The global oil gas industry is actively responding to the new dual carbon policy

Low-carbon development of the oil  gas industry is of great practical significance to international climate governance  the realization of the global goal of 2 ° C temperature rise. In the context of the global carbon peak  the sudden rise of carbon neutrality, international oil  gas companies are accelerating the pace of low-carbon development transformation,  have made commitments to carbon neutrality goals,  given timetables  paths to achieve them.

New pattern of global carbon peak

Carbon reach peak (using the world resources institute (WRI) of carbon emissions to peak decision criteria: meet a larger carbon value after the number of greater than  equal to 5 years showed a trend of a significant reduction in the country,  the carbon as carbon peak) of countries most of the developed economies,  European countries completely dominant. Based on the analysis of world energy statistics  the economic data of countries around the world, by 2019, a total of 31 countries have achieved the peak of carbon dioxide emissions  energy activities, accounting for about 30% of the total global carbon emissions. Reach peak national contains 25 in developed countries, six developing countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Brazil, Ecuador, Trinidad  Tobago, venezuela), Europe such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Britain  Belgium 24, America has five, namely America, Trinidad  Tobago, Ecuador, venezuela, Brazil; There are only two countries in Asia, Japan  Israel.

the perspective of peak period, there are 18 countries in 1992 after signing by the United Nations framework convention on climate change (unfccc) implementation of carbon emissions to peak,  reached peak in these countries is largely affected by the oil crisis, the political crisis, "black swan" events, such as the financial crisis, energy system to accelerate low carbon transformation, the way such as social  economic structure is changing radically.

In 1973, the Middle East war triggered the first oil crisis, oil prices rising  less than $3 a barrel in 1973 to more than $13, western European countries such as Britain, France, Germany  Belgium imports more than 80% of the oil, hit is bigger, objectively promoted this several western European countries become the world's first carbon up to peak in the world. In 1979, the second oil crisis broke out. In order to reduce the dependence on oil  the Middle East  increase the exploitation  utilization of natural gas, western developed countries, such as Sweden  Hungary, reached their carbon peak around 1980. The dramatic changes in eastern Europe in the mid-to-late 1980s were the main drivers of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Bulgaria  Romania achieving carbon peaks. The global financial crisis of 2008 helped the world's two largest economies, the United States  Japan, reach the carbon peak. Brazil, on the other hand, achieved the peak target under the comprehensive action of multiple factors such as the 2014 ~ 2015 commodity crisis  the rapid depreciation of the real. What needs to be added is that in the context of economic globalization, developing countries have also played an important role in promoting developed economies to achieve carbon peak through the international division of labor by accepting low-end manufacturing transfer.

Carbon peaked carbon neutrality  the world was suddenly heating up

Since General Secretary Xi Jinping made a solemn commitment to China's "3060" double carbon target at the general debate of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly in September 2020, reaching carbon neutrality has suddenly become a hot topic in the world. By December 31, 2020, 126 countries had committed to being carbon neutral by the mid-21st century, through policy announcements, legal mandates  submissions to the United Nations. These include explicit carbon neutrality targets for 12 countries in their Long-term Low Emission Development Strategy (LTS) documents submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat; South Korea has even named its long-term low-emission strategy "Carbon Neutral", which means "Korea's Carbon Neutral Strategy -- Towards a Sustainable  Green Society". Six countries, including the UK, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary  New Zealand, have written carbon-neutral targets into law.

The vast majority of European countries have reached their carbon peak,  their low-carbon development practices  carbon-neutral path provide a typical example of low-carbon transition development for other countries around the world. The low carbon transformation practice mainly presents the following characteristics:

First, we need to consolidate the green foundation for the political ecology. The Green Party emerged in the post-industrial era in Western Europe. In recent years, its influence on the EU  its member states has been rising rapidly. In the 2019 European Parliament election, the Green Party won a total of 55 seats, reaching a historical high. At the same time, green parties have entered the political center one after another in the EU member states. For example, the Green Alliance Party in Finland has become the coalition party in the new government in 2019,  the EcoGreen-Europe Party in France has become a big winner in the municipal elections in 2020.

Second, we will actively promote climate-related legislation. The UK passed the Climate Change Act in 2008, becoming the first country in the world to set greenhouse gas emission reduction targets. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, Spain  Hungary have adopted legislation to set carbon-neutral development targets around 2050. In April 2021, the European Parliament  representatives of the 27 member states of the EU reached an interim agreement on the European Climate Law. According to the interim agreement, the medium  long term emission reduction target of the EU was set as follows: by 2030, greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced by at least 55% on the basis of 1990 emissions; To be carbon neutral by 2050 means to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions to "zero".

Third, anchor key areas to accelerate low-carbon transformation. The power sector will substantially increase the share of non-fossil energy in the energy supply; the transportation sector will accelerate low-carbon development through the development of alternative biofuels  pure electric vehicles; the energy efficiency of the building sector will be enhanced;  the industrial sector will accelerate the transformation to a clean  circular economy.

