What comes next: responding to recommendations from the task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD)

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiva Tyagi

The task force on climate-related financial disclosures (TCFD) published its recommendations for disclosing climate-related risks in June 2017. The TCFD report represents a framework for companies to disclose climate-related information consistently in their mainstream financial filings. Reporting financial activity using the lens of climate-related risk would, according to the TCFD, help more appropriately price risks and allocate capital in the context of climate change. The initiative, while voluntary, would help speed the transition to a low-carbon economy, and help shift the corporate perspective beyond immediate concerns. The oil and gas industry can play a leading role in the transition to a low carbon economy through: carbon capture and storage, use of natural gas as a transition fuel and the implementation of large-scale renewable energy projects. Given the oil and gas industry’s global leadership in petroleum geology, resource extraction and pipeline transmission, the industry has a vital role in testing the feasibility of large-scale carbon capture and storage. Fossil fuels and renewable energy technologies have obvious complementary synergies and fossil fuels like natural gas are necessary for the reliable, affordable and low-cost transition to a low carbon transition pathway. The oil and gas industry may be the only sector with the requisite expertise and global scale of operations to test and implement large-scale renewable technology initiatives within a public-private partnership framework. Moreover, oil and gas companies are well positioned to be leaders in the effort to adapt and strengthen resilience to the effects and risks of climate change and reduce impacts.

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 369-374
Author(s):  
O. I. Kalinskiy ◽  
M. A. Afonasiev

The authors study oil and gas industry, its condition and perspective trends of industrial development. One of them involves applying low carbon and low cost technologies. The authors introduce new strategic imperatives in oil and gas sector to perform energy transition. They study the types of categories of perspective trends of the industry’s development: scaling up the development and implementation of a carbon capture and storage system, using low carbon raw materials, making it possible to take granular measurements. The article deals with perspectives of the oil and gas industry for the current year. The perspectives are built with the consideration of the previous year’s indicators and include all the past disasters and the dynamics of their solution and the results for the society. The authors show wider implementation of drones used for abnormal emissions of hydrogen sulfide to carry out distant monitoring, observations, inspections and preventive maintenance, change tracking, methane management, emergency response and material processing. The article describes precision drilling which reduces the risk of accidents, oil spills, fires and increases rate of penetration. The authors present microwave hydraulic fracturing which can become the next significant achievement in the perspective development of the industry.


2017 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 413
Author(s):  
Christopher Consoli ◽  
Alex Zapantis ◽  
Peter Grubnic ◽  
Lawrence Irlam

In 1972, carbon dioxide (CO2) began to be captured from natural gas processing plants in West Texas and transported via pipeline for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to oil fields also in Texas. This marked the beginning of carbon capture and storage (CCS) using anthropogenic CO2. Today, there are 22 such large-scale CCS facilities in operation or under construction around the world. These 22 facilities span a wide range of capture technologies and source feedstock as well as a variety of geologic formations and terrains. Seventeen of the facilities capture CO2 primarily for EOR. However, there are also several significant-scale CCS projects using dedicated geological storage options. This paper presents a collation and summary of these projects. Moving forward, if international climate targets and aspirations are to be achieved, CCS will increasingly need to be applied to all high emission industries. In addition to climate change objectives, the fundamentals of energy demand and fossil fuel supply strongly suggests that CCS deployment will need to be rapid and global. The oil and gas sector would be expected to be part of this deployment. Indeed, the oil and gas industry has led the deployment of CCS and this paper explores the future of CCS in this industry.


