By Safiriyu Babatunde
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) have both advocated the adoption of technology in the world’s energy transition from oil and other fossil fuels to renewables.
While OPEC defended a future role for fossil fuels, arguing the world can slash greenhouse gas emissions without swearing off oil and gas at the United Nations (U.N) climate conference, the GECF made its submission at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) UNFCCC COP26.
The Secretary General of the GECF, HE YurySentyurin, who led the Forum’s delegation, posited; “Given technology’s pivotal role in transforming the energy industry, we recommend that the COP26 negotiations are underpinned by technology transfer to decarbonise the energy sector, including the decarbonisation technologies of the gas industry.”
“Ensuring access to competitive and reliable energy sources is of paramount importance for a sustained economic recovery,” he added.
For OPEC, as put in a statement presented to the UN climate change conference, “the oil and gas industry can foster its resources and expertise to help unlock a low-emissions future, through its role as a powerful innovator in developing more efficient technological solutions”.
Similarly, Saudi Arabian Energy Minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, in his speech, told delegates that negotiators should be “conscious of the special circumstances of the less developed countries”, some of which have been resisting calls for aggressive moves away from fossil fuels because of the economic costs.
“It is imperative that we recognize the diversity of climate solutions, and the importance of emissions without any bias towards or against any particular source of energy,” he noted.
Stressing this position, OPEC’s scribe, General Mohammed Barkindo of Nigeria, told Reuters that he believed a rapid transition away from oil and gas was impractical and potentially damaging to poor countries and the global economy.
“To date, I have not heard from any rational source whether we have plans, concrete plans, and a roadmap, to replace two sources of energy, oil and gas, in the global energy mix,” he said, pointing out that oil and gas account for more than half of the world’ energy consumption.
He thus advocated that technology could help the world continue to use oil and gas by tackling the emissions from combusting it.
“We keep forgetting that the challenge before us is how to address greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions can be addressed by a variety of means, not only policy decisions, but also by technology,” he said.
Asked what technology he was referring to, he replied: “Many, many technologies in the incubator, some of them are being tested.”
Advocates of oil, gas and coal have long argued that technologies like carbon capture and sequestration – in which emissions are captured and stored underground – can allow economies to keep burning fossils.
HE Sentyurinequally enumerated the steps being taken by the GECF Member Countries, from technology and innovation to research and development, in order to cement the role of natural gas as a solution for a balanced energy transition.
“Our Environmental Knowledge and Solutions framework has been initiated as a collaborative platform with designed measures to build capabilities and exchange expertise, specifically regarding greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation practices.”
“The GECF Member Countries have placed climate action at the forefront of their priorities,” he added.
In a related development, President Muhammadu Buharihad on Thursday in Paris, France, assured investors that investment in gas remains a top priority for the country, considering the huge benefits in terms of returns and utility.
Receiving the Chief Executive Officer of Total Energies, Patrick Pouyanne, he noted that Nigeria had made huge investments in gas and will continue to create enabling opportunities for expansion while looking at improving alternatives for renewable energy.
The President reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to the target of zero-emission by 2060, explainingthat the country had begun putting in place necessary natural structures that will ensure balance and safety for citizens and the global community.