International oil  gas companies have stepped up their low-carbon transition

Low-carbon development of the oil  gas sector has important practical implications for international climate governance  the achievement of the global 2C temperature rise target, especially in developed economies, which have a high proportion of oil  gas in their carbon dioxide emission structure. According to the IEA's more recent emissions data, oil  gas accounted for 70.9% of OECD countries' carbon dioxide emissions in 2018, while coal accounted for 80.2%  oil  gas accounted for 19.8% in China. According to the study, between 1965  2017, 20 oil  gas giants contributed 480 GtCO2-equivalent (GtCO2-equivalent) emissions, accounting for about 41 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

In the context of carbon neutrality, international oil  gas companies have been accelerating the pace of low-carbon development transformation,  have made commitments to carbon neutral targets,  given timetables  paths to achieve them. In February 2020, BP proposed to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. The main action plan includes: First, increase investment in renewable energy to ensure that its installed capacity of new energy such as wind power  photovoltaic will surge  2.5GW in 2019 to 50GW in 2030. Second, adjust the traditional petrochemical business. In June 2020, BP announced plans to sell its global petrochemicals business for $5 billion, emphasizing that "the future of our chemical industry is  oil  gas, but renewable materials". Third, we will expand the share of bioenergy. BP's ambitions for bioenergy are to more than double its current production of about 22,000 b/d to 50,000 b/d by 2025  double again to 100,000 b/d by 2030. Fourth, we will develop hydrogen energy. BP has made hydrogen fuel part of its transformational development strategy. It plans to expand hydrogen power generation  gas stations, with the goal of increasing its hydrogen production to 10% of the market by 2030. Fifth, actively participate in the transportation electrification revolution. BP plans to stay ahead of the pack in electric transportation  wants to expand the network quickly, with plans to provide 70,000 charging points worldwide by 2030. Sixth, we will promote the construction of CCUS demonstration projects. BP has joined forces with Eni, Shell  Total to form the Northern Endurance Partnership (NEP), which aims to build offshore infrastructure to ensure the safe transport  storage of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide in the UK North Sea, with BP as operator. The infrastructure will service the proposed Net Zero Teesside (NZT)  Zero Carbon Humberside (ZCH) projects to create decarbonised industrial clusters on both Teesside  Humberside. Net Zero Teesside is a CCUS integrated project that will store CO2 emissions  carbon-intensive industries in the Teesside industrial cluster. It is estimated that the project could store up to 6 million tonnes of CO2 -- equivalent to the energy consumption of more than 2 million UK homes each year. In addition, BP is expanding its digital energy portfolio by investing in an energy management company called Grid Edge. Grid Edge's main business is to use artificial intelligence technology to help businesses  other organizations use energy more efficiently by predicting, controlling  optimizing buildings' energy conditions. Grid Edge's technology enables customers to effectively leverage the flexibility of their buildings in terms of energy requirements  generation to reduce energy costs  carbon emissions. Its technology has been used in buildings such as the Bullring Shopping Centre in the UK  Birmingham Airport,  it has helped customers achieve energy cost savings  carbon reduction.

In May 2020, French oil giant Total also put forward the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Its specific actions include: First, the development of landscape renewable energy. Total currently has 7 gigawatts of solar  wind power installed,  plans to increase that to 35 gigawatts by 2025, including 15 gigawatts in Europe, 6 gigawatts in India, 1 gigawatt in Africa  3 gigawatts in the United States, China  South America. The second is to expand the development of biofuels, which are expected to account for 10 to 15 percent of its fuel sales by 2030. Third, we will actively participate in the low-carbon revolution in transportation. Increasing investment in battery technology  charging stations for electric vehicles, with Total operating more than 12,000 B2G (battery-to-grid) charging points in Europe  planning to increase that number to 50,000 by 2025; Lithium-ion battery joint ventures in China, as well as plans to build two battery "gigafactories" with carmakers in France  Germany for pure electric vehicles, are expected to cost 5 billion euros over 10 years, power 48 GWh for 1 million electric vehicles  account for about 10 percent of the European market by 2030. Fourth, carry out CCUS demonstration projects. It has been involved in CCUS technology since 1996 as a partner of the Sleipner project, a Norwegian carbon capture platform,  in 2010 developed a CO2 capture  storage pilot project in the Lac region of France, the first time a full CCUS project has been tested at a single site in Europe. Fifth, a fund will be set up to invest in forest carbon sinks, with the aim of generating sustainable carbon storage capacity of 5 million tons per year by 2030.

Chinese oil  gas companies should follow the trend

Under the dual constraints of the "3060" dual-carbon target, China's oil  gas industry should learn  relevant international experience  take positive actions. Specifically, it can start  the following aspects: First, we should have a correct understanding of the grim situation facing international climate governance  domestic climate compliance, objectively understand the practical challenges of accelerating the transformation of the energy system, the early peak of oil  gas consumption,  the accelerated development of new energy vehicles. Second, seize the opportunity of energy system transformation, timely expand business scope, develop renewable energy, natural gas, hydrogen fuel, etc.,  contribute to the construction of the national "scenic water  fire storage" demonstration base; Third, actively participate in the transportation low-carbon revolution, increase investment in battery technology  electric vehicle charging stations; Fourth, armed with information  intelligence, explore the cross-border integration of digital energy development,  actively promote building energy conservation  carbon reduction; Fifth, carry out CCUS demonstration projects to help key industries reach carbon neutrality. Sixth, carry out full-chain CCUS demonstration tests in combination with optimization  upgrading of energy-intensive industrial clusters, supporting the construction of pipe networks  other technical facilities. Sixth, we will invest in forest  Marine carbon sinks to accelerate the formation of sustainable carbon storage capacity.

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Source: International Gas Network