Comment: How Big Data can unlock Net Zero

So how can Big Data drive sustainability goals in industrially intensive businesses?

Big Data is digital, yes. But not exclusively so 

Passive data collection is useful if you know which variables and data points to measure  

There’s an easy case for investment in tech for sustainable manufacturing operations right now

Big Data is a tidal wave sweeping across the globe. According to the United Nations (UN), 64.2 zettabytes of data was created in 2020, which is a huge 314 per cent increase from 2015. By 2025 predictions state the amount of data generated each day will reach 463 exabytes globally.

The core idea around Big Data, and the movement towards data in general, is the concept of measurement and can we apply the same approach (continuous measurements) to processes and behaviours within our business operations?

Many manufacturers have rapidly expanded their applications to physical systems. This allows them to monitor different properties of assets in real-time, continuously, and over long periods of time.

This means we can far more accurately understand production costs by measuring the energy consumption of manufacturing processes.

And now that they’re higher than ever before, the inclusion of this information helps with financial modelling and having an accurate understanding of product margins. 

Great, but it begs the question: how can manufacturers use data-intensive tech to address sustainability?

Four features engineers can focus on to improve sustainability:  

• Credible methods for measuring carbon footprint.
• Real-time views of resource and energy consumption
• A method of collection, storage, analysis and reporting of this information to drive action
• Digital lifecycle management to encourage circular economy models
  
  

Immediate areas to meet these requirements: 

• Enterprise-wide visibility of sustainability KPI’s with real-time data
• Data-driven optimisation of processes and operations
• Strategic creation of data ecosystems across supply chains, geographical regions and industry sectors
  
  

A frequent lament by manufacturers is - how do I get started with reducing both my energy consumption and modelling my carbon output? Closely followed by the assumption that it will take some serious investments. 

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Take a manufacturing facility, typically made up of areas of storage, production, offices and areas for respite and rest, we can apply much of the thinking and work that has been developed for the monitoring assets industry at large and extend it into assets that are manufacturing specific. We’ll quickly get the visibility and KPI’s we desire if we present this data - whether it’s historical or real-time - to the right people. 

What about on the largest scale, where the question is, “how can we make sustainability more accessible and easier for everyone?”

Two words: data ecosystems. 

We need to collaborate and centralise data into national clouds, share data between supply chain members, energy consumers and producers. If production is scheduled and energy use forecasted, we can optimise both by sharing data from each side.
The ambitious future of sustainability

There’s a valid argument that an organisation's entire network is mutually accountable for the environmental and social effects of their activities. This means they must commit to business practices which address these effects and Digital Product Passports might just be the answer.  

It’s an ambitious goal which requires a company to continuously monitor, and audit implemented procedures in supply chains to increase their own ‘2nd order’ sustainability extending beyond their immediate business. Take waste as an example. 

Policy #1 = minimise all material that requires treatment, repurposing or disposal that is generated as a by-product of productive or operational activities.

The solution =

• Eliminate all possible avoidable waste generation with revised products and better process design
• Reuse, recycle or otherwise repurpose remaining waste.

Policy #2 = products should be repurposed.

The solution =

• Design and manufacture products in a way which allows you to repurpose them and maximise post-use recovery value.
• Give customers access to these services.

The impact of the cloud on sustainability

The ‘blinking corridors of the data centre’ which make the digital industry possible have an environmental impact themselves. Some companies believe that simply using the cloud itself is a sure-fire way to help contribute to a reduction in energy consumption and carbon emissions. This is because some cloud providers are consciously providing energy to these data centres from exclusively renewable sources. Some public clouds, many private data centres and most on-premises servers will use whatever the local energy composition is – often partially carbon-emitting so called “dirty” electricity grids. 

When it comes to intelligent utilisation of computer resources, cloud computing itself provides a role in reducing carbon footprint. 

A way of thinking about the cloud is to remember it has an inherently physical manifestation – the copper cabling, fibre optics, 5G towers, exotic cooling systems, power distribution substations and pylons criss-crossing our landscape. 

We simply must think like scientists and entertain not just what the data in the cloud represents, but how it is manifest; in the flow of electrical currents, the rare earth metals that comprise the computer components, and the heat which partially addressed the noisy, turbulent, air flows of fans and air conditioning units. We need to think outside the boxes we build - and that’s where the sustainable transformation becomes a reality.

Technology and our ambitions need to be put together to develop strategic roadmaps that can deliver transformative business impacts with sustainability in mind - it’s possible, we just need to make it happen. 

Dr Tom Helliwell, senior consultant at Razor