2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-42
Author(s):  
P. N. Mikheev

The article discusses issues related to the transition of the oil and gas industry to a low-carbon economy. Within the framework of the scenario approach the key risks of the transition period are considered. The importance of managing climate risks for organizations in the oil and gas industry is emphasized. The prospect of including climatic risks in the general risk management system of the organization is shown. Examples of the implementation of new approaches to climate risk management and adaptation to climate change in Russia and abroad are given.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 402
Author(s):  
Nick Harley

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is essential for meeting the Paris agreement global emissions targets – all identified pathways to net zero 2050 emissions require large scale deployment of CCS. The Moomba CCS project is an example of the type of projects that the oil and gas industry can undertake in Australia and globally to reduce emissions and create new business opportunities. The project is a CO2 capture, transport and storage project in the Cooper Basin with the aim of delivering material emissions reduction of 1.7 mtpa CO2-e. The project utilises existing and new infrastructure as well as depleted hydrocarbon fields to capture, compress, dehydrate and store CO2 that is currently vented. This study will provide an overview of this project including the technical challenges that were overcome to enable project success.


2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110614
Author(s):  
Holly Jean Buck

Can fossil-based fuels become carbon neutral or carbon negative? The oil and gas industry is facing pressure to decarbonize, and new technologies are allowing companies and experts to imagine lower-carbon fossil fuels as part of a circular carbon economy. This paper draws on interviews with experts, ethnographic observations at carbontech and carbon management events, and interviews with members of the public along a suggested CO2 pipeline route from Iowa to Texas, to explore: What is driving the sociotechnical imaginary of circular fossil carbon among experts, and what are its prospects? How do people living in the landscapes that are expected to provide carbon utilization and removal services understand their desirability and workability? First, the paper examines a contradiction in views of carbon professionals: while experts understand the scale of infrastructure, energy, and capital required to build a circular carbon economy, they face constraints in advocating for policies commensurate with this scale, though they have developed strategies for managing this disconnect. Second, the paper describes views from the land in the central US, surfacing questions about the sustainability of new technologies, the prospect of carbon dioxide pipelines, and the way circular carbon industries could intersect trends of decline in small rural towns. Experts often fail to consider local priorities and expertise, and people in working landscapes may not see the priorities and plans of experts, constituting a “double unseeing.” Robust energy democracy involves not just resistance to dominant imaginaries of circular carbon, but articulation of alternatives. New forms of expert and community collaboration will be key to transcending this double unseeing and furthering energy democracy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nouf AlJabri ◽  
Nan Shi

Abstract Nanoemulsions (NEs) are kinetically stable emulsions with droplet size on the order of 100 nm. Many unique properties of NEs, such as stability and rheology, have attracted considerable attention in the oil industry. Here, we review applications and studies of NEs for major upstream operations, highlighting useful properties of NEs, synthesis to render these properties, and techniques to characterize them. We identify specific challenges associated with large-scale applications of NEs and directions for future studies. We first summarize useful and unique properties of NEs, mostly arising from the small droplet size. Then, we compare different methods to prepare NEs based on the magnitude of input energy, i.e., low-energy and high-energy methods. In addition, we review techniques to characterize properties of NEs, such as droplet size, volume fraction of the dispersed phase, and viscosity. Furthermore, we discuss specific applications of NEs in four areas of upstream operations, i.e., enhanced oil recovery, drilling/completion, flow assurance, and stimulation. Finally, we identify challenges to economically tailor NEs with desired properties for large-scale upstream applications and propose possible solutions to some of these challenges. NEs are kinetically stable due to their small droplet size (submicron to 100 nm). Within this size range, the rate of major destabilizing mechanisms, such as coalescence, flocculation, and Ostwald ripening, is considerably slowed down. In addition, small droplet size yields large surface-to-volume ratio, optical transparency, high diffusivity, and controllable rheology. Similar to applications in other fields (food industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, etc.), the oil and gas industry can also benefit from these useful properties of NEs. Proposed functions of NEs include delivering chemicals, conditioning wellbore/reservoir conditions, and improve chemical compatibility. Therefore, we envision NEs as a versatile technology that can be applied in a variety of upstream operations. Upstream operations often target a wide range of physical and chemical conditions and are operated at different time scales. More importantly, these operations typically consume a large amount of materials. These facts not only suggest efforts to rationally engineer properties of NEs in upstream applications, but also manifest the importance to economically optimize such efforts for large-scale operations. We summarize studies and applications of NEs in upstream operations in the oil and gas industry. We review useful properties of NEs that benefit upstream applications as well as techniques to synthesize and characterize NEs. More importantly, we identify challenges and opportunities in engineering NEs for large-scale operations in different upstream applications. This work not only focuses on scientific aspects of synthesizing NEs with desired properties but also emphasizes engineering and economic consideration that is important in the oil industry.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Terlouw ◽  
Karin Treyer ◽  
christian bauer ◽  
Marco Mazzotti

