Our civilization is quite literally built on oil, coal, and gas. Since the Industrial Revolution humans have become entirely dependent on a cheap and plentiful supply of fossil fuels.

They feed us, light our evenings, fuel our movements, keep us warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and provide endless piles of disposable “things” that we use every day. In the past 250 years, we have released over 1.5 trillion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere (and oceans). During 2021, atmospheric CO2 concentrations reached a record-level increase of 50% relative to pre-industrial CO2 levels.

In the next years to come, we certainly are going to have to engineer a future without fossil fuels. That transition is the biggest engineering challenge that we have ever faced and will only be possible through the use of simulation and test.

This special edition of Engineer Innovation is dedicated to Earth Day 2022. In this issue, we explore the role that Simcenter is playing (and will continue to play) in solving the climate emergency by engineering a low-carbon future for our species, helping the pioneers of the green transformation #InvestInOurPlanet.

Jean-Claude Ercolanelli