger are the implications for large-scale innovations, such as vehicles that are able to provide uninterrupted power for tools at remote construction sites.

Similarly, transformations could be in store for energy retailers if OEMs bypass them to become energy providers themselves. On the corporate side, shared EVs could be part of an organization鈥檚 mobility budget for employees to spend as they see fit.

EVs鈥� star is rising as sustainability nears the top of many consumer, corporate, and government priority lists. Over 80% of automobile manufacturers have committed to their lineup in the near future, and some plan to go all electric within the decade. Modernizing the transportation industry means rethinking mobility as concept to make sure EVs pay off on the sustainable promise.

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鈥淲e designed Future Grid to fill the visibility gap, bringing together real-time data and insights from smart meters so electric utilities can better manage the accelerated transition to renewable energy,鈥� said Chris Law, co-founder and CEO at Future Grid. 鈥淭his will help utilities continue to provide safe, reliable electricity services in regulatory compliance as renewable energy emerges.鈥�

Law, who has extensive experience in the energy industry, co-founded Future Grid to meet the unique demands of utilities that weren鈥檛 fully utilizing all the data from their smart meters.

鈥淲e wanted to help utilities quickly manage data for their industry-specific outcomes,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淣ow as utilities have been increasingly challenged by the transition to renewable energy, our service is becoming even more important.鈥�

Data Insights Improve Operations

Future Grid collects and analyzes real-time data from smart meters, whether its usage data from the consumer鈥檚 electric car, home solar panels, or other sources. Customers are primarily in Australia, but Law has set his sights on global expansion in sync with renewable energy market growth prospects.

鈥淪mart meters from renewables are a rich source of information. Use correctly, utilities can improve services with measurable results for consumers and the organization itself,鈥� said Law. 鈥淲e鈥檙e providing a feedback loop from the grid edge into the utility鈥檚 core operational systems, helping the company make better decisions to improve core operations in the grid.鈥�

Safety Benefits for Customers and Consumers

Future Grid addresses one of the major challenges utilities face as renewable energies are deployed at scale: voltage management. While invisible to the consumer, utilities strive behind the scenes to deliver electricity at expected and regulated voltages. The dirty secret about renewables is that the energy they generate can wreak havoc on the grid unless it鈥檚 accurately captured and analyzed.

鈥淭he benefits of renewable energy are starting to be well understood in Australia,鈥� Law said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e helping utilities use the data they鈥檙e collecting to manage that transition. They can better understand what鈥檚 going on with their network assets so they can maintain voltage levels, and potentially save lives.鈥�

According to Law, Future Grid鈥檚 utility customers rely on the solution to predict voltage problems, guarding against potential injury or harm. In one case, the software flagged a voltage issue and the utility dispatched field crews who arrived at the home just as the consumer was on the phone reporting the problem to the company.

SAP.iO Paves the Way for Valuable Partnership

Far more than the typical analytics tool with colorful graphs and charts, Future Grid鈥檚 insights are even more powerful when integrated with and 51风流Predictive Asset Insights. Law was excited about working with 51风流after the Future Grid co-founders participated in the utilities accelerator program. Initial collaboration efforts include integrating Future Grid鈥檚 asset health monitoring solution into SAP.

鈥�51风流and Future Grid are a natural fit. 51风流is one of the foundational vendors in the utilities industry, and we share many customers,鈥� said Law. 鈥淚f our analytics reveal a problem with a network asset, this can raise a ticket to generate a work order in the 51风流system for faster response and resolution. We鈥檙e very grateful for SAP鈥檚 expertise in helping us workshop use cases to best solve our mutual customers鈥� biggest problems.鈥�

Future Grid is .

Learning from Australia鈥檚 Energy Lessons

Law predicted ongoing momentum for renewable energy worldwide, creating infinite opportunities for Future Grid. That鈥檚 because utilities need to be ready to collect and manage a tsunami of data from smart meters and other renewable technologies as uptake grows.

