PGC, L3C has created a graphic depicting the current disconnect between academia, the financial sector, and industry. Specifically, the graphic shows the traditional, siloed method for each representative to accomplish its needs in terms of research and funding related to climate change solutions.
On the academic side, representatives include professors, researchers, and graduate students. They have research in the form of journals, papers, articles, and abstracts and may need funding to further develop or commercialize their research. However, through traditional prospecting methods, they spend valuable time that could be dedicated to their research trying to identify applicable funding. They may experience difficulty determining what funding their research/technology may apply for due to their research being in a niche area as well.
On the industrial stakeholder side, representatives include manufacturers and ESG (environment, social, governance) advocates. They have specific greenhouse gas emission problems they need to address in the cement/concrete supply chain, which can be done by using technology such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and by adjusting cement mixes to reduce the clinker percentage. To find the technology and research necessary to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, they may have to parse through individual university websites to locate relevant projects or faculty that may be working on something of interest. Additionally, they may search on websites that have university research, such as websites that individual universities have developed, but most of which may not be relevant to the cement/concrete supply chain or the specific need they want to address. Because of the time and difficulty associated with exploring research outside of their own company, they may focus on utilizing their own R&D departments or stick to previously made connections with universities, rather than exploring new connections.
On the financial community side, representatives include venture capitalists, private foundations, and asset managers. They want to fund climate change research, technology, and innovation but may not know where to focus their attention. Similarly to industry stakeholders, they may parse through individual university websites to locate relevant projects or faculty of interest. However, they may only invest in institutions with research programs they are familiar with, are easy to find, or that are widely publicized due to the lengthy process of going through university websites. These representatives may also want to direct their funds to a certain facet of climate change research but lack a platform that is focused on that area of research. A central platform is needed to break these barriers between academia, industry, and the financial community. PGC, L3C is taking on this role, with a specific focus on climate change mitigation research relevant to the cement/concrete supply chain.