In pictures: how BP is advancing the U.S. energy transition
As the world demands more energy, it also demands that it be produced and delivered, in new ways with fewer emissions
BP in the US is working hard to advance the energy transition across its businesses and operations. Here’s how…
Managing methane
BP’s Lower 48 onshore business is one of America’s largest natural gas producers. Since 2000, the business has slashed its total greenhouse gas emissions by more than 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent, with methane reductions accounting for most of the decline.
Cutting electricity – and emissions
Thanks to a $200-million modernization project completed in 2017, BP’s Cooper River Chemicals plant in South Carolina will be able to reduce the amount of electricity it purchases from the grid by 40 percent and slash CO₂ emissions by up to 110,000 tons per year.
Testing battery storage
In 2018, BP partnered with Tesla to install a high-storage battery at its Titan 1 wind farm in South Dakota. This project is the first of its kind in the U.S.-operated wind business and a potential step forward in the performance and reliability of wind energy.
Designing new ships
BP Shipping - which made about 1,400 voyages to or from U.S. ports in 2017 - has designed and built 26 new product and crude tankers that are over 20 percent more fuel-efficient than its previous generation tankers. It’s also building six new liquefied natural gas tankers that will be roughly 25 percent more fuel-efficient than their predecessors.
Processing biomass
In 2018, the BP Cherry Point refinery in Washington launched a renewable diesel that can produce lower-carbon fuel by co-processing biomass-based feedstock alongside conventional ones.
Pioneering plant properties
BP’s Castrol business offers a growing number of carbon-neutral lubricants and engine oils. In 2017, Castrol launched EDGE Bio-Synthetic, a carbon-neutral motor oil made with 25 percent plant-based oil derived from sustainably produced sugar cane.
Supplying gas from organics
BP is one of the largest suppliers of renewable natural gas (RNG) to the U.S. transportation sector. Produced entirely from organic waste, RNG – or ‘biogas’ – can reduce emissions by around 70 percent compared with gasoline or diesel.
Studying biology
BP’s San Diego Biosciences Center and other U.S.-based researchers support the production of renewable energy, along with the development of innovative and efficient fuels and lubricants. They also advise BP Ventures on low-carbon and other technology investments. The center’s biodiversity archives in California feature some 80,000 tubes, vials and plates.
Recovering exhaust gases
BP’s Whiting refinery in Indiana has launched a waste heat recovery project to generate steam from exhaust gas. This will reduce the amount of steam the site generates from boilers which, in turn, will reduce both the amount of fuel it burns and the associated greenhouse gas emissions.
Fueling jets with household garbage
Among its venturing portfolio in the US, BP has invested $40 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy, a California-based company that produces low-carbon ‘biojet’ fuel from household waste.In 2018, Fulcrum began building a new plant in Nevada that will be America’s first commercial-scale operation diverting household garbage from landfills into a low-carbon, renewable transportation fuel product.