‘Technology and business model innovation will be vital in the transition to net-zero’ – future Net Zero

Rubina Singh, Ideation Delivery Lead at British Gas, is setting up a team at British Gas to drive ideation of new services and solutions and take them to market, enabling customers to lower their environmental footprints while simultaneously addressing their business needs.

“Some of the technologies that will help us realise net zero might not even exist yet, some of the business models we need haven’t yet been thought of, and I think these new ideas and business models are needed not just to enable the transformation but it will also help us to do so in a way that makes it easy, convenient, accessible and affordable for our customers.”

She highlighted the energy and automotive industries as examples of sectors undergoing rapid transformation and as areas that require almost a constant stream of innovation in order to perform as efficiently, effectively and cleanly as possible.

Ms Singh added: “What we’re seeing is a convergence of these two sectors, so I think we need new ideas and innovative technologies to enable the widespread adoption of low carbon technologies.

She also believes that diversity is an essential enabler of the net-zero transition – she said it brings new ways of tackling problems and improves business decision making, especially in more complex situations.

Ms Singh said: “Greater diversity also helps businesses be more innovative, as the energy industry goes through this unprecedented change, not only with the energy transformation but also with COVID-19, I think greater creativity enabled by a variety of opinion will help.”