Ships entering the port of Rotterdam in February 2022.
Federico Gambarini | Image Alliance | Getty Images
Concerns related to both the energy transition and energy security have been sharply alleviated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is a major supplier of oil and gas, and in recent weeks a number of major economies have drawn up plans to reduce their dependence on its hydrocarbons.
On Friday, the US and the European Commission issued a statement on energy security announcing the establishment of a joint task force on the subject.
The parties said the US would “strive” this year to secure at least 15 billion cubic meters of additional liquefied natural gas volume for the EU. They added that this is expected to increase in the future.
Commenting on the agreement, President Joe Biden said the US and the EU will also “work together to take concrete measures to reduce dependence on natural gas – period – and to maximize the availability and use of renewable energy”.
All of the above aligns with the huge task facing governments around the world who say they want to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels, avoid the worst effects of climate change, while ensuring energy security.
The challenges and opportunities facing the energy sector were addressed Monday during a panel discussion at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
During the panel, moderated by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble, the CEO of Italian oil and gas company Eni sought to highlight the current tensions in his industry.
Claudio Descalzi said a wide variety of resources had been deployed historically. “We know very well that over the past 200 years all the different energy vectors [have] … added,” he said. “So coal, plus oil, plus gas, and plus renewables.”
“We’ve never found a resource or source of energy that replaces everything. It’s crazy to think that there is something that can replace everything.”
Others speaking Monday were Anna Shpitsberg, deputy assistant secretary for energy transformation at the United States Department of State.
Shpitsberg said that while the US-EU task force would focus on areas such as securing LNG supplies, it would also seek to “provide some assurance to US producers that will supply Europe in the long term and up to 2030.” increase and increase.” Permit and infrastructure would also be areas of focus, she explained.
It was also important not to jeopardize the energy transition, she acknowledged, before moving on to Eni’s Descalzi’s argument.
“The comments that were made that we can’t rely on one technology, just like we can’t rely too heavily on one supply route, that’s why we’re putting so much money into hydrogen.”
Shpitsberg called hydrogen “a breakthrough technology that speaks to a variety of other resources…because it can support nuclear power, it can support gas, it can support renewables, it can clean much of it and CCUS can do that too.” [carbon capture utilization and storage]†
“So for us it makes sure the market has enough signals, it knows the regulation will support the signals for current energy security,” she said.
“But we’re also directing all the resources we can towards the transition. That’s why we’re investing billions of dollars in R&D for hydrogen.”
‘Versatile energy carrier’
Described by the International Energy Agency as a “versatile energy carrier”, hydrogen has a wide range of applications and can be deployed in sectors such as industry and transport.
It can be produced in different ways. One method involves the use of electrolysis, in which an electric current splits water into oxygen and hydrogen.
If the electricity used in this process comes from a renewable source such as wind or solar, some call it green or renewable hydrogen.
While there is excitement in some quarters about hydrogen’s potential, the vast majority of its production is currently based on fossil fuels.
Others speaking on Monday included Majid Jafar, CEO of Crescent Petroleum.
Again, Jafar argued for the importance of gas in the coming years, calling it “a fundamental factor for renewables” as it supported their intermittent supply. It was also, he claimed, “the path to future technologies like hydrogen.”
Monday’s panel marks a month in which the International Energy Agency reported that by 2021, energy-related carbon dioxide emissions have risen to their highest levels in recorded history. The IEA found that energy-related global CO2 emissions rose by 6% in 2021 to a record high of 36.3 billion tons.
In its analysis, the world’s largest energy authority identified the use of coal as the main driver of growth. It said coal was responsible for more than 40% of the total growth in global CO2 emissions last year, with a record 15.3 billion tons.
“Natural gas CO2 emissions recovered well above 2019 levels to 7.5 billion tons,” the IEA said, adding that oil’s CO2 emissions were 10.7 billion tons.