How technology is revolutionizing the way we deliver sustainability and resilience

Digital innovation is vital to the successful delivery of a sustainable future.

By 2050 the world’s population is predicted to have expanded to nearly 10 billion people, all of whom will need homes, energy, transport and more. At the same time, the world’s aging and carbon intensive infrastructure will need upgrading and replacing. And for the sake of our planet, and future generations, we need to reduce our carbon emissions to Net Zero.

The only way to meet this enormous challenge is to find new ways of doing things. To embrace sustainable energy sources, to reduce our carbon emissions, and to start designing with the entire ecosystem in mind. And this is impossible without the right data, the right technology, and the right expertise.

Data and decision making

If we want to reduce our environmental impact, the first step is to understand it.

Over the past few years, we have developed new solutions for collecting, analyzing, and visualizing data. For example, at AtkinsRéalis we have launched Carbon Insights, a platform which leverages years of project data to provide detailed insights into carbon management across the whole life of a project. Or for clients with large asset portfolios, there are specialized tools such as Decarbonomics^TM, which help clients decarbonize their estates by giving them the information to make efficient and informed decisions.

Tools like this are key to understanding both the scale of the challenge facing us and how effective our solutions are.

Proper connected data analytics tools are also vital for the process of reporting. They help clients and stakeholders easily meet their governance responsibilities and may be a major factor in the availability of future funding.

Clean energy and warm homes

We have seen incredible progress in clean energy technology over the past decade, from solar and wind to breakthroughs in nuclear fusion. And as these technologies advance, we’ve had to develop new digital technologies to support them.

For example, we have seen significant advancements in digital and data modelling to support developments in offshore wind. This innovation has helped make these wind farms more viable, helping solve challenges like reducing turbine downtime, and safely connecting them to shore.

We are also seeing real change in cooling and heating. As weather extremes become more common, good air conditioning and heating are increasingly important to human health and welfare. However, both these activities can have a massive environmental impact driving further climate change.

To combat this, some authorities are experimenting with removing boilers and air conditioners from homes, in favor of district-wide temperature control systems. These are much more efficient, using digital technology to manage the output and sustainably keep businesses and homes the right temperature.

Resilient cities

One of the greatest challenges with climate change, is understanding how it will affect towns, cities, transport, agriculture, energy, health…

Computer modelling, digital twins, and AI, all have the potential to help us simulate these changes and start finding solutions. For example, our City Simulator solution has been used to model epidemics, classify infrastructure at risk from extreme weather events, and predict flood damage.

These technologies have the potential to make a real impact because they can help us measure things that are left out of a traditional cost-benefit analysis – such as air quality, flood risk and heat islands.

Changing our world

There is a shortage of people with the right expertise to develop and implement these solutions. And Net Zero by 2050 is a deadline we cannot afford to miss.

That’s why we need to start working together to ensure we have the right talent to solve these issues. This means upskilling our existing staff and encouraging interest in sustainable digital technology. But it also means working together with schools, universities, and government to raise awareness, support STEM learning, and encourage more young people to consider the impact they could make in this industry.

At the end of the day, we are all in this together.

Jonathan Holyoak leads AtkinsRéalis’ Engineering Net Zero program, dedicated to helping our clients manage climate risk and deliver resilient, sustainable projects. You can find out more about how we are engineering a better future for our planet and its people here.