Over the past few days, I’ve had the privilege to participate in COP26 discussions in Glasgow, UK. It is a vast event with a critical mission: to create and meet global milestones as we navigate the transition to net-zero.  For my part, it also presented an opportunity to engage with one of our key partners, Wood PLC, as a guest at their ‘House’ and to meet key sustainability executives from Microsoft, The Economist Group and DNV, joining them on a panel discussion about Digitalisation in the Energy Sector.

Through the course of my time in Glasgow, it became increasingly clear that tackling this challenge will require an immense collaborative and concerted movement. It will require capital deployment in the trillions. The mood so far in speaking with peers is positive, determined and committed. 

For example, major discussions around hydrogen are in play. Scaling hydrogen is one of the biggest challenges we face - it will require a completely new infrastructure and that in turn, requires massive capital investment. It will require an execution plan beyond anything we have ever seen. The only way we can realistically achieve this is through the combined efforts of policy and government action, along with cooperation and investment in the private sector. 

What does this mean for our customers? Completely new business models will need to be built. At our recent Executive Advisory Board meetings, we saw significant change with customers - they need our help, and they are asking for our support. Today’s assets must be designed to be flexible enough to meet the sustainability requirements not just for today, but for 2050 and beyond. That is the challenge...collectively building a better world for generations to come. 

As we tackle such monumental challenges, our role is abundantly apparent. With 40 years of experience, AspenTech sits squarely in the middle of this sustainability transition, offering critical products and solutions to customers, heightened even more now, with our recently announced plans to build the future of our company with the Emerson transaction.  By this, I mean the new AspenTech will position us to support the three ‘Es’ of sustainability and in turn meet our customers’ needs:

 

• Emissions: Energy efficiencies are crucial to reduce CO2 emissions. We have been doing this for over 40 years, are committed to this today, and our customers are ready to scale. 
• Electrification: With the Emerson transaction, OSI will place us at the centre of the global electrification challenge, its technology will allow for more balance in power grid fluctuations that solar and wind/ renewable energy brings. 
• Electric vehicles: Our solutions are used for modelling capabilities in the research and design of batteries for electric vehicles.

 

There is a lot to be done. It will require commitment from everyone. It will demand change and present challenge. And the clock is ticking.  As we build and transition our own structure to face the next forty years, I am genuinely more excited than ever before about what the future holds for AspenTech, our customers and for us all.