Our economy is quickly decarbonizing as countries, companies, and individuals find ways to reduce their environmental footprint and minimize carbon emissions. The process is facilitating innovation at an unparalleled scale, unleashing potential for colossal capital gains across all sectors of the economy. Buildings, transportation, industry, and agriculture are all becoming clean, green, connected, electric, and resilient.
In the process, we’re seeing an overhaul of our entire socio-economic system, with corporations, investors, and capital markets embracing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies to reduce risk, increase resilience, drive loyalty, satisfy stakeholder demands, and address social justice issues.
COGNITION Smart Data, Green Builder Media’s market intelligence division, is currently conducting a survey about decarbonization, and early results have revealed some interesting insights into the latest decarbonization trends.
The companies that are decarbonizing are adopting renewable energy (35%), electrifying buildings and transportation (17%), and designing for resiliency (15%).
Homeowners claim that they are decarbonizing their lifestyles by recycling (86%), reducing waste (75%), increasing the energy efficiency of their homes (69%), buying sustainable products (59%), and eating organic and/or locally produced food (58%).
Consumers also report that they are very willing to pay more for decarbonized homes, vehicles, consumer products, packaging, shipping and apparel. Approximately 70% also indicate that they would be more loyal to a zero-carbon builder, manufacturer, retailer, airline, and automotive company.
Out of a variety of decarbonization solutions, consumers report the highest level of familiarity with Biological Carbon Sequestration (storing carbon in oceans, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and soils) and Point-Source Capture (capturing carbon when it is produced, like in a smoke stack, and storing it before it is emitted into the air.)
One-third (31%) of respondents believe that adopting renewable energy is the best way to decarbonize, followed by reducing emissions from industry and manufacturing (27%).
55% of respondents indicated that they think decarbonization is helpful to businesses.
Eight of ten (81%) respondents believe that companies aren’t doing enough to decarbonize our economy, and 64% report that the companies they work for don’t have decarbonization strategies in place.
The survey data also shows that respondents firmly believe that decarbonization provides significant opportunity for businesses:
It is estimated that only 35% of the technology that is needed to decarbonize our economy has yet to be invented, which means that we have a colossal opportunity—and challenge—ahead of us.
We can expect tremendous advances in carbon sequestration and utilization technologies, as well as alternative materials that offer carbon neutral alternative solutions for high impact sectors.
In the building sector, look for innovations like carbon-sequestering concrete, recycled steel, cross-laminated timber, magnesium oxide (MgO) wallboard, and products made with agricultural waste products like wheat, rice stalks, straw, and hemp.
Other innovations worth tracking include:
Watch for more information about decarbonization from Green Builder Media over the coming months, including a full report on the decarbonization survey.