Figure 2 Aerial view of a modular LNG liquefaction facility serving the Caribbean region’s maritime shipping industry in its transition to decarbonisation and IMO 2020 regulations that eliminate or severely reduce the use of heavy fuel oil Photo courtesy of Eagle LNG Partners LLC
and transport sectors are emerging. Otherwise, businesses could do poorly. Transition rate Recent studies demonstrate that a 100% renewable energy system, regardless of the transition rate, will be lower in cost than a continual reliance on fossil fuels. However, transforming the fossil fuel-based energy system to one that is decarbonised calls for the oil and gas industry to play an outsized role. While net-zero emissions may not seem achievable, a large per cent reduction by 2030 is in the works. Other industrial sectors ranging from steel and concrete could remain dependent on oil and gas well into the 21st century. Oil and gas companies can lead the transition to carbon management systems. By example, upstream oil and gas producers are first movers in the application of digital automation to integrate microgrids and distributed energy resources (DERs) towards improving in-the-field energy efficiency (see Figure 1 ). These bespoke strategies can be duplicated by other industries to alleviate dependency on centralised power grids based on coal-fired generation. Comparable in-the-field sustainable energy solutions are taking place in the agricultural and maritime shipping industries, where reliance on diesel and heavy fuel oil can be
that individual and community power generation would contribute to more than 50% of the energy mix in developed countries by 2030, up from less than 5% in 2016. Scale-up Green hydrogen’s ability to plug the intermittency of solar and wind while burning like natural gas and serving as feedstock in industrial chemical processes has captured the interest of businesses, government and investors. Half of Fortune 500 companies, many of which produce significant CO 2 emissions, have now made net-zero or carbon-reduction commitments. These commitments require scale-up of H 2 purification technology, expected to increase ten-fold by 2050 as companies accelerate investments in renewable power and technologies capable of meeting clean fuel standards. Driving development of lower-carbon products include hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) to produce renewable diesel (chemically identical to petroleum-based diesel). Meanwhile, GHG emissions disclosures will be required for many industry sectors, further increasing pressure to align investments along sustainable strategies. With the days of the internal combustion engine in doubt (GM will only sell zero-emission vehicles by 2035), transition scenarios to full sustainability in power, heat
www.decarbonisationtechnology.com
7
Powered by FlippingBook