Clean Energy

We have been building Intelligent Agents for the Energy Industry for the last 30 years.

 

We use artificial intelligence and in-well robotics to help design solutions for energy industries to achieve their green objectives through reduced carbon footprint in their operations.

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The Energy Transition to NetZero 2050

Responding to the Energy Transition

The world has been responding to the energy transition at three levels: at the country level, in business corporations, and in civil society. Data on the transition can be found in the extensive network of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) agencies and affiliates but is also reflected in a number of major studies that are tracking the progress of countries and companies in the transition.

The major finding from recent studies is that the energy balance has grown and is foreseen to continue to grow but with a shift in the structure of energy supplies and consumption away from hydrocarbons in favor of lower-carbon renewable energy sources. Even as these shifts take place and renewables may increase their share, the prognosis is that the world will still rely on hydrocarbons to a significant extent well into the remainder of this century.

Oil and Gas operators will have to seek ways to reduce their carbon footprints in order to stay in business and increase in value.

Reducing the Carbon Intensity of Upstream Operations

Upstream Carbon Intensity (UCI) of oil and gas production is defined as the quantity of emissions per barrel of oil produced (kg CO2 equivalent/barrel). UCI thus measures how much climate damage is done per unit of energy produced. Most O&G companies are now seeking ways to reduce their UCI and most often they see Production Optimization as the first step in doing so.

IMARC Robotics technologies are designed to replace heavy, rig-based, diesel-burning wireline or coiled tubing methods with battery-powered in-well robots which can achieve production optimization at sharply lower cost and drastically reduced carbon footprints. Operators can both reduce their UCI while making greater profits.

THE PATHWAY TO NETZERO 2050

The Pathway to NetZero by 2050

Most major oil and gas companies have made commitments to attain or approach NetZero by 2050. IMARC Robotics’ can assist these companies in reaching NetZero goals. Each company will be different and will reach its goals at different times, hence the FIFTY SHADES OF GREEN™. 

An added attribute of IMARC Robotics technologies is their labor-saving aspect (large rigging crews no longer needed), which can be a major benefit to companies in the severely tightened labor market of the present post-COVID global economy.

The oil and gas industry has been aware of the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) for many years and has made numerous efforts to leverage its use and add value across its digital oil field activities. These efforts have been resisted for a variety of reasons which include a lack of expertise with AI and economic disincentives due to static operational paradigms impeding adoption. This is now changing, under the pressure of both climate policy and restrained profitability in the industry.
LEARN MORE ABOUT EPA Emissions Guidelines

Carbon Footprint EPA Emissions Scope 1, Scope 2 & Scope 3

Governments will provide direction or demand compliance with their directives. The USA overview of GHG Protocol defines scopes and emissions across the value chain: as EPA Emissions Guidelines Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3, as illustrated below:

Overview of GHG Protocol scopes and emissions 

  • Scope 1 emissions are greenhouse (GHG) emissions that occur directly from operations of a given company or organization, from sources that are controlled or owned by that company (e.g., emissions associated with fuel combustion in boilers, furnaces, and vehicles).
  • Scope 2 emissions are GHG emissions that occur indirectly from operations of a given company or organization which are purchased from another company (e.g., electricity, steam, heat, or cooling). Although scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where they are generated, they are accounted for in an organization’s GHG inventory because they are a result of the organization’s energy use.

https://www.epa.gov/climateleadership/scope-1-and-scope-2-inventory-guidance

  • Scope 3 emissions are the result of activities from assets not owned or controlled by the reporting organization, but the organization indirectly impacts its value chain. Scope 3 emissions include all sources not within an organization’s scope 1 and 2 boundaries. The scope 3 emissions for one organization are the scope 1 and 2 emissions of another organization. Scope 3 emissions, also referred to as value chain emissions, often represent the majority of an organization’s total GHG emissions.
Upstream Carbon Intensity (UCI) of oil and gas production is measured as the quantity of emissions per barrel of oil produced (kg CO2 equivalent/barrel). It will show what upstream emissions contribute to the overall carbon emissions from O&G and that there is increasing attention within the O&G industry to give attention to reducing the carbon intensity of upstream operations, though it is different in different companies. It will describe the fact that Production Optimization (a prime attribute of IMARC Robotics applications) has been identified as the first run for companies to reduce their carbon intensity, and it will offer some proforma calculations on possible magnitudes.
OUR APPROACH TO CARBON FOOTPRINT REDUCTION

Illustration of IMARC Robotics Impact on Carbon Footprint

 

For the purposes of illustrating a typical example of carbon footprint reduction (i.e. measured in absolute emissions) that could be achieved by IMARC Robotics technology, a comparison has been made of the processes involved in a typical CONVENTIONAL offshore slickline sleeve shifting operation, using a BP Platform as the case study.

Based on current methods such an operation would typically involve some twenty distinct processes or events in getting the job done, each of which will involve a certain amount of (mostly diesel-based) carbon emissions. These process events are estimated to collectively result in about 69,000 Lbs of carbon emissions.

In comparison to the methods used today, IMARC Robotic technologies achieve the same sleeve-shifting operation on the same BP platform using only nine process events, whose cumulative emissions would likely be no greater than some 4,400 Lbs of carbon. That is more than a 15-fold decrease in the footprint.

Moreover, along with these benefits would come also substantial savings in both time and safety. It is clear that IMARC’s nine process events can be executed in far less time than today’s twenty processes, which implies major improvement in efficiency and substantial cost savings in fuels and labor.

Further, the switch to robotics would have huge safety improvements, bearing in mind that helicopter delivery of robots and tools directly onto the platform deck will avoid all ship-to-platform off-loading of heavy rigs and equipment which are hazardous when seas are heavy.

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