Companies

London-based think tank Carbon Tracker and San Francisco-based NGO Global Energy Monitor have jointly launched a Global Registry of Fossil Fuels which they say is the first public database to account for fossil fuel production and reserves worldwide.

Despite claims of blue hydrogen as a climate solution, experts warn it has technical and economic problems.

Analysis carried out by independent thinktank InfluenceMap has found that there is a mismatch between major oil companies’ communication strategies to portray themselves as green and the companies’ plans for capital investment, which are still geared towards fossil fuel projects.

Researchers have found that climate scenarios published by oil companies often lack sufficient scope in terms of emissions accounted for, timeframes and data transparency.

BP saw record Q2 earnings on the back of high oil and gas prices but like its peers much of the surplus will go to share buybacks or dividends, with little extra ear-marked for energy transition projects or new oil and gas output.

A UN expert group is working on standards to ensure that the “avalanche” of net-zero commitments from non-state actors is not just a greenwashing exercise.

Gold hydrogen is garnering attention in Australia as a potential competitor to blue and even green hydrogen, but critics say that gold hydrogen comes with considerable methane emissions and may not be volumetrically significant.

Lower valuations for green companies are creating opportunities for oil and gas companies to fulfil transition objectives through acquisition. Purchases are on the rise.

The war in Ukraine seems set to accelerate clean hydrogen development in the EU, in line with the bloc’s increased targets for hydrogen uptake, but the nascent industry still has considerable challenges to overcome.