Challenge 2:
The availability of the technologies needed to decarbonize products and processes

The second challenge moves up a layer from critical materials to buying and integrating complete technologies that can be customized to your sustainability use case.

Some will be digital technologies that make processes more efficient or less energy intensive. Some will involve new technologies that replace parts or processes, like biodegradable packaging or tools to reuse process heat. A third tier will involve technologies for wholesale product reinvention, such as engines and infrastructure for hydrogen planes.

But our Engineering Trends survey found 88% of engineering leaders worried that the right technologies would not be available at scale in the timeframes they needed.

The first worry is that they will not be able to access existing technologies that they rely on – because they cannot be produced at sufficient scale.

For example, spiraling demand from EVs, energy and industry puts huge pressure on battery makers^[6]^. The nascent fusion industry worries about meeting its vast demand for power electronics and magnets once it starts deploying commercial reactors^[7].

The second worry is that the emerging technologies they plan to use won’t materialize in time.

Tech titans, including Google and Amazon, have committed to purchasing electricity generated by Nuclear Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), yet – whilst over 80 SMR designs

are in development, only two are in operation as of early 2025 (in Russia and China) and the technology is yet to be demonstrated at scale^[8].

The construction industry pins a lot of hope on zero carbon steel and concrete, which seem a way off. Even seemingly advanced programs can stall – in early 2025, Airbus announced 5-10 year delays to its plans to launch a hydrogen-powered plane by 2035, due to ‘slow development of essential technology’^[9].

Nonetheless, the IEA notes that 64% of the technologies needed for companies to meet Net Zero were on the market in 2023, up from 50% in 2021^[10]. That should give hope that technology will meet the needs of those looking for it.

Accessing green technologies:
The solutions being explored

All big companies must take a long and short term approach to adopting new technologies, planning to access the existing technologies they need, and setting up the organization to adopt new technologies as they become viable.

Model the future to inform long term strategic decisions: We advocate utilizing system-of-systems models, such as Capgemini's Business for Planet Modeling^[11]. These allow companies to simulate the impact of their sustainability decisions under different future scenarios (for example, a world where climate change happens faster or slower, or where critical technologies develop more or less quickly). This informs decision-making, allowing companies to optimize their strategies to reduce risk, enhance resilience, and ensure sustainable profitability, as they transition towards net-zero objectives.

Develop sustainable supplier assessments and flexible procurement systems: These allow new technologies to be assessed for value, sustainability, and impact on the organization, then quickly trialed and on-boarded. The world is moving faster than ever – creaking systems that take a year to set up a new supplier have no place in it. Making commitments to suppliers – such as Amazon’s agreement to purchase energy from small modular reactors^[12] – can accelerate the development of critical technologies.

Japanese biopharmaceutical company Takeda is trialing a natural gas-free steam-generating heat pump to provide process heat to a manufacturing site in Vienna. It anticipates a 90% CO_² reduction, and plans to develop the product at scale, if successful. This is possible thanks to a collaboration between Takeda and the Austrian Government, and working with local innovators.

Embrace digital technologies: Everything mentioned above will benefit from investment in digital technologies like AI, digital twins, and blockchain. 78% of executives say that data and digital technologies will play an important role in accelerating climate tech adoption^[13]. When well-integrated, these join together company-wide systems to enable joined-up analysis and insights, which improve the speed and efficiency of the green transition.

Capgemini’s Energy Command Center illustrates how multiple digital technologies can be joined together to deliver emissions reductions. On the face of it, it is a platform for monitoring and optimising the buildings’ energy use. Under the hood, it is a carefully designed system, comprising multiple technology layers. A data acquisition layer extracts data from connected HVAC, power and control devices, and building management systems. These are combined in a data integration layer, then analyzed using software, analytics, AI and machine learning at the analysis layer – reaching optimal decisions for the building’s needs, and channeling them back to the control systems to be physically implemented.

Global companies using the Energy Command Center have seen energy reductions of 20-30% across multiple sites, and savings of millions of dollars. And indeed, Capgemini has deployed it across eight of our own campuses in India, delivering 29% reductions.

Unilever partnered with Arzeda (a US-based AI startup) to design new proteins and enzymes for use in household cleaning products. Arzeda’s platform has accelerated development fivefold. Peter Kulve, Unilever Home Care President said: “As part of Unilever’s Clean Future strategy, we’re investing in cutting-edge technologies to develop the next generation of sustainable, high-performance cleaning products. The progress made in just 18 months with Arzeda’s Intelligent Protein Design Technology™ shows how the convergence of artificial intelligence and biology is a game-changer for an industry like home care.” ^[15]

Proactively identify new technologies – and support their development: Set up dedicated sustainable technologies task forces to continually identify promising technologies that can progress sustainability goals.

For example, technologies like engineering biology (ie. the application of principles from biology and engineering to create new or redesigned biological systems), used in conjunction with AI and data data-driven computational techniques, opens exciting new opportunities.

Products, materials, or processes driven by engineering biology, often called biosolutions, offer significant sustainability advantages over legacy approaches. Advances in engineering biology have far-reaching implications in virtually every industry, including healthcare, agriculture, consumer goods, fashion, energy, mining, automotive, and aerospace and defense. ^[14]

No company can do everything alone. So, it’s essential to work with partners across the value chain who can help identify and assess new technologies, and work with you and your suppliers to develop and scale them efficiently. Not surprisingly, nearly all global enterprises, 86%, leverage engineering service providers for their sustainability efforts.