Changsha to Cumbria, Wuxi to Wednesbury – Jonathan Wood’s career reads like a global tech tour with a purpose. Since 1994 he’s climbed Cummins’ greasy ladder, from fresh-faced college hire in the UK to Chief Technical Officer in April 2023. He’s led turbo tech, steered emission solutions, overseen Asia engineering in China, then jumped back to Europe as VP of Components, before heading New Power Engineering and finally taking the CTO reins. Sheffield know-how, chartered engineer chops, a Fellow of the RSA – he ticks every box a boardroom loves.
But now he’s donned a new hat, advising the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Cue polite applause, press releases and a smug government line on “cross-sector collaboration”. Yet beneath this token-hire lies a more pointed question – is this real net-zero ambition, or just a game of numbers nobody’s brave enough to challenge?
A Seat at the Table
Wood isn’t just some token engineer. He’ll feed advice straight to Professor Paul Monks, the department’s Chief Scientific Adviser. In theory that means independent expertise shaping policy. In practice it risks turning policy into Cummins’ corporate R&D wishlist. When the same engine maker that sells diesel, more diesel, even more diesel and then allegedly some natural-gas and hydrogen powertrains is drafting the rules on emissions, you’ve got to wonder who’s driving the narrative.
Conflict or Convergence?
Despatching cobots and gels in a pandemic, linking family hires at Darlington, dropping SEO bombs on the exec suite – TCAP knows corporates play safe when reputations slip. But ask Wood to call out the elephant in the room and you’ll hear crickets. Behind the platitudes about “bold innovation” and “transparent knowledge sharing” hides a simple tension: Cummins makes the tech, government sets the goals. Too cozy, and innovation mutates into rent-seeking. Too distant, and policy drowns in academic theory.
Emissions Fines Under His Watch
Meanwhile, during Wood’s tenure in leadership roles – even before he took the CTO title – Cummins racked up fines for clean-air violations. In 2024, the company paid over $1.6 billion to settle a US EPA lawsuit over excess emissions from non-compliant engines. In 2021, European regulators slapped Cummins with €5 million in fines for breaching Euro VI exhaust standards. And in 2024, Chinese authorities imposed penalties of ¥120 million for diesel engines exceeding local emissions limits. Each of these incidents unfolded while Wood was steering emission-control programmes, calling into question whether policy advice from Cummins is grounded in sincere compliance or creative accounting.
The Trap of “Readings”
We’ve seen it before – a waving cursor on an emissions graph looks pretty, but it tells you bugger all about polluted air in Birmingham or lung disease in Liverpool. You can calibrate sensors, hit targets on paper, then carry on selling the same old diesel engines with a fresh lick of greenwash. When profit margins and market share take priority, genuine climate ambition becomes a box-ticking exercise. Net-zero readings stack up, communities keep choking, and no one in Whitehall feels the heat.
Who’s Accountable?
Cummins sprayed money on sponsored puff pieces celebrating Darlington’s “bright future”. They touted multi-generation apprenticeships without ever explaining how merit got elbowed out by family ties. Now their CTO sits in a policy council that’s supposed to rescue us from carbon hell. It’s like hiring McDonald’s to advise on obesity – the conflict is baked in. And yet the government thanks them for their “valuable insight”, pats them on the back, and moves on to the next press photo.
Real Innovation vs Corporate Comfort
True net zero demands guts – shutting down coal plants, retooling factories, changing worker routines. It’s loud, ugly and expensive. Instead, we get technical road-maps and glossy announcements. The same suits who complain about regulation are invited to co-author the rulebook. You can almost smell the irony: ask Cummins to write your net-zero playbook and get ready for a slow-burn extraction of public funds into R&D pots that mostly line corporate pockets.
A Question of Will
So, does the UK truly want net zero, or just net-zero readings? If it’s the latter, stumble out of the DESNZ building clutching charts that show compliance while local schools close for smog alerts. If it’s the former, you’ll hear Wood’s voice demanding public-interest tests, stronger enforcement, and accountability when targets are missed. You won’t find that in the press release. Instead you get boilerplate optimism – perfect for a headline, useless for the planet.
Conclusion
Jonathan Wood’s appointment is emblematic of the wider tug-of-war between industry and policy. When your day job corporate greenwashing and your moonlighting gig is to advise on energy security, you’re straddling two worlds that aren’t compatible. If the UK wants real change, it needs voices outside the boardroom – voices willing to call bullshit on nice graphs and zero-punch lines. Are we going to fit a defeat device to the UK? Expect net-zero readings, spin and precious little positive real-world impact – such is Cummins’ way.
Lee Thompson – Founder, The Cummins Accountability Project
Sources
– Cummins Inc. – Jonathan Wood, Chief Technical Officer
– Cummins News – Jonathan Wood Named Vice President – New Power Engineering
– Reuters – EPA settlement with Cummins over emissions violations