鈥淚n Australia, we鈥檙e already rolling out renewable energy technologies at scale, where utilities have realized the considerable impact on the existing grid,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nlike consumer apps, you have to be in the energy industry for the long haul. With perseverance, along with great mentors and partners like SAP, we鈥檙e now well positioned in the right place at the right time.鈥�

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鈥淓nergy is the main source of life, and no human being can live without it,鈥� says , CEO of , the leader in energy distribution across Egypt and the surrounding region. 鈥淚t is essential in making our lives better, yet we know that our current use is critically affecting the environment and thus the earth鈥檚 climate.鈥�

At 45, Kafafi is one of the most powerful businesswomen in Egypt and the Middle East. She is also the mother of two young children who are helping her rethink the future. As an expert in business transformation, she understands the need for technology to minimize the impact of energy on the environment and the urgency for finding alternatives to harmful sources like fossil fuels.

TAQA Heeds the Call for Change

鈥淢y nine-year-old daughter has a resolution for this year: She has announced the ban of any single-use plastic in our house,鈥� Kafafi says with a smile. 鈥淵oung people today are leading the way. Every person with a brain knows the next generation must be green. But that is easier said than done.鈥�

Kafafi entered university at the age of 16 with a keen interest in business and economics, and now believes transformation must happen in parallel. As the executive leader of a company serving more than 1.2 million customers their daily need of energy, she is keenly aware of resource scarcity, cost, and the need for efficiency.

She also believes Egypt can play a leading role by introducing new energy options in the region 鈥� for example, by moving away from oil and replacing it with gas as an interim option. The long-term goal, however, is to build up renewable energy sources.

This approach aligns with the Egyptian government鈥檚 goal under a plan from the to provide around 50 percent of the country鈥檚 energy needs through renewable energy 鈥� mainly wind and solar 鈥� by 2030.

In addition to meeting the demands of the domestic market, the vision is to help Egypt become a clean energy hub for the region.

This strategy for sustainable economic reform along with the discovery of the offshore giant Zohr gas field in the East Mediterranean are behind the that Egypt will be one of the top 10 global economies in just 10 years 鈥� ranked seventh ahead of Russia, Japan, and Germany.

Facing the Energy Challenge

As the prime distributor of gas in Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, and with vast rural areas and underdeveloped cities with little or no infrastructure, TAQA Arabia has a big job ahead.

Liquefied petroleum gas bottles are still widely used in rural and remote areas off the national grid, both for home cooking and commercial use. Replacing the highly subsidized, imported liquefied petroleum gas with piped natural gas has many advantages, including safety, availability, and reduced environmental impact. It also decreases the country鈥檚 import and subsidy burden.

TAQA Arabia operates in three key areas: delivering natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial clients; providing a platform for conventional and renewable power generation and distribution for sectors such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, and real estate; and being the sole manufacturer and distributor of Castrol products and lubricants in the Egyptian market.

TAQA Solar, the company鈥檚 renewable energy arm has a and is part of the biggest photovoltaic park in the world. The project is a funded with $72 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other development banks.

Transitioning with Ease

鈥淭AQA Arabia has always been focused on delivering power from conventional sources,鈥� explains Kafafi. 鈥淏ut when the government launched the feed in tariff program, we were among the first to apply and show interest in developing such a giant project.鈥�

For Kafafi, transformation is about flexibility. The company, for example, has introduced a hybrid option, so people can use solar energy during the day and switch to other conventional sources at night. She sees potential in many aspects of the energy industry, whether developing rooftop solar panels for commercial use in industrial zones or penetrating the untapped water desalination market using renewable energy and sustainable technologies.

Growing up with a father who was active in the oil and gas sector, Kafafi was fascinated by the details and management tasks behind big corporations. When starting her own career path, she opted for investment banking at one of Egypt鈥檚 leading investment firms, , where she gained solid experience working on mergers and acquisitions. She first joined the energy sector when appointed investment director for TAQA Arabia, before eventually becoming CEO.

鈥淲e are a very flexible company,鈥� Kafafi asserts. 鈥淎s well as being a first mover and a market innovator in many aspects, we鈥檙e relying on technology like 51风流S/4HANA to help us manage and analyze our data. And it鈥檚 a great tool for forecasting and planning.鈥�

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Top image courtesy of TAQA Arabia.

