
FutureScaleX designs a low-CO2 footprint pathway for a French utility's natural gas value chain.

Situation: A French multinational launched a ‘low-emission gas’ program to reduce the CO2 footprint of its gas portfolio in Europe. The program focused on three key areas: liquefied natural gas (LNG), renewable natural gas (RNG), and upstream natural gas treatment.
Challenge: Each sector presented unique challenges and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission drivers, requiring tailored decarbonization solutions. Additionally, the competitive landscape varied significantly, with distinct dynamics between sectors like RNG and LNG.
Solution: FutureScaleX (FSX) developed a sector-specific CO2 reduction roadmap. FSX conducted an emissions assessment for each sector, identifying high-impact CO2 nodes and performing technology scouting and competitive analysis to recommend technologies best suited for in-house R&D.
- Pinpointed high CO2 intensity nodes in each methane value chain.
- Recommended targeted technologies and strategic partners to engage for lowering emissions.
- Delivered a peer analysis of competing energy companies, highlighting best practices, blind spots, and effective partnership models.
Business Context: Our client, a French integrated energy and utility company, has positioned natural gas as a critical pillar of the energy transition, increasing investments in LNG, biogas, and e-methane in recent years. However, despite promoting LNG as a cleaner alternative to coal-fired power, the client faces concerns over CO2 emissions across the broader natural gas value chain, which could jeopardize its Scope 1 and Scope 2 decarbonization targets.
To support the sustainable and cost-effective growth of its gas business, the client partnered with FSX to develop a technical pathway for reducing the CO2 footprint of natural gas operations.
Business Requirement: To provide tailored insights for its diverse business units, the client tasked FSX with a detailed investigation into the value chains of LNG, upstream natural gas, and renewable natural gas (biomethane and e-methane). Key requirements included:
- Map CO2 emissions across the value chain to identify high-intensity nodes.
- Assess technical solutions to decarbonize these nodes and identify relevant OEMs for engagement.
- Analyze the competitive landscape among energy peers and recommend areas for R&D and corporate venture capital (CVC) investment.
- Delivered a detailed CO2 reduction roadmap for each natural gas pathway: upstream gas treatment, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and renewable natural gas (RNG).
- Conducted an in-depth analysis of emerging trends and competitor priorities across the natural gas value chain, highlighting R&D spending, startup partnerships, and project pipelines.
- Identified hypercompetitive technology segments, underexplored white spaces, and opportunities for targeted R&D investment.
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Evaluated collaborations among energy players and key stakeholders, providing best practices for establishing ecosystems to support innovations such as e-methane.
Emission Landscaping and Peer Identification
- Natural gas CO2 emissions: Foundational study of emissions in LNG, RNG, and e-methane.
- Value chain nodes mapping: Identified nodes in the value chains of different natural gas routes as primary root causes for CO2 emissions.
- Competitor universe setup: Screened energy and industry peers who are direct competitors to the client and are active in natural gas.
Technology Scouting and Benchmarking
- Tech universe: Developed solution universe for high CO2 intensity value chain nodes for different natural gas routes.
- Tech Screening: Identified promising solutions by assessing startup and R&D investments, academic research, and patent literature.
- Benchmark: Compared positioning of client against competing peers; identified areas of agreement, areas of disconnect.
Model of engagement
Viability of GTM strategy
Entry barriers & success factors
Credibility of market claims
Startup & Collaboration Analysis
- Assessed various joint ventures, technology partnerships, led by utilities in natural gas.
- Identified collaborations of energy companies in LNG, gas treatment, e-methane startups.
- Analyzed research collaborations with universities and grants provided to academic institutions.
FSX sample output
The FSX methodology
Sustainable-growth-as-a-service: A systems-level approach that connects the dots, identifying critical tipping points and solutions that matter.

Policy & Regulation
Carrots vs. Sticks

Innovation & Technology
Potential vs. Scale

Techno-economics
Tipping points vs. ROI

Supply Chain
Technical vs. Capital Readiness

Digitalization
Time-to-market vs. Payback Period

Partnership & Ecosystem
Risk vs. Reward

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech

Hitesh Shah
Chief Executive Officer
Hitesh is the founder and CEO of FutureScaleX.
He is an entrepreneur, passionate about technology and innovation. In 2000, he co-founded FutureBridge a global research and advisory company focused in advising on technology commercialisation and future of things.... driven by rapidly progressing underlying tech