How the Energy Sector Tackles GHG Emissions & Where Software Can Help

How the Energy Sector Tackles GHG Emissions & Where Software Can Help

In a 2024 study of 279 global energy sector respondents, the majority highlighted managing GHG emissions as a top priority but admitted struggling with the data management. Conducted by Forrester Consulting and commissioned by GE Vernova, the study delves into how the energy sector is tackling GHG emission and carbon footprints.

Watch the on-demand webinar to explore the report findings in detail. Discover how emission strategies are evolving, where current software falls short, and what businesses in the energy sector are willing to invest in to enhance emission reporting and strategies. This webinar will also showcase how GE Vernova leans into its energy industry expertise to bridge gaps in current emissions software.




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TRANSCRIPT
Hello. Welcome to today's webinar, The Data Dilemma and why your greenhouse gas emission strategies can potentially stall at the collection and the verification of that data. You know, we're deep into reporting season, so the topic is ripe for the taking. I want to introduce myself. My name is Christy Pooler, and I lead the product marketing team here at GE Vernova, for the electrification software division. And primarily emissions management is my focus. And, and, so a few housekeeping rules we can walk over is that the webinar is being recorded and everyone is on mute, so there isn't any audio that is enabled on your system. And if you have any comments or questions, please use the the, Q&A box to the right that's in your toolbar. And that will answer a question. We'll try to try to answer it live via chat, or we'll get back to the questions either in during the webinar, in the Q&A, or through email. And also there's additional content that is available in the resource center.  
 
Here you will see, access to the report that we will walk through during today's webinar. Also, you'll see a data sheet in product content on GE Vernova's CERius emissions management software as well. And then you can access additional resources through our company web pages and additional papers that can help you and your decision. And also to help you within your overall roles and responsibilities at work. I introduced myself, Christy Pooler, but I'm going to pass it to my partner, Beth LaRose.  
 
Thanks, Christy. My name is Beth La Rose. I am, one of our a leaders in our consulting services business. I'm really focused around the areas in terms of carbon management, which cover, study work and customer solutions in in regards to, really kind of everything around carbon, environmental energy transition studies. And, I'm really excited to be part of the the discussion today with Christy.  
 
Thank you, Beth. All right. Well, let's get into the meat of the webinar. It's all about emission strategies. So, we understand over the last few years looking at more being becoming more sustainable, really looking at your decarbonization practice, to focus on how your greenhouse gas emission strategies can really move forward a to lower your footprint. And if you have net zero goals or specific emissions targets, also looking at your energy efficiency. So really taking a look at your current operations and how to become more efficient, which eventually lead to, smoother operations, better performance and of course, lower emissions. And of course, the regulatory, requirements and standards that the globe is starting to see.  
 
More and more countries within Africa and Asia that are are jumping on board to really tighten up some of those corporate disclosures and emissions management. So not only with the compliance issue and internal processes, but also looking at other stakeholders. One for example, people are looking at emissions to, focus on better data that enable better strategies for your stakeholders up through leadership, not only with regulatory, but also even with investing and finance. So it's a bigger scope and more constituents are are responsible for the lower emissions. So with that, the importance of emission strategies for energy and heavy industrials, we commissioned Forrester Consulting. To our audience, over that that, helped participate in the survey. And the industries really targeted are energy companies, heavy industrials, chemical, oil and gas, power generation, mining and metals companies. So it was a very targeted survey and questionnaire. And some of the key findings that that we received is that strategies are becoming more process driven, not only internal processes, but also, really focusing on your external processes in external case studies or external, usability studies. And so it's not about the quick wins that really focused on either carbon offsets or some other quick wins to reduce emissions.  
 
