A 5-minute chat with Marcin Dutka

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Tuesday 13 December 2022 09:55 AM

A 5-minute chat with Marcin Dutka

To connect, power and protect society, and to lead the transition to net zero carbon, we need to build a business that is environmentally, socially and ethically sustainable.

We spoke with Marcin Dutka, Environmental Sustainability Technologist at Rolls-Royce about what sustainability means to him.

Tell us about the work you do at Rolls-Royce.

I work in the Emerging Technologies team, which is a part of Central Technology. My role is to identify, develop and deliver environmental sustainability technologies that have the potential to improve our existing products, or even result in completely new products which Rolls-Royce may be interested in. This also includes engaging with innovative companies to evaluate technologies which they are developing and explore collaboration and partnership opportunities.

What does sustainability mean to you and why do you care about sustainability?

For me, sustainability is a development strategy that ensures societal, economic, and technological development without any adverse impact on human health and wellbeing, and on our planet in general. I'm particularly passionate about technologies which allow us to reduce that impact on human health and climate.

In my view, everyone has the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water and live in a safe environment while also enjoying life. There are still many places in the world where people suffer from air pollution daily and whole ecosystems are irreversibly affected by human activities. We, as engineers, have an instrumental and unique role to play in making the world a better place for everyone.

What excites you about sustainability at Rolls-Royce?

Our ultimate goal as a business is to deliver profit, and I view sustainability as an integral part of long-term business success. Businesses which are not considered sustainable will have it incredibly hard in the future. And it is no secret that there will be challenges associated with it, also for Rolls-Royce. However, it is also a unique opportunity for us to transform and grow our business and I’m really pleased to see that we, as a company, perceive it that way.

I believe that developing some great technologies, whether these are electric or hydrogen-powered engines, small modular reactors or direct air capture technologies, will ultimately strengthen our company’s position on the market and secure its future. This engineering and business development challenge is what excites me the most.

What are some of the biggest challenges we face?

Sustainability is high on the international agenda: we can read articles about sustainability daily, countries and individual businesses commit to more and more ambitious environmental targets. In this environment, it's easy to get into groupthink. I think that it's very important to realise that the energy transition is a very long-term process, and whether we like it or not, conventional technologies will be around for many years to come.

Therefore, we should not forget about improving our existing products while also developing novel power, propulsion, and environmental technologies. I think what’s crucial here is predicting the pace of the transition from a fossil fuel economy to a net zero economy correctly and balancing our investments accordingly, which will be essential for the future of our business.

How do you help to make Rolls-Royce a more sustainable business?

My professional career has always been focused on the development of environmentally friendly technologies. I worked on nitrogen oxides emissions reduction from hydrogen combustion in academia and later smoke emissions reduction from our combustors. Currently, I am involved in the project focusing on direct air capture, which aims to extract CO2 from atmospheric air.

Moreover, in Emerging Technologies we are on the constant lookout for the most promising and potentially disruptive technologies developed around the world. We identify these technologies, reach out to often small and innovative companies, and investigate how we could make use of them in our journey to Net Zero.

What’s the next big step in enabling the energy transition?

That's a very good question. I would like to see the international community come together and agree on common air quality standards, which include CO2 emissions, but also pollutant emissions such as nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and particulate matters. Every country needs to understand that sustainability should be a global effort because it will ultimately benefit everyone, no matter where they live.

It is also important to increase people's awareness of the environmental challenges we are facing, and the enormous benefits of sustainability in all aspects of our lives. In the end, it's customer behaviour which will shape the future economy and technological development.

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