“In the old paradigm before AI was being used in climate-tech, we saw a lot of paper and pen work, a lot of Excel spreadsheets, a lot of PDFs. And while that work was certainly rigorous and well done, it was too slow, and it was too expensive for most organizations to be able to do full-scale carbon modelling across their entire organization,” Planet FWD CEO Julia Collins told FoodNavigator-USA.
To lower the cost of carbon modelling and speed decarbonization, Planet FWD is embracing AI, Collins added.
“We leverage [AI] to be able to deliver our solution at a cost that makes sense to our customers, at a speed that allows them to move forward and accelerate to net zero, and in a way that is consistently and constantly growing and improving over time,” she explained.
Without compromising the integrity of the data and the rigor of the climate science, the cost of doing a carbon assessment is often 82% or more lower and the speed of the assessment is often 95% or more faster when working with Planet FWD than using other methods, she added.
Tackling Scope 3 emissions by increasing transparency
By creating a platform designed for the consumer goods sector but with a special focus on food, beverage and agriculture, Collins said Planet FWD is targeting 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions that come from household use – 90% of which come from hard-to-measure and reduce Scope 3 emissions.
“What is hard about Scope 3 is often the size and complexity of it. The second thing that is challenging is how can you make change for elements of your supply chain that are not within your direct control? And the answer is that you can, but it is hard,” Collins acknowledged, adding a lack of transparency into the supply chain further complicates Scope 3 emission reduction efforts.
She explained Planet FWD’s “massive [life cycle analysis] engine, as well as our intelligent approach to carbon modelling, leveraging AI,” allows the company to quickly assess the data customers have about their supply chain and fill in the gaps for the information to which they inevitably do not have access.
Planet FWD CTO Dean Malmgren added machine learning makes it easy for customers to match and add to their assessments ingredients from Planet FWD’s LCA database of thousands of ingredients and materials and then toggle back to the lifecycle assessment flow view to see how each ingredient impacts the overall emissions of a product.
In addition to the LCA tool, Planet FWD’s platform has an inventory experience tab that allows organizations to better understand their overall corporate inventory, where emissions are coming from and how to potentially intervene to meet targets, such as a 40% reduction by 2030 through scenario planning, he added.
Powerful partnerships
Planet FWD works with companies across the supply chain, large and small, as illustrated by its roster of partners, including Patagonia Provisions, Rodelle – a division of ADM, Compass Group and better-for-you CPG brands, including Purely Elizabeth.
Looking forward, Collins predicts pressure to reduce emissions will increase with local legislators pushing bills that would require reduction and she says Planet FWD is eager to be a partner to help businesses reach those goals.
