A net-zero emissions plan by 2030, or maybe by 2050, "is a massive challenge that we're all faced with, and we can only get there in a partner aspect," said Colin Ward, ABB Energy Industries' senior vice president, chemicals and refining.
This is not the first energy transition the U.S. has gone through, Ward explained. "We've kind of been on a journey for centuries around one source of energy and migrating to another source of energy," he said. However, Ward said that no transition in history has been as quick as the one that is currently in the works. "If you look back, we haven't done it quite that quickly," Ward said.
Burning wood and dry manure as a heating source gave way to steam and combustion, which later transitioned to coal. Coal was the dominant source of energy for about 70 years. Coal is still used in the U.S., but it has flatlined in recent decades in favor of fossil fuels/natural gas and petrochemicals.
"So now we're on the precipice of transitioning from what we call standard oil, gas and chemicals into renewables," Ward said. "And how long is it going to take? Is there additional infrastructure needed for this? I mean, there's clearly going to be a lot of opportunity for technology to help drive us there."
Oil required pipelines and drilling and things like that, Ward explained; and coal required mining and railroads and other infrastructure. And there is a lot of infrastructure today that has yet to be developed "as we talk about the energy transition space. In my view, it's more of an iceberg; we've only seen the top layer as we stand today."
Ward said the industry has a massive amount to learn and to achieve in the area that lies below the waterline.
ABB Energy Industries has taken some steps into energy transition. ABB partnered with Coolbrook, a Finnish technology company, earlier this year.
The adoption of Roto Dynamic Reactor technology will significantly reduce green-house gas emissions from the steam cracking process by using electrification - rather than burning fossil fuels. The pilot program will commence this year at the groundbreaking Brightlands Chemelot campus in Geleen, Netherlands.
"We see this as one of the game-changing technologies which is in the process of moving to the Netherlands," said Ward. "Google this - we have some joint websites and data out there."
ABB in June also partnered with Braya Renewable Fuels to support the transformation of the idled Come By Chance oil refinery in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, into a state-of-the-art renewable fuels production center. The Braya facility will convert used cooking oil, corn oil and animal fat into renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel.
Ward said that ABB was really proud of the project and that it's not an idea that the company had five or 10 years ago.
"What can be more interesting than taking something that we used to basically waste, or is waste, and finding smart ways to repurpose and reprocess that waste - and then come back with a usable fuel as a result of that?" Ward said.
"So this is a real avenue for us, where we can start to shift aviation and eventually bring this into our consumer households," Ward said.
Ward added that when the industry talks about electricity from renewable sources - that can completely eliminate CO2 emissions from the steam cracking process, "We're not talking about net-zero; we're actually talking about absolute zero."
According to Ward, "If you take the Braya and Coolbrook examples, and we find different avenues around the world to apply them, we've done something smart, that has kind of this 2030/2050 ambition to really be something that we can leverage in the future; and there's a partner aspect to it."
Ward said that energy transition does not look like one company.
"We're just not that smart if we're divided, but if we take the best from each other, then we have a real chance at meeting what we have said in our rhetoric."
Ward presented at the recent Downstream USA 2022 conference in Houston.
