Thrust Carbon has unveiled NetZero Forecaster, a powerful new tool designed to help organisations plan their path to net zero.

Using live emissions data, it generates forward-looking carbon and cost models to help travel managers build and compare different strategies to find their optimal pathway to more sustainable business travel.

Editor Bev Fearis chatted with Thrust Carbon co-founder and CEO Kit Aspen to find out more…

In a nutshell, what is this new feature and how can companies access it?

Our new NetZero Forecaster is a game-changer because it allows organisations to use a simple dashboard to experiment with different carbon reduction levers – such as cabin class policy, modal shift, air route optimisation, travel volume reduction, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) or carbon removals – to determine how to find the most effective way to meet their net zero goals. It’s already live and available in early access via the Thrust Calculator. In the coming months we will add new features based on user feedback and insights.

How is it a step forward for the business travel industry?

It’s a significant step forward. The tool is directly integrated with an organisation’s live emissions data and existing net zero goals, so it eliminates the need to pay external consultants to do scenario planning and annual reviews to manually rebuild forecast models. It’s all done automatically. Travel managers don’t need to be ESG experts to use it. They can simply flick the levers up and down and visualise the impact of each change. Crucially, they can also clearly show stakeholders the ‘why’ behind every change in the policy, demonstrating the cost and environmental impacts of changes to policy and travel behaviours before changes are implemented.

What are the other features and benefits of the NetZero Forecaster?

There are so many ways this new tool will help organisations on their sustainability journey. We have integrated industry trends, based on research by our in-house team of climate policy experts. So, for example, the forecasts will take into account future airline fleet renewals and developments in sustainable aviation, or the price reduction in SAF as production scales, or the transition to electric vehicles. Travel managers can even base their forecasts on optimistic, medium or pessimistic future scenarios, to see how this will impact their sustainability pathway.

Organisations can establish different timeframes, so perhaps to 2030 or to 2050, to visualise how quickly they will be able to meet their net zero targets. They can set forecasts by mode of travel or can apply them across the entire programme. Importantly, forecasts are linked directly to an organisation’s current goals and trajectories from the Thrust Calculator to view forecasts versus target in one place. 

You’ve described the business travel industry’s approach to emissions management as ‘coming of age’. What do you mean by that?

Since the end of the Covid pandemic, the focus on net zero targets has been gradually intensifying but now it has now gone from ‘how do we measure it?’ and ‘how do we get started?’ to ‘how do we make our goals become a reality?’. This is where organisations can really start to take action to reach net zero and this technology means travel managers no longer have to be an ESG expert, or rely on outside consultants. It’s now in their hands. They can now measure their emissions, manage compliance, find reduction opportunities and model future decarbonisation scenarios in a single, easy-to-use platform that uses their own data – from their booking tool and TMC – and based on their own targets.

What does the rest of the year hold for the NetZero forecaster?

We will be continually updating the tool and adding new levers and features each month, such as the transition to electric vehicle use, more on modal shift, carbon pricing and modelling and price forecasting. We will also be making it possible for organisations to split forecasts down by department or division.

By the end of this year organisations will be able to base their forecasts on actions taken at a certain point in time, for example, changing their air/rail policy in 2028 and then increasing their SAF investment in 2030. All of this will be based on feedback from our customers.

Of course, the roll-out will also be supported by Thrust Carbon’s Advisory team who can work with clients to develop bespoke versions of the NetZero Forecaster and to help them benchmark against the wider industry to find the least painful route to reach their net zero goals. 

How do organisations find out more?

Simply click here for lots more information and sign up for a webinar. We’ll also be on hand at the Business Travel Show on June 25-26 so look forward to showing you our exciting new NetZero Forecaster in action.

thrustcarbon.com