The oil company aspires to be a pioneer in the shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy.
BP’s energy economics team and the International Energy Agency (IEA) envision a bright future for hydrogen fuel as the world moves away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources.
This transformation would contribute significantly to efforts to decarbonize the economy while utilizing current infrastructure.
Dev Sanyal, executive vice president of BP responsible for Gas and Low Carbon Energy, discussed BP’s approach during the Hydrogen Energy Dialogues virtual event, which was co-sponsored by Energy Dialogues LLC and Stanford University’s Natural Gas Initiative. According to IEA predictions, hydrogen fuel consumption might reach over 210 million metric tons per year (mmty) by 2030, up from approximately 90 mmty last year.
“BP’s own analysis shows that hydrogen could have more than a 15% share in total global energy consumption by 2050,” said Sanyal. “So whatever way you look at it, hydrogen has a big role to play.”
“As this takes place, hydrogen can offer a reliable role by providing energy to activities which are difficult or costly to electrify,” explained Sanyal about the versatile role H2 will play in global decarbonization. Heavy-duty fleets and other types of long-haul transportation, as well as industry, find high-temperature processes to be expensive. “Put simply, hydrogen has a key role to play in the decarbonization of hard to abate, energy-intensive heavy industries.”
BP has stated unequivocally that both blue and green hydrogen are appropriate for their plan. Because the electrolyzers are powered by renewable energy, the process is emission-free. On the other side, blue hydrogen utilizes natural gas to power the electrolyzers, which results in carbon emissions that must be regulated, such as using carbon capture equipment.