But really looking at the operations as a whole. Also, the most challenging aspect of implementing carbon emission strategies is the collection. We see a lot of our customers that it's not only collection from a a pure data perspective, but there's different data silos, there's different and data methodologies across different jurisdictions that could be different. So really looking at that overall process and the complexities of collecting. And then verifying that data can be very, overwhelming and complex for some of our, our customer sets. And then also, you know, looking at some of the key findings around emissions management software. So not only what you're using today, but where do you see software coming in the future to help break down some of those silos and minimize some of those complexities, like emissions management software?  
 
So let's get into some of the results. So I mentioned just based on performance based targets emissions. Now how organizations are enabling, sustainability into their overall process, which I mentioned. So emission strategies are evolving. You know, instead of like I said, purchasing offsets are really building out more comprehensive long term. You have short term strategies and long term strategies, for emissions. So we asked the question of which of the following are included in your greenhouse gas strategies. And as you can see, is that, you know, the, the industries are still leaning on looking at more sustainable energy resources, power, wind and other types of technologies, for example, like carbon removal and then also that production process. So getting more mileage out of your existing scope, what assets, your your existing infrastructure, etc..  
 
So those are the top three, of what they're looking at holistically, to hit their targets. But then we also asked the question of what if you didn't meet your targets or you didn't meet your goals, and what types of consequences, that you see that, that can result of, of, of those targets. And of course, the number one is looking at our customer set, looking at their, their, their satisfaction. So when the the leadership puts out, you know, net zero targets, we're really looking at lowering our emissions for our overall product etc.. So 73% are really concerned about their perception in the market and especially with their customers. One of our customers mentioned, in in, in the Colorado region is that when we were working on their implementation, a lot of the times is that it's they've worked really hard to get the confidence from their customer.  
 
And if you fail to meet your the expectations that they they presented, it can be catastrophic. And it's very difficult to get that reputational damage and correct that. So that's an interesting tidbit that we heard from one of our customers, and it really starts to resonate. And also potential fines and penalties. So the regulatory landscape is changing dramatically over, around the globe, even within the United States. And so it's it's really important to, maintain course. And Beth will get into some of the additional research that we've seen, but also on time and have a verification process. So with that, let's go ahead and have an open discussion. And, and Beth, there's a few questions that I wanted to ask you to give your perspective on the market is, you know, building a an effective GHG reduction strategy. What are the key areas that should companies prioritize and plan for the short term and the long term? What are you seeing? Yeah.  
 
Christy, you you kind of touched on a little bit earlier in terms of this, overall process and, being part of that strategy. So what we're seeing is that companies are really, you know, starting that, process with their strategy. The corporate strategy is kind of dictating overall sustainability goals. And those sustainability metrics are becoming a board, level priority. So it's it's a priority for the entire, you know, corporation to meet the sustainability goals and metrics. And so in taking that, those, strategic steps, it's really touching all aspects of the organization in terms of how they can incorporate sustainability into, their operations, as you mentioned, and into planning. So for operational efficiencies, one of the things that we see, are that are key areas to really address are around the business processes and also then contemporary, right, contemporizing using their technology. So this is, really upgrading technology, for instance. But we see deploying a lean process improvements, for instance, that take into account an overall business process or an industrial manufacturing process to really get those operational efficiencies included, to be able to, effectively reduce emissions out of that, that specific process, upgrading assets with current technologies that really also takes into account, improving the energy efficiencies.  
 
And this could be in the case of, a lot of our customers with power generation, for instance, or even, transmission or distribution technology, where improving the efficiency of your overall process and system, thereby reducing your, emissions. Also updating software and control systems, this is really important, I think, aspect to, again, having an overall system approach to reducing emissions and, fulfilling, the company metrics, for reduction. Finally, one of the key areas we're seeing that's really starting to, I would say, be more commonplace is deploying AI and digital twins, for predictive maintenance, for instance, and really using that, that kind of technology to help optimize, emission reductions, you know, really putting that into part of the process. So one of the other additional areas that I'll just comment on quickly is, you know, to further decarbonize, an entire portfolio.  
 
