Scaling up your Carbon Expenses to (Net) Zero: Impactful Purpose for us, generations to come by Dr. Shivani Sharma

Automatic Summary

Embracing Sustainability and Technology: A Race to Net Zero

With the constant threat of climate change looming over us, it comes as no surprise that several organizations and institutions are racing to attain a net-zero carbon future. This concept of net-zero revolves around reducing carbon emissions to the lowest level possible, and balancing any remaining emissions through offsetting. This pursuit is not limited to a single industry or domain, but each one of us is expected to play our part in achieving this goal, irrespective of our industry or career stage.

Dr. Shivani, a sustainability expert, offers her insights on this engaging topic. She urges each participant to consider their impact on sustainability in their everyday activities.

Understanding Net Zero

Global climate change is not a distant threat anymore, but a vivid reality of our day-to-day lives, visible in the form of melting ice caps and frequent unusual weather patterns. With this crisis knocking at our doors, it is imperative that each one of us consciously decide to make our actions sustainable. To attain net zero, as Dr. Shivani highlights, it is crucial that we consider the carbon emissions our processes, organizations, and institutions release into the environment, and take necessary actions to minimize them to zero.

The Integral Role of Sustainable Technologies

Attaining sustainability is not just limited to the generation of renewable energy. Rather it encompasses a myriad of elements including manufacturing processes, transportation, and even environmental friendly financing options. Dr. Shivani stresses that one of the fields that has emerged stronger post the pandemic is sustainability. As our environment is eroding, people and businesses are becoming more conscious about the necessity of sustainable technologies.

Joining the Global Efforts

Many countries globally have committed to becoming net zero in varying timelines. Dr. Shivani encourages us to find out the targets set by our respective countries and work towards achieving them. She emphasizes that it's not just about personal or organizational changes; sustainability should be embedded at every operational level from the policies to the eventual impact of our actions.

Applications of Sustainable Technologies

The sector is abuzz with innovation and R&D solutions to become more sustainable. Dr. Shivani provides a set of examples revolving around power consumption and energy conservation and stresses the need for diverse energy sources in our system. Organizational roles play a major part here by identifying what processes could be refined to be environment-friendly and by declaring carbon emissions and taking viable measurements to mitigate them.

Involvement of Women in Technology

Dr. Shivani adds emphasis on the role of women in sustainability and technology. More research assignments and startups in the sustainability area are encouraged especially for young engineers. The vision to see more women in decision-making roles is fundamental. Including the perspectives of women not only in terms of gender representation but also diversity of thoughts, backgrounds, and nationalities is vital.

In conclusion, sustainability is not just a responsibility. It's an opportunity to make a difference for our future generations. There's much more to fulfill when it comes to sustainability and technology and more exploration into this sector will undoubtedly pave the way for a greener, more sustainable world for us and our future generations. As Dr. Shivani urges, each one of us must play our part in this crucial race to zero.

Net Zero: Noteworthy Takeaways

  1. The notion of 'Net Zero' focuses on minimizing carbon emissions to the lowest level, balancing any remaining emissions via offsetting, with an aim to mitigate climate change.
  2. Sustainability is not confined to a single field. On the contrary, every industry and individual has a role to play in achieving this goal.
  3. Adopting and promoting sustainable technologies, bearing in mind their significant impact on our environment, is pivotal in the race to net zero.
  4. The role of women in technology, especially regarding the issue of sustainability, is critical. It is incumbent upon us to encourage more participation from women in decision-making and policy-making roles.

Let's all join hands and collectively work towards a greener and more sustainable future.


Video Transcription

So uh hello everyone. I come to know from Adriana that uh I am visible and audible. So that's a good check in the pandemic times to see whether we are, you know, audible or not.So, uh a very, very, you know, happy morning, happy evening, happy afternoon to whichever corner of the globe you are. So, uh this is Doctor Shivani and welcome to the session. And first of all, I apologize that there was a fire chat uh session which I was supposed to do with my cos speaker uh Sarah Qureshi, but there's a, a real sad uh emergency at her end, so she'll not be able to join. Uh But however, today I'll be, you know, taking this uh opportunity to discuss with you. And uh that's where, you know, Anna Sarah and I did discuss that for this particular session will not keep certain slides, but we'll have more sort of, you know, interactive conversations.

And uh I would request the audience, you know, whatever uh questions you have regarding sustainability. Anything that interests you or you would like me to know, please go ahead and put it down in the chat box. I would really like to take whatever questions are possible for the present session and uh to give a brief um I work into sustainable technologies and uh welcome. And uh you know, congratulations to Anna and the complete team for this conference. Sustainability, you know, lies in the heart where uh uh the motto of this complete conference comes where we are talking of women in technology, we are talking of uh having more and more pioneers and uh I would be talking more on the scaling up of the carbon expenses to net zero.

