Category: About NZDM

How can FAIR data help us to meet Net Zero?

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, FAIR Data

The need for climate action is upon us. The United Nations Race for Zero campaign asks companies to commit to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. Globally 5,000 businesses, 1,000 cities, 1,000 Higher Education Institutions and 400 of the largest investors have signed up to this objective.

But there can be no decarbonisation without data.

Data that is FAIR – Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable

Discovery & Access

Often data related to Net Zero efforts isn’t easy to find and use, even if some organisations are mandated by Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards and legislation to report on their sustainable efforts and outcomes.

Plus not every source of Net Zero data is the same. The quality and standards used in the sharing of this information can vary depending upon the market sector & organisation and the methods used to collect & store the data.

Therefore using a centralised platform providing a catalogue of different Net Zero sources, each with appropriate and understandable classifications (taxonomy & meta data), should help to make it easier for humans & machines to discover these different data sets.

Supporting standardised publishing

Sometimes Net Zero data is published in proprietary formats and bespoke technologies. This not only makes it harder to use, but more complex to integrate with and compare alongside other similar data sources.

Creating an easy and consistent way to expose this data should therefore help organisations to deliver upon their ESG promises and obligations. Plus the use of “data pipelines” can help in the automatic collection, cleansing and standardisation of the data

As an example, a recent report by the Coalition for Reimagined Mobility (ReMo) on the use of data to solve issues with global supply chains identified that the adoption of freight data exchange standards and sharing of transportation data could reduce sea freight emissions by 280 million tons of carbon per year and road freight emissions by 360 million tons of carbon per year.
https://reimaginedmobility.org/freight-data-report/

Enabling Net Zero business models & services

“Data is the foundation for designing effective policy interventions that support the decarbonisation of the transport system. Better data can provide new policy and operational insights, drive new products and services and ‘nudge’ people towards lower emission journeys.”
Decarbonising Transport – A Better, Greener Britain report by UK Department for Transport
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1009448/decarbonising-transport-a-better-greener-britain.pdf

The publishing of data (whether this is Open data that is reusable, data restricted by license & usage or more commercially valuable data that is paid for) can create a virtuous circle that benefits both those consuming and those publishing the data.

Whilst it is not possible to project all the new products & services that a central Net Zero data sharing platform can deliver… as an example, research found that Open Data published by Transport for London [TfL] generated annual economic benefits and savings of up to £130m a year. The provision of this free, accurate and real-time open data by TfL improved journeys, saved people time, supported innovation and created jobs.
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2017/october/tfl-s-free-open-data-boosts-london-s-economy

A data-driven approach to reaching Net Zero

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, Greenhouse Gases

The only way to fully achieve the agreed Net Zero by 2050 target is to balance the production of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions with their removal from the atmosphere. This is because even if the global population does all it can to reduce its carbon footprint, emissions of CO2, Methane, etc. will still happen.

The current commercial method of compensating for our emissions is called offsetting. This is where one party emitting a specific amount pays another party to do something that removes that same amount of GHGs from the atmosphere. Most carbon offsetting projects involve the long-term planting of additional trees, which naturally convert carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) from the air and soil as part of photosynthesis. Carbon offsetting has been subject to a lot of criticism, in that it does not change the behaviour of those that emit GHGs (as they can simply pay their way of trouble) and that many offsetting schemes are ineffective or double count & overestimate their value.
Therefore guidelines such as The Oxford Principles for Net Zero Aligned Carbon Offsetting have been produced:
https://www.smithschool.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-01/Oxford-Offsetting-Principles-2020.pdf

This document helps to outline how offsetting needs to be approached to ensure it helps achieve a Net Zero society, including the need for Clear retrospective emissions data and the requirement to disclose current emissions, accounting practices and targets to reach Net Zero often categorised according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol framework for reporting emissions data.

But we cannot completely offset our way out of climate change, especially as there may not be enough forest space to handle all the offsetting needed. But also becuase trees need time to plant & grow, whilst cutting emissions has immediate results.

As The Paris Agreement states “Climate change is a global emergency that goes beyond national borders. It is an issue that requires coordinated solutions at all levels and international cooperation to help countries move toward a low-carbon economy.”

Therefore a balanced and data-driven approach to Net Zero is needed. One that uses comparable and standardised data sets regardless of the country, sector or data collection & storage method used.

How a Data Marketplace helps decarbonisation

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM

Decarbonisation is the reduction of greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) that is carried out by a country, sector or organisation to lessen its impact on the climate.

Our vision is that eventually Net Zero data will be interoperable and shared via common & open standards and easy-to-use processes.

Providing these sources via a central trusted platform will help to decarbonise industry and the world by:

  1. Reducing the complexity and friction around the discovery & access to different data sources
  2. Supporting organisations in the publishing of standardised Net Zero data
  3. Enabling the creation of new Net Zero focused business models & services
A Net Zero Data Marketplace for all sectors

Our aim

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, Construction, Defence, Energy, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, Transport & Mobility

Humans have only one chance to achieve the 2050 goal of becoming Net Zero. We believe that a data marketplace is a critical enabler for doing so: incentivising both data owners and data consumers to share data for the good of the economy, people and the planet.

Our eventual aim is to implement the Net Zero Data Marketplace with the required tools and frameworks to simplify the discovery and sharing of Net Zero data sets. This will open up these sources to more potential consumers via a central data platform.

The intention is that this platform will be used by different sectors (either mandated by legislation, or voluntarily for innovation) to share their Net Zero data, including but not limited to: Transport & Mobility, Energy, Defence, Healthcare, Retail, Technology, Manufacturing and Construction.

Is a Net Zero Data Marketplace innovative?

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, Energy, FAIR Data, Manufacturing

Although the idea of a data marketplace serving a particular sector (e.g. Energy, Transport, Manufacturing, etc.) or industry vertical (e.g. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles) is not a particularly new one… creating a data marketplace for the sharing of comparable, machine-readable and trusted Net Zero data across multiple sectors is.

Especially one that is built upon the use of F.A.I.R (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable & Reusable) data principles.
https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/

Enabling a Net Zero Data Ecosystem

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM

The UK National Data Strategy (NDS) [24 November 2021] sets out five priority areas of action, including Mission One:

“Unlocking the value of data across the economy” and has as one of its top priorities “3. Support the development of a thriving intermediary ecosystem that enables responsible data sharing”

In this strategy the UK Government states they want to “create an environment that reduces barriers for a variety of data intermediaries to operate in data markets and engender confidence in the use of their services”.

We believe that a Net Zero Data Marketplace can help to address this priority by being the first data intermediary that enables the sharing of Net Zero data between those sharing and using such data.

Time for change

by Ideal Interface, posted in About NZDM, ESG

The Paris Agreement states “Climate change is a global emergency that goes beyond national borders. It is an issue that requires coordinated solutions at all levels and international cooperation to help countries move toward a low-carbon economy.” 

To prevent warming beyond 1.5°C, we need to reduce emissions by 7.6% every year, with the aim of being Net Zero by 2030.  The Agreement has a goal of creating a framework for the transparent monitoring and reporting of countries’ climate goals.  

But not all data relating to the Net Zero is collected, stored or shared in the same way. For example the data relating to carbon usage, Greenhouse Gas [GHG] emissions and offsetting are measured or reported in different ways depending upon the market sector and the organisation involved. 

Often this data is hard to find, obtain and share, even though some sectors are mandated by Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards and legislation to report on sustainable efforts and outcomes.

Sometimes this information is published in proprietary formats and bespoke technologies which not only makes it harder to use, but more complex to integrate with and compare alongside other sources.

We want to change that!