Prospective energy scenarios usually rely on Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technologies to achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. CDR technologies aim at removing CO2 from the atmosphere in a permanent way. However, the implementation of CDR technologies typically comes along with unintended environmental side-effects such as land transformation or water consumption. These need to be quantified before large-scale implementation of any CDR option by means of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). Direct Air Carbon Capture and Storage (DACCS) is considered to be among the CDR technologies closest to large-scale implementation, since first pilot and demonstration units have been installed and interactions with the environment are less complex than for biomass related CDR options. However, only very few LCA studies - with limited scope - have been conducted so far to determine the overall life-cycle environmental performance of DACCS. We provide a comprehensive LCA of different low temperature DACCS configurations - pertaining to solid sorbent-based technology - including a global and prospective analysis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 466
Author(s):  
Prakash Sharma ◽  
Benjamin Gallagher ◽  
Jonathan Sultoon

Australia is in a bind. It is at the heart of the pivot to clean energy: it contains some of the world’s best solar irradiance and vast potential for large-scale carbon capture and storage; it showed the world the path forward with its stationary storage flexibility at the much vaunted Hornsdale power reserve facility; and it moved quickly to capitalise on low-carbon hydrogen production. Yet it remains one of the largest sources for carbon-intensive energy exports in the world. The extractive industries are still delivering thermal coal for power generation and metallurgical coal for carbon-intensive steel making in Asian markets. Even liquefied natural gas’s green credentials are being questioned. Are these two pathways compatible? The treasury and economy certainly benefit. But there is a huge opportunity to redress the source of those funds and jobs, while fulfilling the aspirations to reach net zero emissions by 2050. In our estimates, the low-carbon hydrogen economy could grow to become so substantial that 15% of all energy may be ultimately ‘carried’ by hydrogen by 2050. It is certainly needed to keep the world from breaching 2°C. Can Australia master the hydrogen trade? It is believed that it has a very good chance. Blessed with first-mover investment advantage, and tremendous solar and wind resourcing, Australia is already on a pathway to become a producer of green hydrogen below US$2/kg by 2030. How might it then construct a supply chain to compete in the international market with established trading partners and end users ready to renew old acquaintances? Its route is assessed to mastery of the hydrogen trade, analyse critical competitors for end use and compare costs with other exporters of hydrogen.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hon Chung Lau

Abstract The world of energy is transitioning from one based on fossil-fuels to one based on renewable energies and hydrogen as an energy carrier. At present, only 11% of the world's final energy consumption and less than 1% of industrial hydrogen come from renewable energies. Our analysis shows that this energy transition will take several decades because of two factors. First, renewable energies give more CO2 savings in replacing fossil fuels in the power sector than producing hydrogen for heat generation in the industry sector. Therefore, significant quantities of green hydrogen will not be available until renewable energies have replaced fossil fuels in power generation. This will take at least two decades for advanced economies and twice as long for developing economies. Second, even if blue hydrogen produced by fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage (CCS) is available in large quantities, it is still more expensive than blue fossil fuels which is also decarbonized by CCS. Consequently, fossil fuels and CCS will continue to play a key role in this energy transition. To accelerate this energy transition, governments should introduce a significant carbon tax or carbon credit to incentivize companies to implement large-scale CCS projects. Nations whose governments adopt such policies will go through this energy transition faster and benefit from the associated job creation and economic opportunities.


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