So this is one particular concept where we are trying to reach zero or rather, as we famously say, racing to zero are very different than the other fields that we know. And this is very important because uh as females, I think somewhere or the other, we are more relevant, we feel more ownership towards us and towards the generations that are to come. So it's very, very important that, you know, no matter what industry you are into, no matter what level of career you are into, it's very important and you know, all of us have such an important role to play that I really urge each and every of the participants that whatever activity, whatever assignment you are involved in, please give it a viewpoint of sustainability because you know, we are all doing wonderful activities, but sustainability is one thing which is going to and I would say a beautiful fabric which is going to, you know, capture the complete activities that you are doing, be it, financing, be it aviation, be it the energy sector and so on.

And uh first of all, you know, just to have a very uh uh good warming up session just to know what's the net zero perspective. So we are talking of the carbon expenses. All of us are aware that we have a climate change around and you know, uh with the different demography, the different geographies we are into uh it's it's really sad and heartening that it is no more a thing of the future. Like, you know, we say that oh there could be uh ice melting, there could be global change, climate change and so on. There are factors which we are now seeing life so around you. Uh in India, I can say that, you know, at any time you can see rains, there are extreme winters after that immediately, the extreme summers came, there was no spring in. And also if you see the substation floodings, the forest fires, et cetera are, are a reality now. And as a fraternity of women in technology, it's very important for us to understand that, you know, once we are all working towards a common goal, whatever we do has to be sustainable. And it is that conscious uh decision making by each one of us, which is going to impact that whatever we do today, whether say it can be a green field project, it could be a brown field project that you're working on.

But whatever you are doing do have the sustainability point into your mind, do have what impact it is going to make to the society. And in fact, it's very interesting that all of us have, you know, crossed the pandemic, the COVID phase. There is one field which has emerged very stronger and that is sustainability. You know, now maybe you do not have to con somebody that yes, climate change, environment uh climate friendly technologies is something you need to work on because that, that has uh emerged, that businesses are no more supposed to look only into profit and loss, but more from the sustainability from the responsibility perspective.

And when we say Net zero, we are trying to say that as an industry, as an institute, as an organization, whatever processes you may be manage, facing a uh product, you may be a factory, you may be a consultancy, you may be a bank, you may be a college and so on. But what is it that you are consuming? What are the carbon emissions that you are making? And we have to make it, you know, we have to tend to make it to zero and going forward. I I'm sure Anna and Adriana would agree maybe sometime we may be discussing carbon positive if possible if we could, you know, uh add more uh renewable add more technologies which would reduce the carbon emissions. And if you look from the global perspective, it is really very, very important. Last November, there was the Glasgow Crow Conference where different countries, they have declared their targets of becoming net zero. So you would like to go back and check in your particular country.

It's China, maybe 2060 2070 for USA Germany, Switzerland, all different countries have their own targets. I request each and every one of you, you may go back, check your targets and see where your country lies because, you know, ultimately, uh uh whenever there are initiatives, whenever there are policies which are around you, they are all ultimately going to meet the sustainability task.

All right. Thank you. What, Lena, I hope I pronounced it correctly. Thank you. I guess there was some internet issue at my end. So, uh you know, we were at a point where we were trying to say that uh what's the net zero perspective? How do we go about it? Also, there's a lot of research and development that is happening in the sustainability area. Uh I would like the audience to please go ahead and play, ask your questions here. I would really like to interact more with you. Now, at the same time when we are saying that we uh we wish to move towards sustainability, we also have to understand that uh is it really possible or is it is just some concept that we are talking about. Now, if we see uh in terms of the electrical energy, it's going to be, you know, it's, it's the backbone basically for all the industries around. So when we say that uh uh let's have a sustainable technology, there could be products which are there which are uh you know, environment friendly. In fact, my cope to doctor Sarah, she has worked on the environment friendly aircraft engine. I in my organization Hitachi Energy, we have products which are say sf six free, which cause less pollution. At the same time, there's a very interesting exercise which each one of us can do for our individual organizations.

So you could say that, you know, the electricity that we are consuming, where does it come from? Is it directly from the utility or uh are you using a renewable source? And it's possible that you are an organization, you can, you do not have that much land or say that radiation available? So you could not have that solar and wind plants around you. But could you buy those renewable energy certificates from somewhere around you? Uh Whatever products you are manufacturing, how are they getting transported? The subcontractors that you work for? How are actually uh they using it? And sustainability is very interesting because of course, uh today we talk, we are talking on the carbon expenses. So what are you know, those ton of carbon emissions that you are putting in the environment. But at the same time, uh the UN has uh a number of SDG goals where more female participation is also very, very important. And I really take this opportunity to really urge each of the stakeholders where, you know, it is a vision that we see more and more females in the decision making roles. And when we say sustainability, there are also so many start ups that we see nowadays that, you know, it could be a simple thing.

Like if you are not from a very developed nation, if you come across some rural distance, a distant area, you could have a small app, you are trying to measure the TED of the water around you. Uh you could have a small app uh where, you know, electric vehicles were being discussed, you would like to see in your mobile that you know, which is the near nearest EV charging station. How do I go about it? And in fact, depending on uh the different kind of nations that we have, uh say there could be a largely populated area where the life may not be, you know, considered as a threat or not, or the safety standards are being compromised. So there's so many interesting things happening around where say there could be a fire accident due to a battery when we talk of electric vehicles. So how do we prevent it? What is the role of an R and D into it? How do we put across the design aspects of it? How do you manufacture our product? How do you actually integrate it into the system? So, you know, you could always say, oh yes, very. We have solar, we have wind, let us integrate it and we are going to run fine.