This also was taken into account purchase power purchases, for instance, moving to more renewable technology or renewable purchases from things like wind, solar, hydro, using, greener fuels like hydrogen or other E-fuels, or switching even from coal technology to gas or biofuel generation. A lot of the companies that we are working with are also very energy intensive, as you mentioned. So they're using emission, management software to help track scope one, scope two and scope three emissions, including real time monitoring of their technology. And those emissions to be able to make better decisions in the future. And finally, the last comment I'd make here is that we're seeing an increase in the number of companies that are tying their executive compensation to their sustainability targets. So this this whole process of, of sustainability is really part of the corporate initiatives at this point. Thank you. That was very comprehensive. Appreciate that answer.  
 
So the second question is what do you see the biggest risks of not, not meeting their targets or meeting their goals? Yeah. You mentioned a couple things already in terms of like reputational risk and, losing trust potentially with their customers. Once you're making this public commitment to net zero or carbon neutrality, then that creates expectations, right? So not meeting those targets erode trust with stakeholders that could, you know, erode brand equity, for instance, or customer loyalty. A couple of the other risks in you referred to this one as well around regulatory exposure. You know, certainly, if companies are falling short of their their targets or are, not able to make, you know, complete reporting, for instance, they may pay, face fines or penalties, that could result in losing operating permits that could, result in, out, you know, having to, take output reductions at certain facilities or even facility shutdowns. So really compliance with the regulatory, targets, you know, this could, it could trigger, other, you know, complications with their business. And that's unintended. If they don't meet these. Financial risk is another one where investors are increasingly scrutinizing the emission performance of, of our companies.  
 
And companies that, you know, missed their targets may lose, financing, for instance, it's linked to decarbonization or incentives that are linked to specific projects or attaining specific, reduction, levels. So this could, ultimately result in, you know, financial, impacts as well as things like decreasing of financial ratings or company valuation, even. One of the things, and I'll just dovetail, on that is, even with some of the regulatory, that require third party audits. So if you're failure to submitting or having accuracy in your audit, that can increase costs as well, increase certain risk. And also depending on where you're exporting, if you're not complying on a jurisdiction level that could impact your ability to sell into certain regions, is do you think about yeah. You know, these are all risks that we're certainly seeing. So it's pretty comprehensive knowledge of fines and penalties.  
 
But you know, operational risk and financial risk. The next section next, next section of of the report is about, managing is the biggest. Managing emissions is the biggest barrier. So I mentioned that a lot of scope one, two and three or different data silos, different calculations and methodologies, which could be a hindrance of the overall collecting your data, but also the need to have more near real time status of where you are and where you are in the performance of your current current strategies. But also what's the impact of your future. But the two things that we see from this research is that the overall collecting scope one, two and three is continuing to be a challenge. Rather it be data connectivity to other systems. Whether it be, still using spreadsheets, and other other data files. But the second one that we see is the verification and the validating of that data. So some of our customers, yeah, they're able to to collect and they've, you know, processed a lot of the data, whether it's embedded in your, in your architecture. But also it's the, it's the third party verification having to go line by line.  
 
And there's still a lot of manual processes in to verify and validate that data that's ready for reporting or also for, reporting out to various stakeholders. So that's been a really big barrier that we see, not only from a customer set, but also from the survey and also the management of it is is important. And when we say management is that not only we have your a priorities in achieving your mission goals, but also the how critical it is to your business. So for example, there was a couple of quotes that came from the survey. Was that they understand that it's critical. But they specifically said the validation of our data ensures that we make informed decisions on our emission strategies. Again, it's the confidence of the data that's coming in. And how do you leverage and use that data in order to make, better business decisions around decarbonization, around production. And then also having that regular reporting allows us to evaluate our success. So it's not just all about the government, but again, as the the corporate goals and emissions as it stands and giving a clear picture of the progress. So, so again, that that data verification is very important.  
 
