The IEA summarises its 33-page report “Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitions”. The IEA says the oil and gas sector needs ÂŁ600bn up front to meet its 2030 target of a 60% reduction in emissions. That’s only 15% of the sector’s record 2022 energy-crisis windfall income. A small price increase and savings should recoup that money “quickly”, says the IEA. The IEA not only maps a way to limit the global average temperature rise … [Read more...]
The U.S. is moving faster than the EU on Methane regulations. Why?
Ben Cahill at the Center for Strategic and International Studies takes a deep dive into U.S. and EU progress on regulating methane emissions. It’s vitally important because methane has more than 80 times the warming potential of CO2 in its first 20 years in the atmosphere. In his assessment, Cahill explains why the U.S. is likely to move much faster than the EU. Unlike the U.S., the EU is a big importer of gas so needs its rules complied with by … [Read more...]
Five practical steps Oil & Gas can take to accelerate their energy transition
The Oil & Gas sector has a role to play in the energy transition, and not just by winding down operations. That’s because they will, by most projections, continue to be a major part of the energy mix through to 2050. But their activities must transition too, explain Bart Valkhof, Pedro Gabriel Gomez Pensado and Wan Sayuti at the World Economic Forum. The sector must therefore work out which strategies and investments can produce the lowest … [Read more...]
Five key metrics investors need to steer Oil and Gas firms into decarbonisation
If the oil and gas industry won’t commit to meaningful strategies and milestones to decarbonise, investors must make them, say Ben Ratner at the Environmental Defense Fund and Erin Blanton at Columbia University. Already, Covid has shown how vulnerable the sector is to unexpected change. If the sector refuses to factor in rising decarbonisation ambitions and policies across the globe that vulnerability will continue for decades. At the same time, … [Read more...]
New gas-to-methanol technology OxE could end oil well “flaring”
Oil wells also release natural gas. But it’s burnt off on site whenever the economics of collecting and piping it don’t add up (gas can’t use the existing petroleum infrastructure). What if it could be converted into methanol, says Nichole Liebov at the University of Virginia. She describes a new process called oxyesterification (OxE) that converts methane (the main constituent of natural gas) into methanol cost effectively at low temperatures … [Read more...]
IEA clean energy progress report: Only 7 technologies/sectors on track, 38 not
Of the 45 energy technologies and sectors assessed in the IEA’s latest Tracking Clean Energy Progress (TCEP) report, only 7 are on track with the IEA’s Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS). It’s their latest and most comprehensive assessment of clean energy transitions. “On track” includes energy storage, EVs and solar PV. But buildings, car, flaring and methane emissions are still rising. This year’s TCEP puts much greater emphasis on … [Read more...]
