疫情促使能源企業(yè)轉向可再生能源和氫能

據(jù)ICIS-MRC網站9月18日莫斯科MRC報道，據(jù)路透社援引行業(yè)高管的話報道稱，新冠疫情造成的經濟創(chuàng)傷促使能源公司加大了對可再生能源、氫和其他低碳替代品的投資，但化石燃料將在可預見的未來成為其主導業(yè)務。

從疫情開始，全球石油消費在第二季度下降了20%以上，價格達到了幾十年來的最低水平，這使得公司重新思考他們應該以多快的速度擺脫對石油和天然氣的依賴。

馬國油(Petronas)執(zhí)行副總裁兼下游首席執(zhí)行官Arif Mahmood總結道，能源轉型將更快地推進。

這家馬來西亞國有能源公司公布今年4月-6月虧損50億美元，并成立了一個團隊來重塑其業(yè)務組合，并擴大太陽能和風能用于發(fā)電。

馬來西亞是世界第四大液化天然氣出口國，馬國油將維持其“天然氣議程”，Arif表示，該公司即將在馬來西亞的第二家浮動液化天然氣工廠開始運營，并正在加拿大建立液化天然氣合資企業(yè)。

英國石油(BP)等石油巨頭制定了雄心勃勃的目標，而中國國家能源公司則開發(fā)可再生能源，因為其繼續(xù)將碳氫化合物作為中國能源安全需求的優(yōu)先事項。

除了擴展到用于發(fā)電的太陽能和風能之外，更多的能源公司也在研究天然氣產生的藍色氫并使用碳捕集與封存（CCS）來減少過程中的排放。 氫氣可用于發(fā)電廠和燃料電池車輛。

荷蘭皇家殼牌原油貿易和供應副總裁馬克?夸特曼在會議上表示，該公司參與了生物甲烷、生物燃料和氫的生產，并在CCS方面做了“重要的工作”，因為該能源巨頭在能源轉型和核心碳氫化合物業(yè)務之間取得了平衡。

Quartmain表示，我們必須確保我們不會忽視石油和天然氣仍將是必不可少的化石燃料這一事實，然后補充道，未來的發(fā)展將更加關注氣候變化和能源過渡。

Quartermain稱，就能源轉型而言，我們需要進入這些市場。

大宗商品貿易商維多（Vitol）和花旗集團（Citigroup）的研究主管預計CCS將成為下一個關鍵的發(fā)展領域。

維多全球研究主管Giovanni Serio表示，短期內氫和碳捕集更有可能促進脫碳。他呼吁業(yè)界在CCS上進行更多投資。

花旗集團董事總經理兼大宗商品研究全球主管埃德·莫爾斯表示，一些國家正在尋找通過信用體系和其他機制為碳定價的方法……這是碳捕集真正需要的東西。

不過，莫爾斯稱，氫能的成本結構還不夠具有競爭力……它存在，但可能會在十年后終結。

行業(yè)高管在APPEC表示，在煉油和石化行業(yè)，企業(yè)正在探索生物燃料，為在新冠疫情中更廣泛使用的產品生產化學品，如手套和可回收材料。

正如MRC之前所告知，殼牌最近宣布將替換其位于荷蘭Moerdijk石化廠的乙烯蒸汽裂解爐，以減少溫室氣體排放。

郝芬 譯自 ICIS-MRC

原文如下:

Pandemic reset pushes energy firms toward renewables, hydrogen

The economic trauma caused by the coronavirus pandemic has pushed energy companies to step-up investment in renewables, hydrogen and other low carbon alternatives, but fossil fuels will be their dominant business for the foreseeable future, reported Reuters with reference to industry executives' statement.

Reeling from the onset of the pandemic, global oil consumption shrank by more than 20% in the second quarter and prices hit their lowest in decades, making companies rethink how fast they should make the transition away from reliance on oil and gas.

"Everyone's talking about this great reset ... What do we need to do to survive this?" Arif Mahmood, Petronas' executive vice president and CEO of downstream, "Energy transition will be pushed forward much faster," he concluded.

The Malaysian state energy company posted a USD5 billion loss in April-June and has set up a team to reshape its portfolio and expand in solar and wind for power generation.

Malaysia is the world's fourth largest exporter of LNG, and Petronas would maintain its "gas agenda", Arif said, noting that the company was about to begin operations at a second floating LNG plant in Malaysia, and it was also working on an LNG joint venture in Canada.

Oil majors such as BP have set ambitious targets while Chinese state energy companies tiptoed into renewables as they continue to prioritize hydrocarbons for China's energy security needs.

Besides expanding into solar and wind for power generation, more energy companies are researching blue hydrogen produced from natural gas and using carbon capture and storage (CCS) to reduce emissions in the process. The hydrogen could be used in power plants and fuel cell vehicles.

Royal Dutch Shell is involved in biomethane, biofuels and hydrogen and has done "significant work" on CCS as the energy major strikes a balance between energy transition and its core hydrocarbons business, Mark Quartermain, Shell's vice president of crude trading & supply, told the conference.

"We've got to make sure we don't ignore the fact that oil and gas are going to remain essential fossil fuels," Quartmain said, before adding that going forward there will greater focus on climate change and energy transition.

"When it comes to energy transition we need to be in these markets," Quartermain said.

Heads of research at commodity trader Vitol and Citigroup expect CCS to be the next key area of development.

"Hydrogen and carbon capture are more likely in short term to be contributing to decarbonization," Giovanni Serio, Vitol's global head of research, said, calling on the industry to invest more in CCS.

"Some countries are finding ways through credit systems and other mechanisms to price carbons...It's what's really needed for carbon capture to take off," Ed Morse, managing director and global head of commodities research at Citigroup said.

However, "the cost structure of hydrogen is just not competitive enough...it's there but it could be end of the decade phenomenon," Morse said.

In the refining and petrochemical sectors, companies are exploring biofuels, producing chemicals for products that are more widely used in the pandemic such as gloves and for recyclable materials, industry executives said at APPEC.

As MRC informed before, Shell has recently announced that it will replace the ethylene steam cracker furnaces at its Moerdijk petrochemicals complex, The Netherlands, in a move that will reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.