The business case for abatement: the key levers for improving financial return of marginal abatement projects
Jessica Dwyer A * and Krista McGowan AA
Jessica Dwyer, Director, Low Carbon Advisory APAC, BEng Chemical, GCert Business Strategy, MBA. Jessica leads Worley Consulting’s Low Carbon Advisory team for the APAC region. Passionate about helping customers continue their success through the global energy transition, Jessica connects projects with people and ideas with practical implementation. Jessica has guided mining and gas production companies in their decarbonisation journeys, identifying emissions reduction opportunities and pathways to net zero, analysing and presenting them in a clear way to enable informed decision making. With a background in process engineering in the hydrocarbons, chemicals and mining sectors, Jessica understands the challenges and opportunities associated with large-scale change and the complexity of retrofitting existing assets. |
Krista McGowan, Associate Consultant, BEng Chem (Hons), Cert Gov and Risk Mgt. Krista has over 17 years of engineering, project management, automation, corporate governance and leadership experience in the energy and chemicals sectors, with technical experience in oil and gas processing, refining, corrosion management, plastics and ammonia handling. She has worked on all phases of the project lifecycle including site engineering roles. With experience in the development and implementation of risk-based methodologies, Krista has designed and executed projects affecting the corporate functioning of the Worley Board and Management. |
Abstract
Emissions abatement projects often do not progress because they cannot meet the investment hurdles applied to projects. So what conditions are needed to create a compelling business case for a marginal abatement project? This paper describes the key levers for improving the business case, such as the global warming potential of methane, shadow carbon price, sales gas value, common user infrastructure and payback period. Drawing on examples from the natural gas production sector, it describes abatement projects that tend to be marginally negative in terms of return on investment and what conditions are needed to change that into a positive return. In many cases, small changes are enough to switch the economics into a positive outcome.
Keywords: abatement, business case, carbon price, decarbonisation, emissions reduction, energy transition, global warming potential, methane, return on investment.
Jessica Dwyer, Director, Low Carbon Advisory APAC, BEng Chemical, GCert Business Strategy, MBA. Jessica leads Worley Consulting’s Low Carbon Advisory team for the APAC region. Passionate about helping customers continue their success through the global energy transition, Jessica connects projects with people and ideas with practical implementation. Jessica has guided mining and gas production companies in their decarbonisation journeys, identifying emissions reduction opportunities and pathways to net zero, analysing and presenting them in a clear way to enable informed decision making. With a background in process engineering in the hydrocarbons, chemicals and mining sectors, Jessica understands the challenges and opportunities associated with large-scale change and the complexity of retrofitting existing assets. |
Krista McGowan, Associate Consultant, BEng Chem (Hons), Cert Gov and Risk Mgt. Krista has over 17 years of engineering, project management, automation, corporate governance and leadership experience in the energy and chemicals sectors, with technical experience in oil and gas processing, refining, corrosion management, plastics and ammonia handling. She has worked on all phases of the project lifecycle including site engineering roles. With experience in the development and implementation of risk-based methodologies, Krista has designed and executed projects affecting the corporate functioning of the Worley Board and Management. |
