Investor and philanthropist Bill Gates said at a virtual conference on March 1 that cheap green hydrogen would be a “huge deal” in helping the energy transition but added that its so-called green premium will factor into its use.
The green premium is the extra cost a consumer pays to buy a fuel or technology that emits fewer greenhouse gases. It is especially significant in sectors such as sustainable aviation fuel and cement, Gates said.
“The green premium is the metric that says are you on your way to success in 2050,” Gates said at IHS Markit’s CERAWeek.
This year’s CERAWeek oil and gas conference is increasingly focused on how to target cutting emissions to reach net-zero carbon by 2050. Gates spot as the first major keynote in the program highlighted the conference’s dominant theme of carbon reduction technologies.
RELATED:
From US Domination to Energy Transition: Two Years That Changed Oil
Gates said that while he was the biggest customer of aviation biofuels in the U.S., the lower-carbon fuels to power aircrafts costs three times as much than traditional petroleum-based jet fuel.
“It’ll be interesting to see how we can scale that up and can you get that green premium down from 300%, which for the aviation industry, their ticket prices would have to be a little higher,” Gates said.
In the energy transition, oil and gas companies can play a role and bring a particular skillset to help reduce carbon emissions, such as sequestering carbon and burying nuclear waste, Gates said.
Gates has spoken about tackling climate change before and has touched on the difficulties of lowering emissions from the manufacturing sector. The software-developer-turned-philanthropist has invested some $2 billion toward the development of clean technologies.
Recommended Reading
Sinopec Brings West Sichuan Gas Field Onstream
2024-03-14 - The 100 Bcm sour gas onshore field, West Sichuan Gas Field, is expected to produce 2 Bcm per year.
Deepwater Roundup 2024: Americas
2024-04-23 - The final part of Hart Energy E&P’s Deepwater Roundup focuses on projects coming online in the Americas from 2023 until the end of the decade.
CNOOC Makes 100 MMton Oilfield Discovery in Bohai Sea
2024-03-18 - CNOOC said the Qinhuangdao 27-3 oilfield has been tested to produce approximately 742 bbl/d of oil from a single well.
CNOOC Finds Light Crude at Kaiping South Field
2024-03-07 - The deepwater Kaiping South Field in the South China Sea holds at least 100 MMtons of oil equivalent.
Orange Basin Serves Up More Light Oil
2024-03-15 - Galp’s Mopane-2X exploration well offshore Namibia found a significant column of hydrocarbons, and the operator is assessing commerciality of the discovery.