Oil giant BP is killing 18 hydrogen projects, chilling the nascent industry

Date:

Share post:


Tucked inside a 32-page earnings report, oil and gas giant BP revealed it was killing 18 early-stage hydrogen projects, a move that could have a chilling effect on the nascent hydrogen industry.

The decision, along with the sale of the company’s U.S. on-shore wind power operations, will save BP $200 million annually and help boost its bottom line. The hydrogen industry, which has relied on oil and gas companies both financially and through lobbying efforts, is preparing for a grimmer outcome.

BP has been a supporter of hydrogen. The company’s venture capital arm has invested in several green hydrogen startups, including Electric Hydrogen and Advanced Ionics. Earlier this year, BP said it would develop “more than 10” hydrogen projects in the U.S., Europe, and Australia. 

Now, BP is scaling back those plans, saying it’ll develop between five and ten projects. The company is keeping quiet about which ones will receive the green light.

Hydrogen has the potential to reduce carbon pollution significantly in a range of industries, including petrochemical refining, steelmaking, and long-haul shipping. But infrastructure for hydrogen, especially green hydrogen, which is produced using renewable electricity, remains underbuilt. That’s in part because green hydrogen is the most expensive form of the gas to produce, and because transporting hydrogen is costly relative to fossil fuels.

The hydrogen industry has looked to oil and gas companies as one of the best routes to growth. Many already make hydrogen at their refineries from natural gas, making them logical customers for startups developing electrolyzers, which can produce hydrogen using water and electricity. Plus, oil and gas companies have decades of experience developing large infrastructure projects of the sort that will be required if hydrogen is to make a dent in industrial emissions.

At the same time, oil and gas companies rely on the fossil fuels business for profits, which provides significant incentive to move slowly toward alternatives. BP’s decision to scale back its hydrogen ambitions likely won’t be the sector’s last.



Source link

Lisa Holden
Lisa Holden
Lisa Holden is a news writer for LinkDaddy News. She writes health, sport, tech, and more. Some of her favorite topics include the latest trends in fitness and wellness, the best ways to use technology to improve your life, and the latest developments in medical research.

Recent posts

Related articles

It’s Election Day, and all the AIs — but one — are acting responsibly

Ahead of the polls closing on Tuesday, most of the major AI chatbots wouldn’t answer questions about...

Apple warns investors its new products might never be as profitable as the iPhone

Apple is warning investors that its new and future products might never be as profitable as the...

Canoo’s CFO and top lawyer are the latest executives to leave

EV startup Canoo has lost its chief financial officer and its head lawyer, the latest in a...

As generative AI gets better, what will happen to artists?

Suno CEO Mikey Shulman found himself in an unlikely place for the founder of a generative AI...

Mozilla Foundation lays off 30% staff, drops advocacy division

The Mozilla Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the Firefox browser maker Mozilla, has laid off 30% of...

Nodal connects hopeful parents with surrogates as reproductive freedom hangs in limbo

Many people who want to have children can’t, or shouldn’t, carry a pregnancy for a variety of...

Waymo’s latest funding round boosts it to a $45B valuation

Waymo recently closed a $5.6 billion Series C funding round led by parent company Alphabet and joined...

Meta extends political ad ban past Election Day

Meta announced Tuesday that it is extending its restriction on political ads until later in the week,...