But also when it comes to the challenging part of poor data quality or the lack of it being available in real time, is one of the challenges as well. And then of course, collecting, you know, there at the at the mercy of of the, of the end customer or and then sometimes from an OEM perspective. So, so again, it's, it's across the board of yes, it's challenging to collect but how critical having the accurate data is, is is key to the success of their strategies. So again the same format. So let's discuss, our findings. But also you know, your opinion too on this Beth, is that what are some of the other internal factors making, collecting, verifying and reporting emissions challenging. And how do you that what do you recommend to mitigate some of those risks. Yeah. First is you mentioned, the silos of a company are certainly one of the challenges that we see pretty regularly.  
 
Especially if you're in a big companies such as we are with, GE Vernova. But they're often because companies, bigger companies have multiple ERP systems, for instance, that don't talk to each other. So the data collection systems, are not necessarily, easily, you know, talking to each other so that you can compile that data. There's also different standard reporting methodologies. So another factor there is that, one team or one business line may be using one set of methodologies, especially if they're in a different part of the world for global businesses than another, part of the business. And so trying to kind of benchmark and make sure that you're using the same methodologies is really important. The other, challenge that we're seeing is that sometimes the data will be missing for various reasons, either because the data collection was incomplete or there were some sets of errors in the data. And so understanding how to fill in those data gaps is another really important aspect of this, collecting and then ultimately verifying that data. Right. And reporting it. So, some of the actions that we've actually taken with, with some of the teams I work with within our company and also with some of our customers, is really creating that standard process.  
 
That includes not only the data collection process and how you're going to ultimately report it, how it's going to be verified. But the systems and the tools that go along with that, including the software, and the technology to even link different databases and data sets together. Because as you mentioned, Christy, like the what you really want to get to is being able to use that data to perform, analytics that can really help inform your decisions. Right. You want the high fidelity data. You want that for reporting out and making sure that, there's everything is correct there in your reporting, but also you really need that to inform your strategies. That information and that the data analytics that come along after you have that high fidelity data set is, is really important to make sure you're taking those strategic actions and moving, your strategy forward in terms of your, your reduction strategies. It's a really important aspect. You may have to I think you touched on this, as well. But, you know, are there any other ways that good data can drive stronger sustainability strategies?  
 
Yeah, we the predictive analytics is an area that we are really finding is more and more important because the decisions that we're making, in our businesses now to, to reduce, you know, or eliminate, our greenhouse gases involve really capital intensive equipment or, investment decisions that are going to last for years. So you want to make sure that you have the best data available to you to inform those decisions. So this is something, you know, we think is very important. This will really help take, you know, also, once you make those decisions and you're putting your, your projects into place, having the data to then go back to, your forecasted results or your project performance to take that information and be able to use that. Then to see what you know. Is the project delivering what is intended? Am I actually making the reductions that I thought I was going to make? Is the, you know, is the value of the equipment or is the, particular, say, purchase power agreement? Are those working for me or do we need to make further adjustments? We also think that this is a really, you know, needed component in terms of informing risk mitigation. So once we understand our data and are able to, see the trends, for instance, over time be able to see the impacts of specific projects, that were taking place.  
 
We can then you know, use that to identify where do we have other risks in our overall strategy. How do we need to look at mitigation, for greenhouse gases? And then even where do we need to start looking at adaptation plans? So again, this kind of data needs to feed into our overall sustainability strategy, which is often our corporate strategy. And I'll go a little bit further on that, which we thank you for, for that answer is that. Whenever you, you know, putting that sustainability strategy and understanding what the impact and the cost associated with implementing that strategy, you know, taking, that verification and taking that reporting even to investors, investors are now starting to look at, can you verify that the projects you put into place will make the impacts that you're forecasting and projecting? And so they're looking for some of that confirmation as well, in order to allocate capital and bring in investors to to invest into your programs as well. Yeah. Very good point. All right. So the next topic is about existing emissions management software. You know, so we we look at this is that, you know, emissions management is not built the same. They're all on variance in just on collection reporting. But what are they currently using.  
 
