Nicola Knight
Director, Low Carbon, Worley Consulting
“I spent my early career helping oil and gas customers improve their energy efficiency. Now I get to help energy producers take their sustainability ambitions even further.”
Nicola manages a team of engineers who help carbon intensive businesses navigate the energy transition.
“I love the variety of my job. One day I’m improving the energy efficiency of existing assets or developing a road map to net zero. The next, I’m understanding the role low carbon hydrogen can play for a customer’s project.
“We need to find a way to continue living our lives while working towards our net zero goals and respecting the Paris Agreement. And low carbon fuels will play a significant role in that.”
The opportunities and challenges of low carbon fuels
Nicola believes low carbon fuels will be a viable alternative to fossil fuels, especially in hard-to-abate sectors where electrification is challenging.
“I spent my early career helping oil and gas customers improve the energy efficiency of new and existing assets. This is the starting point on their journey to net zero, before they invest in alternative fuel sources that will ultimately see them reach carbon neutrality.”
Nicola is aware that transitions are uncertain. But she’s confident we have the solutions to overcome this.
“The biggest misconception of low carbon fuels is that they’re not viable or practical. Of course, there are challenges. A major challenge is the electrical infrastructure required to generate and transport renewable power to the right location to produce the fuels.
“But the potential is there. It could be a combination of major production hubs in areas with significant renewable energy capability and making use of local natural resources like wind or solar to benefit smaller communities.”
How a sustainable economy could look
When Nicola looks ahead, she envisions a more sustainable planet to live on.
“Ten years from now, I expect that the petrol station down the road from where I live will have a hydrogen refueling station, and electric chargers. The buses in our communities will run on hydrogen.
“The local recycling depot will have a waste to chemicals plant in operation combined with community funded solar and renewable power facilities to generate low carbon fuels. And my annual holiday to summer sunshine will be on a plane filled with sustainable aviation fuel.
“We’ll need to innovate to get there and that will come from everyone, everywhere. But I can’t wait to see what bright ideas we can bring to life to make sustainable transformation a reality.”
