Net Zero Roadmaps and Transition Planning

A useful net zero roadmap connects an emissions inventory with engineering opportunities, procurement choices, investment decisions and a delivery timetable. Northmore Gordon helps organisations define the baseline, test reduction pathways, rank projects, model scenarios and assign actions to owners.

The roadmap should show what will change physically, what will be addressed through electricity procurement or carbon credits, what depends on future technology, and what evidence will demonstrate progress. A target without this implementation structure is difficult to govern.

Start with the right emissions baseline

Define the legal entities, facilities, reporting period and consolidation approach before calculating emissions. Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions describe different sources:

• Scope 1: direct emissions from sources the organisation owns or controls, such as fuel combustion or refrigerant losses;
• Scope 2: indirect emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heat or cooling; and
• Scope 3: other indirect value-chain emissions upstream and downstream.

Record source data, methods, factors, estimates, exclusions and uncertainty. Scope 3 work is often staged, but the screening method and material categories should be explicit.

Four connected reduction levers

Lever	Examples	Evidence needed
Demand and efficiency	Controls, process improvement, heat recovery, refrigeration, compressed air and energy management	Audit, feasibility, baseline and operating result
On-site supply and electrification	Solar, storage, heat pumps, renewable heat and fuel switching	Load profile, constraints, design, approvals and commissioning
Energy procurement	Power purchase agreements and renewable electricity certificates	Contract, market, vintage, ownership and retirement records
Residual emissions	Eligible carbon credits for a clearly defined residual boundary	Credit due diligence, registry and retirement evidence

These levers have different accounting effects. Renewable electricity certificates and carbon credits should remain separate from physical reductions so decision-makers can see the underlying operating pathway.

Build the roadmap as an operating plan

1. Set the decision boundary: identify the organisation, inventory scopes, base year and target horizon.
2. Create the opportunity register: record each measure, affected source, maturity, dependencies and evidence quality.
3. Develop costs and scenarios: model capital, operating cost, savings, abatement, technology readiness and timing.
4. Select the pathway: test the sequence against production, reliability, network, procurement and financing constraints.
5. Assign delivery: give every action an owner, milestone, approval gate and measurement plan.
6. Review progress: update the inventory and roadmap without rewriting forecasts as achieved results.

Energy audits can identify operating and capital opportunities. Measurement and verification then tests whether implemented projects delivered the expected result.

Prioritise with a marginal abatement cost curve

A marginal abatement cost curve ranks opportunities by estimated cost per tonne of emissions reduced. It can reveal measures that save money, measures that require moderate investment, and strategic projects whose value depends on future conditions. The curve is a decision aid, not a promise: capital cost, energy prices, utilisation, certificate value and implementation timing should be shown as assumptions and sensitivity cases.

Use consistent boundaries and avoid adding overlapping savings from measures that affect the same load. Keep forecast, approved, implemented and verified status separate in the opportunity register.

Start with a defined brief

Provide the organisation structure, facilities, existing inventory, energy and production data, current targets, major equipment, capital planning cycle, customer or disclosure deadlines and known projects. If the baseline is incomplete, Northmore Gordon can begin with a carbon health check or inventory-readiness review before developing a full roadmap.

Related guidance includes carbon advisory services, creating a carbon reduction strategy and the DON Smallgoods strategy case study.

Contact Northmore Gordon with the decision your roadmap must support and the date it is needed.