The rooftop of a big-box store is:

1. A flat expanse of hundreds of square feet exposed to the weather
2. A great, if not perfect, way to protect what鈥檚 inside from that weather
3. A power source for the building, and maybe for the neighbors, too

If you鈥檙e the Ingka Group, which owns IKEA, the answer is 鈥渁ll of the above.鈥� As part of its commitment to use only renewable energy by 2020, the Ingka Group has installed 900,000 solar modules on the roofs of IKEA stores and warehouses around the world, turning what would otherwise be vacant space into a literal powerhouse. These solar installations generated 155 GWh of electricity in 2018, enough to supply nearly five percent of IKEA鈥檚 global energy needs. In fact, according to Karol Gobczyn虂ski, the Ingka Group鈥檚 head of climate and energy, some locations are generating enough solar power to sell some back to the local electrical grid.

How might it upend the big-box business model to turn surplus energy into a revenue source? And why can鈥檛 more companies come up with breakthroughs like this in a systematic, repeatable way? Only a failure of perspective.

Methodologies like Six Sigma and technologies like sharing platforms and AI-driven analytics are powerful tools to uncover new opportunities, but they are held back by outdated thinking. If they weren鈥檛, digital transformations wouldn鈥檛 fail up to 80 percent of the time, and they鈥檇 meet or exceed expectations of the time. To be truly transformative 鈥� in other words, to get more than just incremental returns on investment 鈥� companies need to combine technology with a new way of thinking about what value is and where to find it.

Massive value is lying fallow in excess resources, like unused real estate, over-purchased software, and employees who aren鈥檛 being used to their full potential (people themselves are never excess). It鈥檚 concealed in underused resources, like vehicles that are on the road only a few hours a day, computing cycles that whir away pointlessly at night, and employees with untapped skills. It鈥檚 hiding in things that, according to current wisdom, have no value whatsoever, like production waste, 鈥�,鈥� and people who move on to other employers.

But waiting for the hidden value in these resources to reveal itself practically guarantees that it will remain unseen. Companies need to adopt a new mindset for systematically seeking out resources so they can extract more value from existing investments and encourage the development of potential new products, services, and business models. In other words, they need a capacity capture mindset.

Broadening the Search for Value

The traditional business approach assumes that resources are too specialized to be reused or deployed in new ways. The capacity capture mindset, on the other hand, starts with the assumption that resources are ubiquitous and infinite, because anything can be a resource, and any resource has capacity for value beyond its primary or original purpose.

Capacity capture is about actively identifying resources that are underused, wasted, or discarded and coming up with ways to recapture, use, sell, or otherwise monetize them. Consider how much money real estate companies invest in building and maintaining parking lots in office parks, even though the parking spaces sit empty for 12 or more hours a day. In Europe, a technology platform that lets long-haul truck drivers reserve those spots overnight has created a new income stream for the office parks. At the same time, it gives drivers safer places to sleep than highway shoulders and on-ramps, which protects the drivers, their cargo, and everyone else on the road.

Capacity capture allows organizations to discover new areas of innovation that end up delivering bigger benefits than just resource efficiency. Imagine a factory that actively looks for ways to generate more heat during production because it can make more money by selling or repurposing that heat than it can save by minimizing it. In the Danish town of Kalundborg, for example, use an elaborate system of pipelines to exchange materials and energy. Sludge, steam, and fly ash that are waste for some become valuable input for others, lowering the cost of energy and raw materials for everyone while reducing the amount and expense of waste disposal.

Using the capacity capture mindset, companies can also find ways to make their products more effective by capturing and using what would otherwise be considered waste. For example, have invented a way to expand the capacity of rechargeable batteries by warming them while they鈥檙e first charging. A battery manufacturer could theoretically do this by capturing waste heat from the manufacturing process and then selling these higher-capacity batteries at a premium. Kohler, the tile company, is already doing something along these lines by from its tile manufacturing process, including broken tiles, cast iron slag, and leftover glazes, and using them to create a new line of designer tile.

The capacity capture mindset also encourages a deeper examination of experience as a resource. Just look at the Dutch city of Rotterdam, home to Europe鈥檚 largest industrial port and, like most of the Netherlands, below sea level. Rotterdam has tapped its underused wealth of institutional expertise in preventing and managing flooding to launch . In guiding other coastal cities on how to cope with rising sea waters and worsening storms in the face of climate change, the city collects extra funding for the city budget, which in turn supports further innovations in flood-resistant urban renewal.

Defining the Search Grid

The first step to capturing capacity is to understand what capacity is and where it might be found.

Types of assets

• Physical assets are tangible objects of any kind, from facilities and heavy equipment to lighting and office supplies.
• Digital assets include network infrastructure, software, data and metadata, and bandwidth.
• Human assets are people and their behaviors.

