HOUSTON, October 27, 2021 – The ESF MENA 2021– Energy & Sustainability Forum – Middle East & North Africa (ESF-MENA), was recently held virtually from 25-27 October 2021 where Mr. Nikhil Chauhan, Chief Strategy Officer, Lummus Digital, was a keynote speaker, and shared some invaluable insights on the key aspects of ‘Decarbonisation Digitalisation’ on 25 October 2021.

With climate goals as priority, the ESF MENA aims for excellence in conducting business activities that ensure sustainable green digital transformation in the Middle East & North Africa as well as global hydrocarbon sector. The availability of abundant natural resources uniquely positions the region, and thus, their judicious utilization becomes imperative for both the economy and the environment.

The downstream sector plays a vital role in ensuring the delivery of this global transition. Today, safe and profitable operations alone do not qualify for success. There are other factors like operational efficiency, energy delivery, demonstrating commitment to ESG and maximizing circularity and in-country value are considered as well.

As the petrochemical producers and refiners align themselves for a low carbon transition, ESF MENA gears up to support the discussions, collaborations, and development for future energy sustainability for which the downstream industry plays a key part.

Mr. Nikhil Chauhan, spoke about how digitalization can accelerate decarbonisation. With a focus on decarbonisation of asset lifecycle, he elaborated on the design and build phase, which was followed by a deep insight into the operating phase where the carbon emissions are monitored and reduced through techniques like optimization and predictive analyses.

Further, he went on to explain with a focus being on Net Zero Emissions, which is basically carbon trading. The similarity between carbon trading and block chain technology was touched upon as well. In carbon technology, one needs to assess, store and manage the carbon emissions whereas in blockchain, there is a distributed ledger and then there are certifications for keeping the records respectively. Hence, blockchain technology is a reliable and suitable technology for carbon trading. The benefits of Digitalization in Decarbonisation include sustainability enhancement, reduction of emission, improving plant efficiency and increases profit as well.