And I mentioned that earlier in the, in the session is that it can be using, some antiquated approaches again, data silos etc., but where they see that their emission software is managing sort short is looking at the production, you know, because at the end of the day, they have to they have to get the products out. They have to, you know, submit the power that's needed for you. And I have to turn our lights on. And I'm in Texas, so it gets quite hot here and I can be pretty cranky. So it's keeping up with production, but also your emissions goals at the same time. So that's a big challenge for them. And that's where they're looking for software to help with that. Not only demand but also emissions at the same time. And then secondly, of course, is that improving data validations and verification. So so looking for, ways to help that verification. And then the ROI of the emissions technologies which, which we mentioned is about, okay, what exactly is the approach of our decarbonizers that we're planning on. But what's that impact long term. So not only that the falling short but during the survey, the decision makers are looking to upgrade their emission software. So you have former EMIS or other systems that were around IHS software that are falling short, and they're looking for something more modern and more advanced, not only just the automation of the collection, but kind of putting in the air. Seeing you mentioned AI.  
 
So yes, there's AI data centers and other things, but now organizations are looking at AI to help them with the verification, the machine learning, modeling, predictive analytics that you can visualize through digital twins. That really help with the verification of that data. And also you mentioned scope one in some of your current and existing assets too, is what we're seeing in our customers that they're looking for, you know, you have asset performance management within that you're already using in your organization. So where's that data tie in. So you can really drill down into scope ones, but also look at your maintenance and corrective programs and reliability programs, in parallel with your emissions management. So that's been extremely desirable, where you can really extend emissions management into that overall production and operational management. And also measuring your performance. So, you set your KPIs and you set your goals. Now it's looking at software to help monitor. And you mentioned it perfectly. That is what is really impacting where your performances are today with decarbonization. And also that forecasting and other insights of where you are today. And again, is it working yes or no?  
 
And where do you need to pivot and make adjustments in order to stay on track and stay on target? And also you mentioned the operationalization of your strategies. That's a really big word. But, that folks are looking for software that enable them or guide them ahead of time of where to invest. You know, looking at different energy sources, which you mentioned, which are long term and can be costly, but also what's that impact, and other abatement levers, if it's operationalizing, your current uh like you said moving from coal to gas. There are ways that within a more modern emissions management software that you can adjust and calculate those ahead of time so you can visualize that forecast, and where to, where to make those adjustments or making those investments. So the final thoughts and these are some, some pretty hefty questions because we know geopolitically and where emissions is going from previous years and and moving forward. With the shifting of geopolitical priorities in the United States, our energy or industrial companies continuing their priority on decarbonizing commitments? some by 2035, some by 2050.  
 
So we've heard a lot of chatter in the market. What what are your thoughts on that, Beth? Yeah, absolutely. We're seeing companies continuing to, to look at their decarbonization commitments on these pathways to 2035, 2050. You know, we all, recognize that the world needs electricity to power our economies and that we need to deploy all sorts of technologies and solutions at scale, right, to meet this growing, growing demand, the demand for electrification of transport and heat, the growing demand for data centers and computing power that is being led by AI and the expansion of industries. So electrification, this electrification is really going to help drive innovation. Drive system efficiencies and then ultimately decarbonization as we look across this whole spectrum of technologies. So we're absolutely seeing, a commitment from, companies across the board to continue along these pathways to electrify and decarbonize their systems. One of the data points we have is, PWC recently released their 2025 state of the decarbonization Report, and you can find this on their website. But they, looked at CDP disclosures and found that from those analytics that they did that over 37% of companies responding to, to the CDP disclosures were increasing their climate commitments, and only 16% were decelerating their goals.  
 
