Integrated energy in action
bp is changing – we will still be an energy company – but a very different kind of energy company. Explore how we’re building new partnerships to meet the country’s changing demands.
We’ve given more than $45 million to Princeton University’s Climate Mitigation Initiative. Our sponsorship is the largest and longest industry partnership in Princeton’s history.
We’re providing renewable power for some of the world’s largest tech companies. In turn, they’re helping us advance our own digital transformation.
We’re working with Environmental Defense Fund to accelerate reductions of methane emissions across the global oil and gas industry.
We’ve signed an agreement to advise the city of Houston on its first-ever climate action plan. We’re on the ground helping the Energy Capital of the World prepare to lead the global low carbon transition.
Carbon Mitigation Initiative
Since 2000, bp has contributed more than $45 million to the Carbon Mitigation Initiative (CMI) at Princeton University.
Photo by Sameer A. Kahn/Fotobuddy
Decarbonization research
Administered by the school’s High Meadows Environmental Institute, CMI is an independent academic research program that explores sustainable solutions to carbon emissions and climate change. bp’s sponsorship is the largest and longest industry partnership in Princeton’s history.
Composed of 15 lead faculty investigators and more than 40 research staff and students, the program brings together top experts from around the world to analyze both the economic and the technological challenges of decarbonization. Over the past two decades, CMI associates have published more than 800 articles in peer-reviewed journals.
The NZAP research helped inform a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) committee chaired by Princeton professor and CMI director Stephen Pacala. In February 2021, the NASEM committee published its own report on ways to accelerate the decarbonization of America’s energy system.
“There seems to be a recognition happening all at once in different parts of the world, in companies, board rooms, halls of government and the academy that the transformation of our energy system to net zero emissions of all greenhouse gases is feasible, economic and necessary.”
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Corporate partnerships
To reach net zero and help the world do the same, bp has created strategic partnerships with leading US corporations. These relationships help us develop innovative, integrated and decarbonized energy solutions at scale.
Microsoft
In September 2020, we announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft aimed at furthering digital transformation in energy systems and advancing our respective net zero carbon goals. This includes co-innovation focused on digital solutions that can help bp and the world decarbonize, the continued use of Microsoft Azure as a cloud-based solution for bp infrastructure and bp supplying renewable energy to help Microsoft meet its 2025 renewable energy goals.
This co-innovation focuses on three areas that combine Microsoft’s digital expertise with our deep understanding of energy markets: smart and clean cities, clean energy parks and Industrial Internet of Things solutions. For both bp and Microsoft, low carbon is part of a wider sustainability agenda, and we aim to deepen collaboration in this area over time.
Amazon
We’ve also furthered our longstanding relationship with Amazon. In December 2020, bp announced a new agreement in which we will supply additional renewable energy to power Amazon’s operations, and Amazon Web Services will enable the acceleration of our program to digitize bp’s IT infrastructure requirements.
Our successful relationship supports both bp’s and Amazon’s ambitions to reduce our emissions and help our customers reduce theirs. Amazon is helping bp with innovative digital technologies and, using our trading capabilities and scale, we will give Amazon the reliable and flexible renewable energy supplies they need to meet their ambition to decarbonize.
Uber
In February 2021, we announced that bp and Uber would collaborate to explore the planning, development and deployment of our rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs in Houston to help drivers on Uber’s platform make the transition to EVs.
We are also working with Uber to identify potential areas in Houston that could support deployment of our EV charging hubs and create a convenient and equitable network of charging available to the public. All of this will help advance the Houston Climate Action Plan, which aims to make the city carbon neutral by 2050.
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EDF collaboration
In 2019, bp and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced a groundbreaking three-year collaboration aimed at reducing methane emissions across the oil and gas supply chain.
A second project is exploring opportunities for reducing methane emissions at non-operated joint ventures (NOJVs). bp has set a global methane intensity1 target of 0.2% by 2025 for our operated assets, and we would like to work with our partners to join us in setting similar targets. Through our participation in the Methane Guiding Principles initiative, both bp and EDF have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to help find potential solutions for NOJVs.
Non-operated joint ventures make up a significant portion of our production. We will work to influence these partners to set their own methane intensity targets of 0.20%. However, our work does not stop there. We are engaging with partners on methane mitigation technology and best practices on a bilateral basis and in collaboration with others.
A third project has examined the landscape of technologies that could be used for high-frequency monitoring or near-continuous measurement of potential methane sources. Such technologies would make it easier to identify, quantify and repair methane leaks. We are working with leading researchers to understand what is currently available and how we can drive further progress.
While EDF and bp don’t see eye to eye on every issue, we both agree on the need to slash methane emissions as rapidly as possible and to accelerate the transition to a net zero economy.
bp raised the bar for industry when it committed to verify a 0.20% methane intensity across its operations and stop routine gas flaring in the US by 2025. Broadly deploying new measurement practices like those pursued through this technology collaborative is key for bp to achieve its goals and demonstrate real emission reductions. A new field of climate satellites will soon escalate transparency and accountability on methane, providing one more reason for proactive industry efforts to cut emissions now.
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Houston partnership
In July 2020, we formed a strategic partnership with Houston to advance its Climate Action Plan (CAP), a bold initiative designed to help the city achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
Partnership is key to the success of any community-wide initiative, and bp’s recent commitment to net zero emissions and helping cities decarbonize makes them an ideal implementation partner for the Houston Climate Action Plan. bp’s financial support and technical expertise across the entire energy spectrum will help move the CAP forward in these challenging and uncertain times.
Since the launch, our specialists have been working with public and private stakeholders to help reimagine Houston’s mobility and energy ecosystems. We have also sponsored the launch of Greentown Labs Houston — the city’s first-ever climate technology startup incubator — and supported CAP education in the Houston Independent School District. In addition, we are working with our solar energy joint venture partner Lightsource bp to provide technical and regulatory assistance to Sunnyside Energy LLC, which is converting a closed landfill in south Houston into a solar farm.
Meanwhile, we are collaborating with Uber to explore the planning, development and deployment of our rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging hubs in Houston to help drivers on Uber’s platform make the transition to EVs. bp is also seeking areas in Houston that could support deployment of our EV charging hubs and make available a convenient and equitable charging network.
Partnering with cities around the world
bp and Houston’s strategic partnership exemplifies our larger global strategy. Cities are critical to the energy transition, with research suggesting that they hold the potential to achieve 40% of the carbon mitigation goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. As part of our own net zero ambition, we want to help cities along that journey.
With this in mind, bp is looking to collaborate with 10 to 15 cities over the next decade to help them reach their net zero goals. Houston represents our first city collaboration in the United States. We have also established a strategic partnership with Aberdeen in the United Kingdom.
The transition to a cleaner, net zero future is an extraordinary opportunity for Houston to lead the global energy transition while also improving the quality of life for millions of people in the region. Mayor Turner and the Houston City Council should be commended for keeping this vital work at the top of the agenda, especially during these uncertain times. At bp, we also remain focused on delivering our net zero ambition and look forward to working with other cities, countries and corporations who share this vision.