DECA®
Decarbonized Ecosystem Assessment
What Is DECA®?
DECA® is a methodology for modeling energy-mass-economic flows in industrial systems—enabling strategic evaluation of decarbonization pathways that create business value rather than compliance cost.
The Challenge
Most energy transition analysis treats decarbonization as a constraint to be satisfied at minimum cost. DECA® reframes it as an optimization problem: How can we reconfigure energy systems to simultaneously reduce emissions and unlock business value?
Three-Flow Integration
Energy Flows
Grid availability, renewable generation profiles, storage dispatch, backup capacity requirements
Mass Flows
Production volumes, feedstock consumption, emissions accounting, material balances
Economic Flows
Capital investment, operating costs, revenue impacts, carbon pricing exposure, financing structure
Methodology Steps
- Baseline Characterization: Map current energy system (sources, consumption patterns, emissions, costs)
- Constraint Identification: Define hard limits (grid capacity, land availability, regulatory mandates) and soft limits (capital budget, operational risk tolerance)
- Scenario Generation: Explore thousands of energy configurations (grid, solar, wind, storage, backup) across operational scenarios
- Multi-Objective Optimization: Identify pathways that maximize NPV while achieving emissions targets—or minimize emissions within budget constraints
- Risk Quantification: Model sensitivity to grid reliability, renewable intermittency, fuel price volatility, carbon pricing
- Implementation Roadmap: Phase capital deployment, operational transitions, and performance validation milestones
Value Unlocking Mechanisms
DECA® reveals decarbonization opportunities that create, not destroy, value:
Fuel Displacement
Diesel or natural gas saved can be sold at market prices or reallocated to higher-value uses
Operating Cost Reduction
Grid + solar often cheaper than on-site fossil generation, especially in remote locations
Production Capacity
Eliminating energy bottlenecks can unlock constrained production capacity
Carbon Credit Revenue
Verified emission reductions may generate tradable credits or tax benefits
Block 10 OME Case: 3.4M Barrels Unlocked
Block 10 OME in Ecuador historically consumed diesel for power generation. DECA® modeling revealed that shifting to grid + solar + storage would:
- Eliminate 3.4 million barrels of diesel consumption over project lifetime
- Free up equivalent oil production for export at market prices
- Reduce operating costs by 40% (grid + solar cheaper than diesel logistics in Amazon region)
- Cut emissions by 85%
- Achieve 18-month payback period
This was not a compliance project. It was a profit-generating investment that happened to decarbonize operations—because DECA® identified the economic value hidden in the energy transition.