Why We Need to Embrace Change

The Baker Hughes Annual Meeting 2021 was an incredibly thought-provoking event. Earlier this month, we gathered experts from across the globe to share their views on everything from groundbreaking technologies to emerging geopolitical concerns. Over the course of the meeting, there was one idea mentioned at nearly every session.

Change is inevitable.

The past year has only underscored how rapidly our situation is evolving. In 2020 we witnessed increasing amounts of social instability, political uncertainty, and even fuel prices that briefly went negative.

The biggest change in global energy was part of a much longer-term trend. Over the last 12 months, private sector commitments to reduce carbon emissions more than doubled. Today, more than 25 percent of Fortune 500 companies are publicly committed to be carbon neutral by 2030, and even more are committed to achieving carbon neutral status by 2050.

Baker Hughes is proud to be among the companies who have made a public commitment to going net-zero on carbon emissions, because we believe embracing change is smart. With 60 percent of global GDP produced by economies committed to a net-zero future, it makes sense to begin looking for the opportunities represented by a shift to net-zero energy.

Being smart doesn’t necessarily make navigating change easy. The current transition is raising existential questions about how we will continue to meet the world’s demand for energy. The energy we provide must continue to be affordable, but it must also be cleaner, safer, and more efficient.

That’s why our Annual Meeting in early February focused on how we can rethink, redefine, and renew our approach. By viewing the current situation through these three lenses, we can better identify the opportunities within the changing landscape. Change becomes a chance to transform not only our operations, but the way we think.

Seizing these opportunities also involves accepting certain truths. First, we acknowledge the need for a major acceleration of investment and innovation if we hope to reach the ambitious emissions goals set by both the public and private sectors.

At Baker Hughes we are already expanding into new frontiers, like hydrogen and carbon capture, that will come to play central roles in the energy transition. We currently have 100 percent hydrogen-capable turbines ready to deliver at scale, and during the Annual Meeting we announced a new agreement with NOVATEK to apply hydrogen blends to current turbomachinery. We are also accelerating the pace of carbon capture and storage through our groundbreaking efforts with our acquisition of Compact Carbon Capture late last year. We know we have a long way to go, and we are prepared continue our commitment to investing time and resources into more groundbreaking advances. 

The second truth is that there is no realistic energy scenario where hydrocarbons completely disappear by 2050. As a result, we need to embrace efficiency and begin immediately reducing the carbon footprint of oil and gas. An incredible 37 percent of Paris Climate Agreement targets can be met through greater efficiencies, more than any other single driver we can employ today.

That’s one reason we are working with various partners to increase efficiency and reduce emissions from current hydrocarbon operations. Through digital asset management we are helping to detect, monitor and reduce fugitive emissions and ensure high efficiency flare combustion. For example, our flare.IQ flare control solution is helping our customers reduce their methane emissions, improve combustion, and decrease steam usage in flare systems.

The third truth is that there is no path to a net-zero future without collaboration. This is a journey we’re on together, so we need to work together to get to our destination. Creating a reimagined energy ecosystem will take cooperation not only across industries, but also with governments and regulators on the national and international level.

It will be our ability to come together that will reap the biggest rewards. During this year’s annual meeting, we announced the launch of the Open AI Energy Initiative™ (OAI) with our partners Shell, C3 AI, and Microsoft. OAI is a first-of-its-kind open ecosystem of artificial intelligence-based solutions for the energy and process industries that provides a framework for energy operators, service and equipment providers to offer interoperable solutions.

These types of collaborations will be essential to negotiating our changing world. By coming together in the spirit of partnership, we can transform change from a challenge to an opportunity. We can ensure we continue to give people the energy they need while working towards our ambitious net-zero goals.

Many of our Annual Meeting speakers discussed these ideas, too. I’d like to hear your thoughts in the comments below on how else we can embrace change responsibly.