But there's more for more behind this, you know, when you run a system, you would also like to see the redundancy level, you would like to see the reliability levels that you know what if the solar is not available. So it's a very interesting mix of different energy resources that you would like to have in your system. So you could, you would have solar, you would have wind, you would have batteries, you could have the no utility supply. Uh You could have the concept of micro grids in your organization. So there are a lot of, you know, technical options which are available. But at the same time, what is the application? How would you like to use it? So say, for example, there is a peak in the afternoon in the summertime in your in the load center around you. So you would like to have a battery or a solar system which is supporting your load load cycle during that particular duration or say there is a penalty or in the daytime, you would like to uh store solar in the battery, use it in the night. So there could be a number of uh applications which are possible. So, you know, in a nutshell, uh I would also hi Rosanna. I see your message. I would also request that the participants would, you know, like to uh ask certain questions they can put it on here.

So uh and in a nutshell, when, as we are approaching the time in, I would really like to say that it is a complete transition that we are witnessing. I think we are, uh I would say one of the most fortunate uh generations, but as well as one of the most uh responsible generations because uh uh we are somebody who can really do something for our upcoming generations as well as for ourselves. As I said, climate change is something which is coming up hampering, giving us alarms in our day to day life as well. So what as a stakeholder you can do in your own capacity if you are a student, especially to young engineers, we really would like to, you know, uh uh have more and more projects, have more and more research assignments and start ups in the sustainability area. You could always look around you whatever process is being followed. What's a better way to do it? Is there something in the process I could refine, which would be environment friendly. And uh it's also very interesting that you as an all organization, you could always list down.

This is the profit, this is the laws, this is the KPIS that we are meeting. But uh going ahead, you will find it mandatory that you are also listing the kind of carbon emissions that you have. What is your goal as a nation? Of course, there is a target that say by 2050 2060 2070 as a country, we would like to be a net zero. But how actually you are trying to achieve it. And uh uh from an organization perspective, we also have the ESG guidelines where previously you would have heard of the CS R where you're trying to have certain funds. But at the same time, it will be made mandatory now that you declare these are the carbon emissions, these are the measures that we are taking. Of course, then there's a risk assessment, there is a scope 123 emissions that you could take care. But it's really very important for us to understand that uh you know, once the need is established, what as the techni uh technical entrepreneurs we are doing to develop such pro projects, such products in the market. And uh I majorly work into power consulting where uh we are of vendor neutral team of power system experts, we would see what's the kind of technology we are trying to utilize. But at the same time, from the technical, from the commercial level, is it possible?

In fact, there are also many elite projects, elite uh you know, uh uh customers, I would say, in large countries who come up things uh with like, you know, this is the land uh which we have the project to be developed in. And we would like to use only 20% of the land to install your equipment. That's the kind of carbon footprints we would like to have in our project. So, you know, once you go ahead, say you are in a design, you are on a uh on a task. Uh give it a, you know lens of uh sustainability. Do go and try and check in what is the net zero? What's the carbon expenses? Of course, how to calculate it, the details, how to mitigate it, the solutions. Again, we can take it up uh separately in any uh further discussions. But yes, I had a strong message for all our stakeholders. Please consider sustainability. We as a generation of uh technical women especially uh understand and relate more to this field. So uh that's where, you know, I would see more R and D more applications and uh uh I would say opening up into this field because this is one of the sunrise sectors. I see where we have a role to play. And uh uh really, I mean, all of you, all of us have different roles in our personal lives as well. So it does uh uh you know, the purpose does relate to you when we see that, what are we going to leave for? Our future generations to come.

Are there things that we can do better? Of course, from the technical front, from the sustainability front, but also from the representation of the diversity and the real inclusion where we are talking of not in terms of just uh a gender or a specific role, but more when we talk of diversity of thoughts, diversity of different backgrounds, diversity of different nationalities and how as a, you know, as a beautiful mixed basket, we go ahead and have a better world uh for the upcoming generations where we are trying to optimize, we are trying to press different growth, growth levers and have the best outcomes.

When we have stakeholder deliberations, I really wish to see more and more of our women in tech uh f there in the decision making roles in the policy making, roles in contributing to a better society and uh really making an impact. And uh I think I'm getting an alarm that uh uh it's, I have uh crossed the time limit which I have. So I, I do not uh if there's any question, you could pop it here. OK. So I think uh I have uh consumed my uh time limit and I would really thank all of you. It was a, you know, real pleasure to have this uh one on one conversation. I, we deliberately didn't keep a slide so that we can, you know, more uh talk and really connect personally. So please go ahead and do connect to me on linkedin if there's anything you would like to say. So, uh Thank you. Thank you, everyone.