The Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) and carbon capture and storage (CCS) facility, operated by Chevron Corp., on Barrow Island, Australia, on Monday, July 24, 2023.
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The oil and gas industry needs to let go of the “illusion” that carbon capture technology is a solution to climate change and invest more in clean energy, the head of the International Energy Agency said Thursday.
“The industry needs to commit to genuinely helping the world meet its energy needs and climate goals – which means letting go of the illusion that implausibly large amounts of carbon capture are the solution,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a statement ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai next week.
The technology captures carbon dioxide from industrial operations before emissions enter the atmosphere and stores it underground.
Oil and gas companies face a moment of truth over their role in the clean energy transition, Birol wrote in a an IEA report reviewing the industry’s role in transitioning to an economy with net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Just 1% of global investment in clean energy has come from oil and gas companies, according to Birol. The industry needs to face the “uncomfortable truth” that a successful clean energy transition will require scaling back oil and gas operations, not expanding them, the IEA chief wrote.
“So while all oil and gas producers needs to reduce emissions from their own operations, including methane leaks and flaring, our call to action is much wider,” Birol wrote.
The industry would need to invest 50% of capital expenditures in clean energy projects by 2030 to meet the goal of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the IEA report. About 2.5% of the industry’s capital spending went toward clean energy in 2022.
One of the major pitfalls in the energy transition is excessive reliance on carbon capture, according to the report. Carbon capture is essential for achieving net zero emissions in some sectors, but it should not be used as a way to retain the status quo, according to the IEA.
An “inconceivable” 32 billion tons of carbon would need to be captured for utilization or storage by 2050 to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius under current projections for oil and gas consumption, according to the IEA.
The necessary technology would require 26,000 terawatt hours of electricity to operate in 2050, more than total global demand in 2022, according to the IEA.
It would also require $3.5 trillion in annual investment from today through mid-century, which equivalent to the entire oil and gas industry’s annual revenue in recent years, according to the report.
U.S. oil major such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron are investing billions in carbon capture technology and hydrogen, while European majors Shell and BP have focused more on renewables such as solar and wind.
Exxon and Chevron are also doubling down on fossil fuels through mega deals. Exxon is buying Pioneer Resources for nearly $60 billion, while Chevron is purchasing Hess for $53 billion.
A dump truck moves raw ore inside the pit at the Mountain Pass mine, operated by MP Materials, in Mountain Pass, California, U.S., on Friday, June 7, 2019.
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Shares of U.S. rare earth miners surged in early trading Monday, after President Donald Trump threatened China with retaliation over its strict export controls.
Trump on Friday threatened China with a “massive” increase in tariffs in retaliation for Beijing imposing strict export controls on rare earth elements. The president then dialed down his rhetoric on Sunday, saying the situation with China will “be fine.”
The Defense Department, meanwhile, is accelerating its effort to stockpile $1 billion worth of critical minerals, according to The Financial Times.
And JPMorgan Chase said Monday it would invest up to $10 billion in companies that are crucial to U.S. national security.
“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in press release.
Rare earths are a subset of critical minerals that are crucial inputs in U.S. weapons platforms, robotics, electric vehicles and other applications.
Bloom Energy power storage equipment in San Ramon, California.
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Shares of Bloom Energy surged Monday after striking a deal with Brookfield to deploy fuel cells for artificial intelligence data centers.
Brookfield will spend up to $5 billion to deploy Bloom Energy’s technology, the first investment in its strategy to support big AI data centers with power and computing infrastructure.
Shares of Bloom Energy were up more than 30% in early trading. Bloom’s fuel cells provide onsite power that can be deployed quickly because they do not rely on the electric grid.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told CNBC last week that the AI industry will need to build power off the electric to meet demand quickly and protect consumers from rising electricity prices.
“Data center self-generated power could move a lot faster than putting it on the grid and we have to do that,” Huang told CNBC on Oct. 8.
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JPMorgan Chase on Monday said it is launching a decade-long plan to help finance and take direct stakes in companies it considers crucial to U.S. interests.
The bank said in a statement it would invest up to $10 billion into companies in four areas: defense and aerospace, “frontier” technologies including AI and quantum computing, energy technology including batteries, and supply chain and advanced manufacturing.
The money is part of a broader effort, dubbed the Security and Resiliency Initiative, in which JPMorgan said it will finance or facilitate $1.5 trillion in funding for companies it identifies as crucial. It said the total amount is 50% more than a previous plan.
“It has become painfully clear that the United States has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing — all of which are essential for our national security,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said in the release.
As the biggest American bank by assets and a Wall Street juggernaut, JPMorgan was already raising funds and lending money to companies in those industries. But the move helps organize the company’s activities around national interests at a time of heightened tensions between the U.S. and China.
On Friday, markets tumbled as President Donald Trump announced new tariffs on Chinese imports after the major U.S. trading partner tightened export controls on rare earths.
In the release, Dimon said that the U.S. needs to “remove obstacles” including excessive regulations, “bureaucratic delay” and “partisan gridlock.”
JPMorgan said that within the four major areas, there were 27 specific industries it would look to support with advice, financing and investments. That includes areas as diverse as nanomaterials, autonomous robots, spacecraft and space launches, and nuclear and solar power.
“Our security is predicated on the strength and resiliency of America’s economy,” Dimon said. “This new initiative includes efforts like ensuring reliable access to life-saving medicines and critical minerals, defending our nation, building energy systems to meet AI-driven demand and advancing technologies like semiconductors and data centers.”
The bank said it would hire an unspecified numbers of bankers and create an external advisory council to support its initiative.
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