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1. S&P Global Commodity Insights is hosting its inaugural Carbon Management Americas conference in Denver later this month. What can we expect at the event?

The Carbon Management Americas conference has senior experts across sustainability, technology, trading and financing disciplines coming together to discuss all aspects of emissions management, decarbonization strategy and carbon markets.

2. What do we actually mean when we say “Carbon Management”?

Carbon Management encompasses all aspects of a company decarbonization and sustainability strategy. It includes all GHG emissions, and looks at options for emissions reductions, including what kind of technology they will invest in to meet their decarbonization goals based on their specific operations. Carbon Management might also look at fuel substitutions that reduce combustion emissions, as well as operational efficiency. Carbon Management also looks at the cost of carbon. Companies need to know the compliance carbon markets they are operating under and the obligations that must be met, and also if they are going to purchase any carbon credits through the voluntary carbon markets.

3. Is methane still an important conversation in carbon emissions reduction?

When we talk about emissions, or carbon management, methane is one of the key GHG emissions that needs to be reduced or abated through commodity production supply chains. Methane has a higher green house gas warming potential (GWP), so it has a larger impact on emissions impact than the same volume of CO2. The oil and gas sector has been under a focus of methane reduction conversations, but this extends to midstream and LNG operators as part of the total gas supply chain. Other sectors that are also impacted by methane emissions are agriculture and coal mining. There are various ways to monitor methane as part of operations, from high level satellites that give broad coverage, to specific fly over monitoring to look at smaller areas, to continuous on the group sensors. Methane detection technology is constantly evolving and will be a key discussion at the conference.

4. What is certified natural gas?

Certifying natural gas production is a process that some operators choose to go through in order to demonstrate that the production of natural gas has some level of methane monitoring, and that the operator is below an acceptable level of methane as part of the ongoing operations.

5. What role does fuel substitution play in decarbonization?

By substituting different fuels in a process, it can reduce the emissions associated with combustion. One of the challenges, is that often to replace the fuel in a system requires the process to be modified, or completely re-built in order to use the new fuel, ie when power plants switched from coal to gas. For fuels that are similar fluids though this cane be an easier process. The use of biofuels is one of those, and the use of hydrogen to replace natural gas is another alternative.

6. What are some of the specific technology solutions in emissions reductions?

There are two main categories of carbon reduction, there are avoidance solutions, where a technology can be applied to avoid emissions going into the atmosphere, or there are removals technologies, where carbon is actually removed from the atmosphere. As it relates to removals technologies, companies are looking at how to deploy carbon capture technology as part of operations. The most common type is point-source capture, although companies are starting to get direct air capture technology to be more viable. One of the newer technology solutions for emissions removal is BECCS (Bio Energy with Carbon Capture & Storage) that captures the CO2 from biomass energy production. Some of these technology solutions may be eligible to generate carbon credits.

7. Are there specific emissions reduction projects that are related to the oil and gas sector thinking about this space?

For oil and gas, there are some emissions reduction projects that are being looked at in order to generate carbon credits. The first is looking at orphan, or abandoned wells. Some of these wells produce a lot of unabated methane, so fixing up the old wellbore and then ensuring that the methane has permanently stopped leaking through continuous monitoring is one project type that is gaining a lot of traction. The other is through permanently shutting in wells that no longer have access to markets through pipeline or other routes. This portion of hydrocarbons then stays in the ground and will never be combusted.

8. How does project finance and financed emissions factor into the carbon management discussion?

Emissions metrics are starting to factor into financial lending and portfolio management decisions. Financial institutions need to ensure that any investments they make fit in with their own financed emissions targets.

9. How do the carbon markets factor into a company’s overall sustainability and decarbonization strategy?

Companies will always have some portion of emissions that are hard to abate, and this is where carbon credits can be used to offset that final portion of emissions. Companies need to balance capital investment in their emissions reduction activities compared to the price of buying carbon credits, and although decarbonization investment can be very high, it is a more permanent solution towards meeting emissions reduction targets. When companies do turn to the carbon markets to offset the final hard to abate emissions, they also need to ensure that the carbon credits were generated from projects that are deemed to be high quality. Companies are looking to quality indicators like CCP (core carbon principal) certification, as well as relying to carbon ratings firms to help guide these credit buying decisions.

1. What role do you play or what is your involvement within the team LIVE?

As Community Marketing Manager within team LIVE, my main goal is to grow our community and foster engagement. I’m responsible for developing and implementing strategies to increase brand awareness and loyalty, as well as boosting the reputation of LIVE as the go-to place for engaging with cross-commodity communities. I also manage our online presence, such as LinkedIn that enable us to engage, educate, and grow our community. My duties are extremely collaborative and I’m very grateful for my amazing team. Overall, I play a vital role in shaping the community and driving users to insightful content on LIVE.

2. Among the elements of LIVE, which one is your favorite and what makes it stand out to you?

This is a tough question, but one aspect of LIVE that I really love is how we give personality to the data and insights through interviews and curated content. We go beyond just presenting numbers and data by providing perspectives, opinions, and insightful discussions from industry experts and researchers. This helps to paint a clear picture of what's happening in the industry. Since I don't have a background in commodities, there's often information that is outside of my knowledge. However, LIVE provides me with a simple and engaging outlet to stay up to date on industry trends and news. It's a great resource for me to learn and stay informed.

3. As we strive towards the goals set for Paris 2050, which future energy development do you perceive as the potential saving grace, and what factors contribute to your belief?

I've been intrigued by the news surrounding electric vehicles (EVs) and lithium batteries lately. What makes it even more interesting to me is that it directly impacts my decisions as a consumer. While I understand that as an individual, I may not have a significant impact on reaching the world's zero emissions goals, but I can still contribute by choosing to drive an electric car and reduce my own emissions. I believe this technology is important and will continue to be, as it empowers everyday people like me to make choices that align with the goals set for Paris 2050, all while doing it in style.

4. Within your community, what is the trending “hot topic” in discussions or conversations?

My job is to provide our community with a holistic view of all the trending topics in the commodity space, and depending on the day, any of the commodities could be a hot topic. One major discussion in the community is Energy Transition and the technology being developed in that field. On the other hand, an important topic that has been gaining attention is beef proteins. It keeps my day interesting as the trending topics are constantly changing and LIVE helps me keep on top of them.

5. What energy development makes you most excited for the future?

The technology being developed within the energy ecosystem is truly game-changing. I've had the opportunity to meet with teams that are making groundbreaking advancements in the fight against our emission crisis. It's incredible to see how they are creating aviation fuel from the clouds and producing water from CO2 capture. The brilliant minds in the industry are driving us towards solutions that almost seem too good to be true. It's truly inspiring to witness the progress being made and the potential for a more sustainable future.