Oil and gas companies are facing major technological disruption
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Published 2016-09-20
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Over 80% of the world's energy needs are provided by coal, oil and gas. Although technologies to extract fossil fuels may have changed over the decades, the core products themselves have never been challenged. Until now.
Pressure to reduce carbon emissions is putting the future of fossil fuel giants in jeopardy. Encouraging the growth of alternative methods to generate and distribute power.
In just eight years, the value of the world's biggest power companies has halved. Leaving industry giants scrambling to redefine their role in this new energy world. Across the world, old industries are facing disruption on an unprecedented scale. The pressure to adapt has never been greater.
Known as the Paris Accord, 195 countries agreed to a legally binding climate deal to reduce carbon emissions. This 5 trillion dollar industry may be facing a seismic shift but that doesn't mean it's ready to ditch the dirty fossil fuels that made it rich. Instead, many companies are banking on new methods to clean up an old process. Norwegian oil and gas giant, Statoil, struck it rich in the North Sea in the late 1960s. Over four decades later, at its Sleipner gas rig, the company is attempting to make fossil fuel production cleaner.
Statoil's business still relies on the harmful burning of fossil fuels by its customers but at least the company is trying to reduce its own carbon footprint. It's transformed some of its offshore rigs with technology that enables engineers to separate the carbon dioxide and pump it underground. Statoil's Sleipner gas rig is the world's first offshore carbon capture storage plant.
Each year, Statoil stores 1 million tonnes of CO2 making extraction less carbon intensive. They believe that prioritising gas over more harmful fossil fuels will further reduce global warming and keep them relevant for decades to come.
Wind and solar are cleaner but depend on subsidies. To take on the consistency of fossil fuels they face a huge challenge - The unpredictable weather. In Bavaria, a tiny village has used those subsidies to take up the challenge. This community believes it's found a way to produce a steady energy supply just from renewable sources, raising the real prospect of a future free from fossil fuels. Norbert and Kristina Bechteler's family farm has been providing the local community with dairy products for over 200 years but they now have a new income from solar energy.
Producing your own energy with solar panels isn't revolutionary but in this village, they're combining solar with other renewables in an attempt to achieve the Holy Grail of a steady energy supply. And they're prepared to use anything to do it. The Deputy Mayor has helped drive the village's pioneering efforts to make renewable energy a realistic option.
There's one renewable that never disappears as it can be sourced from the decay of virtually any organic matter and it's called biogas. Of the four biogas plants in the village, Farmer Einsiedler runs the largest. Combining these different sources has been so successful the village now generates five times more energy than it needs. But that is just part of the challenge of turning renewables into a credible energy supply.
The Disrupters is an original series exploring how major industries – from music and cars to hospitality – are currently being disrupted by the latest wave of digital innovation. As well as enjoying privileged access into the world biggest tech start ups we show how industry giants respond when faced with such tech-driven innovation - do they adapt - or die?
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All Comments (21)
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Man its a good thing that after losing 75% of their stock price this company was "brave" enough to embrace renewables. It only took a small village to pave the way
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Correction: the Paris agreement was NOT BINDING.
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After greeting I am an Egyptian engineer I see many solar lighting poles that are not working or are now replaced with LEDs Replacement of solar energy to return to electricity This is due to the maintenance of glass panels for special purposes I decided to modify these panels so that they are automatically cleaned every day by a large percentage and do not need monthly maintenance work at all However, after modification, maintenance will be performed once every 8 months This project does not cost much but saves a lot of money and ensures the longevity of the battery Thanks for your attention Hassan Shaker Mohamed
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Did I just watch a commercial for StatOil?
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"gas and oil are flexible but wind and solar need subsidies" woooopsie, forgot to mention the billions and billions dollars we pay in subsidies for oil and gas corporations... gee-willikers!
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We store it "forever and ever" ... Are people stupid?
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There is no such thing as clean fossil fuel.
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"deliver oil and gas to the world....in a sustainable manner" spewed my coffee at the atrocious impossibility.
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"A dinosaur of an oil company" I see what you did there :)
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It amazes me that some people are more keen on preserving man-made industries than the planet that sustains our very lives. You know, the giant sphere necessary to our survival? That one.
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Shouldn't have called it Uniper, should've called it E.Off
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"sustainable fossil fuels" LOL
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“I think everyone in the oil and gas industry agrees that it’s going to be a different future...” “When I started my career, we were a monopoly!”
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These guys are not the first home to offer storage systems in the world. In India, every middle class home has a battery backup to deal with unpredictable supply from the grid
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Here now in Early 2019 solar and wind has in 3 years now become about the cheapest power for the grid. Interesting how short a time its taken.
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The more I learn about energy the more I dislike big Oil and the coperate multinationals and all the corrupt entities behind it. I'm so glad to see so much technological progress toward energy independence. Thanks.
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This is amazing. First time to see the windmills standing on the ocean. Cheaper and greener electricity is all we need for a greener earth. Wind, water, solar energies are so natural and green.
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4:45 >"Wind & solar... depend on subsidies" Coal & Gas also depend on subsidies. You honestly forgot this? WTF Economist
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The fossil companies should direct their efforts in investing in renewable energies, instead of wasting their time trying to make the process cleaner, just because it's cleaner, it doesn't mean the cars will stop polluting.
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Fifty Things Made From Oil Several things we use today are made from oil including household products and fuel for various forms of transportation. Many of the cheap flights and car trips people take every year depend on oil for fuel to get them to their destination. Oil also plays a big role in the mechanics of cars during travel and planes during flights, keeping engines and parts running smoothly and helping extend their lifetime and usability. While new ways to produce energy are being researched and discovered, oil is still the biggest resource for making fuels for automobiles and planes serving different airlines.
