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Journal of Australian Energy Producers
RESEARCH ARTICLE (Non peer reviewed)

Technology road map for the low-carbon production of hydrocarbons

Clare Anderson
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Advisian/Worley, Level 12, 333 Collins Street, Melbourne, Vic. 3000, Australia. Email: clare.anderson@advisian.com

The APPEA Journal 60(2) 583-587 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ19129
Accepted: 7 April 2020   Published: 15 May 2020

Abstract

The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, has the objective of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C to substantially reduce the effects of climate change. To achieve this objective, significant and unprecedented deep cuts in carbon emissions are required, as set out in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C released in October 2018. To enable this ambitious target, global reductions in carbon emissions will need to be markedly reduced to an average of net zero by 2050 and, as such, will have profound effects on hydrocarbon (oil and gas) production in the coming decades. This paper presents a road map of opportunities for the reduction of carbon emissions from hydrocarbon production, specifically natural gas. It includes technologies for reducing carbon emissions from process streams and utility streams. A case study is used to illustrate the opportunities, along with a discussion on technology readiness for several options.

Keywords: carbon dioxide, carbon emissions, carbon net zero, climate change, global warming, natural gas, technology readiness.

Clare Anderson is the Managing Consultant for Advisian’s Global Upstream, Midstream and LNG Service Line in Melbourne and is an experienced leader of large technical teams. Clare has over 23 years of project management and engineering experience in the hydrocarbon and power industries spanning all phases of project development from concept development through to detailed design, construction and operation. Clare also has considerable experience working in government organisations, specifically Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs). Clare has a PhD in Chemical Engineering, relating specifically to the adaptation of low-carbon technologies for fossil fuel-fired power generation.


References

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