So, you know, these are pretty impressive, statistics around companies that are continuing to prioritize and decarbonization efforts. It's a it's a pretty, I think, powerful, set of work that they did. And it's consistent with, what we're hearing from our, our customers and, across our stakeholder groups. And we work with. Great. So not only in the United States, but, you know, there are some chatter about the the latest omnibus proposal from the from the EU. So how is that impacting industries and what are you hearing around that? Yeah. In terms of the EU omnibus proposal, we know that it really is aiming to clarify, the sustainability regulations. So they're looking to streamline requirements, reduce administrative burdens for, things like CRSD, the EU taxonomy, CBAM, etc. and this in fact, this past week, we understand that there's initiative, they're calling stop the clock by effectively postponing some of the reporting and obligations for some companies. And these are generally like based on size and number of employees, revenue, etc..  
 
So the main point of this is currently to delay, largely the impacts for sector specific, European sustainability reporting standards. So this is giving companies more time to comply. And so while we're seeing that there's companies have additional time to prepare, we do see that there's some slowdown in momentum in sustainability related activities. So as firms, you know, assess how they're going to meet this, this regulatory framework in the EU in this case, they're going to, you know, be able to take some of this time to see how they can best implement, the necessary processes and, technology efficiency deployments, etc.. So, you know, quite often when we have, instances like this where there are changes in framework or in this case, some of the delays that are occurring, we do see a little bit of a slowdown. However, overall, we're still seeing commitment to those, mid-year, mid and longer term strategies for decarbonization. Excellent. I'll, you know, take a stab at this as well that, you know, even around the globe is that, you know, the heavy emitters, the big industries know that we work within and they're probably on this call, you know, not a lot has changed, when it comes to certain standards and still the, the requirements, around either the CSRD omnibus, and for now with, with the United States, and the EPA and some other things.  
 
Now, what we've noticed to specifically in the US is that now other states are following with California. They're not implemented yet, but they're in some has legislation has been written, but it's also in that proposal phase, like Illinois, for example. You have new Jersey and you have New York, and other other, other, I think Massachusetts as well, directly on that. But, you know, you see other states that are following suit, specifically in Canada becoming more strict, within their within their emissions and their requirements, within, within the states. So that's an interesting, call out. And then secondly, with APAC, so to work with some of my Asian-Pacific, counterparts in those areas, and you see Singapore, Japan, China and other countries that are now looking at legislation, to lower emissions. And, but they're using some of that CSRD standards and are using some of the global standards as well. So you see a lot of Asia countries and also within the Middle East, you have Turkey, in Dubai and others, and also in Latin America. So we're people are following suit and that, you know, yes. You know, there are certain hiccups in market that we see chatter online when it comes to government. But, you know, you see the rest of the world that are still very interested and are moving forward with not only regulations but also just standard of emissions reporting. So, so it's it's it's good to see again focused on we got to bring power. Power to the people. Right. And we have one of our pilot piloted customers, in in Africa.  
 
That was their main priority was to bring power to 30% of their country or their region that didn't have power, but simultaneously is ensuring that how they bring that that that power, they're simultaneously decarbonizing. And that's, in the African region. And so so it's still impressive to see that, that there's the the priorities are there for sustainability. Yeah, definitely. Right. And I think that comes to the end here. Is that, you know, there's a lot, a lot of market changes, but there's also a lot of need and demand of getting more out of your emissions management software. And so here at GE Vernova, we do have emissions management called CERius that really hits on a lot of these pain points and really bring you in to that forward thinking and building out more, stronger, more impactful strategies within your within your emissions management.  
 
So again, my name is, is Christy Pooler. Our contact information and LinkedIn information is available in the resource center as well. Everyone who registered and attended will will receive more information and follow up regarding emissions. So email me, you can contact Beth. And we thank you all for attending. And I didn't see any questions in the Q&A. So I think it's, time to wrap it up. Christy, just one question that I see about asking to get a copy of today's slides. And I think in the resources, section of the, of the event, screens, you will find a link to the full report that includes basically the slide, the excerpt, and the slides that you had showed today. Yeah. Perfect. That's exactly right. So, more details are in the report. Take a look at that. And, that is all we have for today. Thank you all for joining and have a great rest of your day. Thank you.