More oil companies ‘should go green like BP’

Oil companies should follow the example of BP which has announced plans to invest billions of pounds into developing green energy.

That’s the view of Midland expert Ron Fox who said he was very encouraged that the oil giant would now be building wind and solar farms and installing thousands of electric vehicle charging points to help bring its carbon footprint down to “net zero” by 2050.

BP is accelerating its plans after the Covid-19 pandemic caused a crash in oil prices sending the company to a record quarterly loss of $17.7 billion, compared with a profit of $1.8 billion for the same three months last year.

“It is good to see the chairman admit the world was on an ‘unsustainable path’ and a long-term decline in fossil fuels would lead to an increased demand for renewable energy,” said Ron, of Noreus Ltd on the University of Keele Science and Innovation Park.

The company is facing a double attack from shareholders, whose dividend was halved. They fear the present business model could become obsolete and environmentalists blame it for adding to the global warming problem.

The business, which produces the equivalent of more than 2.5 billion barrels of oil and gas per day, is now trying to become a broader energy company. It is expecting its oil and gas output to decline by more than one million barrels a day by 2030 and admits that some of its oilfields it has spent money on discovering may never be developed.

BP is planning to:

• Install as much renewable energy capacity globally in the coming decade as has been installed in the UK to date.
• Build offshore wind and floating offshore wind farms for the first time as well as increasing significantly its investment in onshore wind and solar farms.
• Invest in the use of hydrogen gas, which is low carbon to burn.
• Increase its spending on all types of green energy to $5 billion dollars by 2030, up from $500 million, or three per cent of its investment last year.
• Provide 70,000 electric vehicle charging points globally, up from 7,500 at present.
• Develop carbon capture and storage technologies that trap emissions from fossil fuel power stations.
• Work in partnership with cities and industries so as to co-ordinate their energy needs by offering renewable power from its new projects and from its back-up gas power.

“The world faces a critical decade coming up in the fight against climate change,” said Ron, “and changes away from fossil fuels to renewables needs action from everyone.

“It is good that BP has woken up to the need to cut carbon emissions urgently. The rest of the industry needs to follow their example as these oil giants are the ones that can lead from the front in this battle.”

For more information about green energy call Ron on 01782 756995.