Areas of untapped capacity

• Unwanted assets are assets that are created or accumulated unintentionally or incidentally as a side effect or byproduct of another process.
• Excess assets are produced or gathered intentionally but become surplus either because there are too many of them or because the process that produced or gathered them is no longer in use.
• Underused assets are created intentionally and are in use but not to their full potential.

The following framework gives examples of these asset types and capacities and the questions a company might ask itself to discover them:

The boundaries between these different types of assets can be porous. For example, some physical assets also have characteristics of digital assets, as with autonomous vehicles. Some digital assets, such as servers and storage media, may be thought of as physical assets. What鈥檚 more, physical and digital assets often enhance human assets, a convergence that will accelerate as technologies evolve.

As a result, many assets will overlap several categories, and the process of considering where they might fit can generate further possibilities.

Categories of Capacity Capture in Action

Each square of the capacity capture grid represents myriad possibilities for finding or creating more value. The following examples describe just a few opportunities that companies in a range of industries have uncovered.

Physical assets

Unwanted
The UK鈥檚 is working with a nearby bioenergy plant to turn the waste whey from its world- famous cheese into enough renewable biogas to heat 4,000 homes in the Yorkshire Dales. The bioenergy plant, which also processes leftovers from a nearby ice cream factory, pumps the natural gas from food waste back into the gas grid. What remains becomes fertilizer for local farmland.

Excess
Several European utility companies are working with automakers Nissan and Mitsubishi to develop services that let people sell (EV) batteries back to the grid. Today, the return on the extra juice is limited, but as batteries continue their Moore鈥檚 Law鈥搇ike improvement in cost and power, people who charge their EV batteries during off-peak times and sell power back to the grid during peak times could end up charging their cars for free 鈥� or even making a profit.

Underused
As early as 2012, Coca-Cola began partnering with pharmaceutical companies to deliver vaccines in developing countries using the existing that have made its products available around the world. By fitting medical perishables into the empty space in trucks that deliver soft drinks daily, the company reduced vaccine delivery times and increased the number of people getting vaccinated while boosting its brand reputation.

Digital assets

Unwanted
Companies of all types are offering data they collect that is incidental to their primary business models to other organizations who mine it for value. For example, health insurer UnitedHealth Group provides aggregated data from its to drug companies seeking insight into how their products are being used. This secondary income stream has been so successful that the resulting spinoff, Optum, has been more than UnitedHealth itself.

Excess
As more streetlights are fitted with LED bulbs to reduce costs and save energy, it turns out that they can do more than their centuries-old roles of guiding travelers and making pedestrians safer. Visible light communication, or , transmits data by switching individual LED bulbs on and off at nanosecond speeds, much faster than the human eye can detect, so that the lights can still do their primary jobs while transmitting data at rates than traditional Wi-Fi over short distances.

Underused
Amazon famously created a significant new business model, Amazon Web Services, by renting out unused capacity on its flexible computing infrastructure. It鈥檚 now captured that capacity for a second time by creating a where it charges a 12% service fee to customers who are reselling their reserved but unused cloud instances.

Human assets

When we talk about unwanted or excess human assets, we鈥檙e talking about roles, skills, and behaviors, not the people themselves. All people are valuable; indeed, they鈥檙e the only constant resource companies have, and digital and physical resources have no value without them. People can change their value throughout their lives through ongoing learning and development. It鈥檚 time to jettison the idea that someone stops being valuable when the workplace changes and instead to quantify their value based on what they鈥檙e capable of doing and what they鈥檙e willing to do to keep pace with change.

Unwanted
Just a few years ago, employees could be disciplined or even fired for using their smartphone at a corporate event. At best, it was considered rude, and at worst, it was viewed as a potential breach of company security. Today, organizations are actively encouraging employees to brandish their phones to promote conference panels and other events on social media in real time.

Excess
Many companies make decisions about whether to lay off high-salary employees to cut costs by looking at their roles in isolation, without considering how those employees enhance the value of the people they work for and with. Finding a way to capture and quantify the value of an employee鈥檚 contribution to the organization will encourage companies to consider whether letting someone go will cost the company more than it saves. Similarly, companies can reduce retirement-driven brain drain by inviting retiring employees to become 鈥渂usiness angels鈥� who coach new teams. They could even partner with similar companies in a consortium that captures the untapped value of people who just missed being hired by sharing these candidates with and recommending them to each other.

