U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm showcased American dominance in both clean energy and fossil fuel development to about 8,000 global industry experts, primarily oil industry executives and gas, at S&P Global’s CERAWeek mega conference, which began on March 18 in Houston.
“The world will need secure supplies of traditional and renewable energy for the immediate future,” he told attendees. “These truths are not in conflict.” Even as the world’s top producer of oil and gas and largest exporter of LNG, the expansion of America’s dominance in clean energy “is astounding,” Granholm said.
According to the head of the Department of Energy, investment in clean energy is now 65% higher globally than for fossil fuels, and has tripled in the US since 2016. Companies that now allocate billions of dollars in renewable energy investments “are not making those decisions.” for charity or because it’s nice to have them,” he said. “They do it because their bottom line demands it.”
But Granholm also recognized that the current realities of the global energy transition and current geopolitical events they have again put “energy security… on the table”, adding that “national security and energy security are inextricably linked”.
Several CEOs of oil and gas companies spoke of more investment in renewable energy, hydrogen and other low- to zero-emissions technologies, but emphasized continued oil and gas development.
Arshad Mansoor, director general of the Electric Power Research Institute, noted the need for a broad approach power generation, citing growing demand for data centers, cryptocurrency and electric vehicles. “You have to be realistic about this ambitious goal for a net zero future, and realism is keeping the lights on,” he said. S&P Global in a conference interview.
Executives also predicted that the growth of artificial intelligence could be a singular propellant that needed energy fueled by oil and gas, a Bloomberg conference report said.
Despite the International Energy Agency’s forecast that demand for oil and gas will peak in 2030, Amin Nasser, CEO of giant oil producer Saudi Aramco, told attendees it was a “fantasy” to consider the phasing out of fossil fuel development, claiming that the oil needs of developing countries will. delay peak demand until 2045, citing OPEC statistics.
He called for stepped-up efforts to reduce carbon emissions and solutions to reduce carbon emissions, but also to maintain investment in oil and gas, “reflecting realistic demand assumptions.”
Geothermal energy heats up
Granholm also announced a new federal push for geothermal energy development, “harnessing the … heat beneath our feet and cracking the code to deploy it. [it] to scale”.
Stressing the “huge potential” of geothermal energy, he said “all federal oil and gas leases can be converted to it without new permits” and characterized the market as “at least a $250 billion investment opportunity of dollars, to reach the goal of 90 gigawatts of power capacity by 2050,” about 20 times more than exists now.
His comments follow DOE’s recent announcement of $74 million from the 2021 Infrastructure Act to fund up to seven pilot projects to demonstrate the scalability of enhanced geothermal systems in areas where power, hearing and cooling development “it was thought to be impossible,” Granholm said.
The DOE announced in February up to $40 million to support two enhanced geothermal system projects, one led by Chevron New Energies in California and the other by Fervo Energy in Texas.
Chevron CEO Michael Wirth told CERAWeek attendees that the company and others are experimenting with fracking and horizontal drilling to tap geologies less favorable for geothermal. He said his pilot project in the United States, and one in Japan, could help determine whether geothermal is technically and economically viable and whether it could have unintended consequences.
DOE will host a webinar on April 12 to provide more information on its geothermal energy commercialization strategy, with first-round applications for pilot funding due June 16.
Legislation was also introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 14 that its bipartisan sponsors say would streamline the environmental review process for geothermal projects and advance development on federal lands.
Large arrays of geothermal energy have been installed at major residential projects in New York City and recently at tech giant Microsoft’s new 72-acre corporate campus in Washington state to include more than 900 connected geowells drilled in a depth of 550 feet.
End date of LNG export pause
The issues surrounding the DOE’s decision in January to stop approving permits for LNG export projects in the US was a hot topic at the conference. While studying the effects of the LNG export boom is “understandable, there’s likely a better way to navigate the problem,” Chevron’s Wirth said. He said the ban indicates the unreliability of the United States as a global gas supplier.
In a letter of March 18 a agency leaders and John Podesta, Biden’s top adviser on global climate policy, a coalition of Senate Republicans and oil and gas trade groups refuted White House claims that LNG harms the environment, raises the price of domestic natural gas and could leaving America’s allies without needed gas supplies.
“Stopping US LNG export approvals gives Russia the upper hand,” the letter said.
Granholm said the pause “does not touch” current US exports of 14 billion cubic feet (bcf) per day, 12 bcf now under construction and another 22 bcf that are authorized but awaiting a final decision by investment
He also said the DOE would end the pause in March 2025, the most specific public reference yet to an end date, according to media reports.
Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, expressed concern about allowing delays that hamper projects needed to strengthen energy security. Without sharing details, he said he hopes to finalize new permit reform legislation before the congressional recess in August.
“There is work that is underway,” said Manchin, who is not seeking re-election and ends his current term in January. “I don’t want to get anyone’s anticipation or hopes up, but we’re very close.”
In his appearance at CERAWeek, Podesta said the administration has done “everything we could do” to speed up the authorization, including using $1 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding to strengthen federal review staff and $300 million to improve processes in states.
Granholm noted that a DOE pilot program is underway to use AI to speed up permit times.
Despite criticism of the U.S. Treasury’s proposed rules for accessing the law’s green hydrogen incentives, the tax credits “are being eaten voraciously like a big carrot,” he said, and have spurred the reorientation of manufacturing north american
Granholm also told attendees of a new DOE initiative to add federal benefits to communities that have been affected by emissions from traditional energy facilities, including millions in funding for energy and carbon reduction projects net, especially in Texas and Louisiana.
He cited research that lack of community involvement “is a major contributor to project failure, a factor in nearly 30 percent of failed projects.”
Granholm said, “We have the power in this room to bring opportunities to communities and investors.”
