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Collaborating Authors
Petroleum engineers have important roles to play in the future energy for the world. Among these are using our traditional concept of producing oil and natural gas as we are doing now and will need to continue to do for decades to come; using our competencies to address the challenges of climate change; and helping to develop additional forms of energy that do not add GHGs to the atmosphere.
- Europe (0.30)
- Africa (0.30)
- North America > United States (0.15)
Petroleum engineers have important roles to play in the future energy for the world. Among these are using our traditional concept of producing oil and natural gas as we are doing now and will need to continue to do for decades to come; using our competencies to address the challenges of climate change; and helping to develop additional forms of energy that do not add GHGs to the atmosphere.
- Europe (0.30)
- Africa (0.30)
- North America > United States (0.15)
Abstract There is considerable discussion of a coming energy transition and, as Petroleum Engineering faculty, we see many students (and parents) asking about the future of the profession. Whereas petroleum production must decline someday, we cannot know when that decline will come, nor how long the decline will be before petroleum slips into a minor role in the economy. There are, however, a few things that we can know or speculate with some confidence. The following analysis shows that the transition away from oil and natural gas will be neither quick nor easy. Even as the transition gets underway and non-combustion energy sources gain significant market share, there will be need for the energy-dense, versatile, and dispatchable energy provided by fossil fuels.
- Energy > Oil & Gas > Upstream (1.00)
- Government > Regional Government > North America Government > United States Government (0.70)
- Reservoir Description and Dynamics > Storage Reservoir Engineering > CO2 capture and sequestration (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Sustainability/Social Responsibility > Sustainable development (1.00)
- Health, Safety, Environment & Sustainability > Environment > Climate change (1.00)
John Browne is the former CEO of BP. He recently sat down for an interview to discuss his new book Make, Think, Imagine: Engineering the Future of Civilization. The book discusses how progress is made possible in the world--and the driving factors behind it. As an engineer, Browne is uniquely positioned to pinpoint the channels through which engineering has driven the development of civilization. His work creates links between the engineering principles that brought society where it is today with the principles needed to solve society's most pressing problems--from climate change to privacy and data security. As a former chief executive of BP, Browne's thoughts on engineering a better future are particularly relevant to the oil and gas industry.
Special Section: The Value and Future of Petroleum Engineering Global climate concerns, amplified in the public consciousness by a steady stream of violent weather events such as hurricanes and California wildfires, are generating a new set of realities for the energy industry. The oil and gas upstream sector, accounting for approximately 60% of current world energy needs, faces existential threats to its market share—where inaction and/or insistence on marginal improvisations on past practices do not offer constructive and, ultimately, impactful solutions that the industry is most capable of delivering. Central to the issues at hand are questions that demand unambiguous answers: What should be ambitious yet achievable goals for the upstream industry over the short and long term (e.g., by the year 2050) and what specific programs in the spirit of an Apollo project for oil and gas should be envisioned? The often-cited argument that upstream companies are “extractors and not emitters,” and thus its responsibility in climate matters confined only to the extraction process, is shortsighted and dilutes steps that could be taken to maintain the industry’s leading role and capacity in providing the world’s energy supplies. Net GHG Emissions As a basic premise, it is the net emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHG), not just CO2, that drive climate change. Hence, the upstream industry’s overriding goal should be reduction and eventual elimination of net GHG emissions. Here the key operative words are “net GHG emissions,” a distinction worth highlighting. This opens up numerous GHG management options, including CO2 capture and storage (CCS), utilization, and removal (CDR) pathways such as afforestation, reforestation, and bio-energy with CCS. This diverse portfolio enhances the ability of both market forces and new technologies to produce evergreen solutions for reducing net GHG emissions. Equally flawed as the “upstream are only extractors” notion is the idea that the oil and gas industry should be accepting a carbon-free world energy model fueled 100% by renewable energy sources. While renewables are an important part of the solution in addressing climate change, they are nowhere nearly capable of replacing what oil and gas offers in support of the modern lifestyle. Substantive life-style sacrifices, however, are unlikely at a global scale and so should not constitute the underlying assumption for an ecofriendly energy future. As a further tenet for clean energy, electric vehicles, power grids (currently 85% fueled by fossil and nuclear), and battery manufacturing plants should also be judged on net emission standards. There are no silver bullets in the fight against climate change. We need every bullet in our arsenal. Eliminating certain solution pathways, such as nuclear or fossil fuels, just makes a difficult task much more difficult and expensive. By the same token, the prospect of oil and gas playing an active role will only enhance the odds of achieving the ultimate goal—to have a positive, substantive impact on climate change.
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yeso Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Yates Formation (0.99)
- North America > United States > Texas > Permian Basin > Wolfcamp Formation (0.99)
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