Underused
The Hilton Worldwide hotel chain keeps a record of every employee鈥檚 specific skills, such as language ability and local connections, even if those skills aren鈥檛 immediately relevant or used in the employee鈥檚 current role. That gives the company fast access to internal people when they are most needed. Examples include when Hilton is looking for someone with connections in a certain market where the company wants to open a new hotel or for someone who鈥檚 a native speaker of the language in that market.

Identifying Capacity

Capacity capture begins with a deliberate focus on expanding your thinking about where you might find value beyond increasing efficiency and reducing waste, as well as suspending any disbelief about what constitutes a resource or how resources can or should be used. As you use the above grid to identify possible resources, ask other people in your organization, in every department and at every level, to do the same. Insight can come from anyone, and the people who are closest to the resources are the ones most likely to recognize the value in them.

Once you鈥檝e developed a list of potential resources, don鈥檛 get bogged down in trying to evaluate all of them at once or even in groups. Focus on each one individually with the presumption that it鈥檚 inherently valuable and that your job is to determine what that value is.

As you assess each potential resource, consider how you might extract the value.

• Reuse: How could it benefit another part of your organization?
• Extend and combine: What other things could you do with this resource, alone or combined with another resource?
• Spin off: What could you do with this resource if you removed it from its current context to stand alone?
• Maximize: How could you create and use even more of this resource?
• Sell: Under what circumstances might someone else value this resource enough to buy it from your organization?
• Recycle: How could another organization use this resource when you鈥檙e done with it?
• Donate: Could you create non-monetary value, and save the cost of disposal, by giving this resource away?

It isn鈥檛 as odd as it may seem to take this approach to human assets as well as physical or digital assets. Your company already knows how to reuse people鈥檚 skills by shifting them to other departments and maximize them by providing more training. It could just as easily spin off a group of especially unconventional thinkers into a skunkworks or donate them by encouraging them to share their skills with volunteer organizations.

This process is intended to generate ideas through rapid iteration and participation from a variety of people across the organization. There are no wrong answers, only creative possibilities.

As with other transformations, it makes sense to begin experimenting with capacity capture in one small, distinct area as a proof of concept. Setting up new business models 鈥� especially outside of a company鈥檚 existing industry 鈥� used to be a huge hurdle, but emerging technologies and technology- enabled platforms (think Airbnb, Lyft, and Spotify) make it more affordable to experiment and test the market. A small- scale, iterative approach that keeps the cost of entry low lets you continually spin up new opportunities instead of passing on something promising because you lack the visibility and depth of understanding about its potential.

Capacity Capture as a Strategic Imperative

It鈥檚 critical to note that while technology enables capacity capture, it isn鈥檛 technology driven. Rather, it鈥檚 a mindset of looking for opportunities, like selling data gathered through tracking or creating platforms that connect customers with each other, and then choosing tools based on the opportunities that arise.

Another key aspect of the capacity capture mindset is that you aren鈥檛 trapped (or protected) by your existing business model or industry. If your explorations uncover a newfound opportunity that you don鈥檛 want to ignore but also don鈥檛 want to make your primary focus, you may decide to pursue it through a joint venture with an existing partner, a company you wouldn鈥檛 ordinarily have a reason to do business with, or even a competitor.

As business shifts to a capacity mindset, it could make sense to carve out a top management role 鈥� maybe even a chief capacity officer position 鈥� with ultimate responsibility for identifying capacity throughout the organization and driving innovative projects to capture it for business benefit.

This role would require a knowledge of where end-to-end processes are and what they need, credibility with colleagues across functions, and the ability to think creatively. A business leader with established ideas about the right way to run an organization may not be as good a fit for the role as someone with talent and enthusiasm for spotting unused or overlooked resources in their own, and other, departments.

A company fortunate to have multiple people with the necessary skills may decide to create a capacity capture team. A company that develops expertise in capacity capture may even develop or spin off a consultancy that helps other organizations shift their own thinking around resources, as the city of Rotterdam did with its water containment knowledge. That is itself an opportunity to capture underused human capacity.

Researchers at the Global Footprint network say the human race now consumes renewable resources at . Capacity capture provides an alternative to working within the limitations of what we perceive as our available resources. It lets us question our perceptions 鈥� and therefore our limitations 鈥� about what we have to work with in the first place.

Download the full report from 51风流Insights research center: 鈥�.鈥�

听Matthew Gorbet is director at Gorbet Design Inc.
Susan LK Gorbet is futures and design thinking strategist and educator at Gorbet Design Inc.
David Jonker is vice president and chief analyst at 51风流Insights research center.
Christopher Koch is editorial director at 51风流Insights research center.
Michael Rander is an analyst and global marketing and research director at 51风流Insights research center.
Dan Wellers is a senior analyst at 51风流Insights research center.

So what lies ahead for a sector under pressure to limit carbon emissions and create a different future for hydrocarbon-based businesses?

To start, there is no point in visionary planning for 2030 or for worrying about efficiency and productivity in the oil and gas sector unless steps are taken to prevent catastrophic climate change in the same time period. El-Molla is keenly aware of the need to address this issue 鈥� now.

We are focusing on gas in the interim as we work to fill 40 percent of our energy needs through wind and solar by 2030,鈥� he says. In addition to meeting the demands of the domestic market, the Minister鈥檚 vision is to help Egypt become a clean energy hub for the region. Thanks to a clear strategy and massive efforts undertaken by the Ministry since El-Molla鈥檚 appointment in 2015, that long-term goal has every chance of success.

This ongoing strategy for sustainable economic reform along with the discovery of the offshore Zohr gas field in the Mediterranean are behind the that Egypt will be one of the top 10 global economies in just 10 years 鈥� ranked number seven, ahead of Russia, Japan, and Germany.

Provide an Outlook

El-Molla spent 24 years in various operational and executive positions at and recalls turbulent times during the early part of the decade when two revolutions were followed by a period of instability and insecurity for Egypt鈥檚 120-year-old oil and gas sector. The Ministry is responsible for securing refined products for the entire country and for maintaining and ensuring production through joint partners. But during that time it was facing the practical problems of shortages and a decline in production.

Stability returned under the current President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who realized the need for someone with El-Molla鈥檚 experience to lead necessary change.One of El-Molla鈥檚 first steps was to reach out to partners, vendors, and suppliers.

鈥淒uring difficult times it is easy for investors and multinationals to just shut down and leave,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 critical to keep them engaged. They need to feel confident that their investments are protected, and that the government is a stable, reliable partner.鈥�

The next steps were more difficult.

Modernize for Change

Becoming the regional energy hub requires massive changes, so the Ministry created a comprehensive modernization strategy that addresses key areas such as production performance, refining and distribution, and enterprise resource planning (ERP). But the core area for overhaul was human resources (HR) development.

The Ministry is a fragmented organization comprising different holding companies, joint ventures, public sector entities, and investment groups. More than 240,000 people are part of it, but they were not connected to each other.

鈥淭he last organizational change was 20 years ago,鈥� El-Molla says. 鈥淲e need to communicate our vision of change, we need to connect people to the vision, and we need the right people to make it happen.鈥�

Pulling it together requires one global system, one consolidated balance sheet, and mostly importantly, one team. The Ministry first created an intranet to facilitate unified updates and messaging and get buy-in from employees. El-Molla knew from previous experience that people often feel threatened when new systems are implemented; they only accept change once they realize the system will help them work more efficiently and save time for more fulfilling tasks.

Together with his team, El-Molla then identified key competencies and announced internal openings for subject matter experts and core business disciplines such as finance and administration. Out of 3,000 applicants, they selected 700 motivated and ambitious individuals and then whittled that group down to 400. Those selected were sent abroad for on-the-job training and given mid-management roles upon their return, ready to fast-track the organization into the future.

鈥淲e now have the most diverse, highly qualified, dynamic team to take us to the next level,鈥� says El-Molla proudly.

With the right people in place, El-Molla can focus fully on the modernization process, which requires the right technology. was his first choice not only because he was familiar with it from his Chevron days, but because he believes it is the right ERP solution for preparing a national industry to work more efficiently with minimum losses at higher productivity rates.

El-Molla believes in leading by example. The modernization program at the Egypt Ministry of Petroleum will not only set an example for the nation; as it begins to show results, it will help unlock the potential of the entire region by improving the economy, empowering people, and creating sustainable sources of energy for generations to come.

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