Just because the whole planet has been dealing with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, it doesn't mean that all the other issues the world is facing have simply gone away.

We are still seeing the devastating effects of man-made climate change all around the globe as more extreme weather threatens the way of life of billions of people. Floods, searing and plummeting temperatures, bushfires, and more have already cost lives. The time to act is now.

Of course, the onus must fall on the biggest brands of global industry (particularly those in the energy sector). As one of the world's largest oil field services companies, Baker Hughes is doing its part to drive the transition to cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.

The Energy Transition

Baker Hughes is already working hard to transform the way we as humans store and consume energy with a unique offshore project in the North Sea.

The goal of the project is to develop and maintain the world's first global and full-scale carbon neutral blue ammonia production plant and use it to explore technologies which can minimize the carbon footprint, time to market, cost of carbon capture, transport and storage (CCTS) of this potentially planet-saving fuel.

"The industry focus has all been about hydrogen, which will play a critical role, but ammonia, the product of combining hydrogen and nitrogen, is easier to handle, easier to liquefy, and there's a strong sense that it will be the fuel of the future for applications like marine propulsion," said Executive Vice President of Regions, Alliances and Enterprise Sales at Baker Hughes, Uwem Ukpong. "[Current ammonia production] uses around two percent of the world's energy, and in the process releases one percent of the global CO2 burden."

The project is the kind of smaller-scale innovation which Baker Hughes and its partners can learn from and build upon. In doing so, the company hopes to provide an example of how energy companies can benefit by pivoting towards decarbonization and supply a new fuel which has the potential to be incredibly desirable and lucrative.

Asset Management

Baker Hughes believes the road to energy transition and asset management are intrinsically linked. As such, it has also been deploying numerous digital technologies to make its own field service operations more effective and efficient than ever before.

Drones, armed with the very latest in advanced analytics software, are being put to work monitoring pipelines, while AI modelling is being used to predict corrosion levels. The drones can detect almost invisible methane leaks and use highly sensitive pattern recognition software to measure and record how much of the gas is being discharged into the atmosphere.

"Digital transformation, a long-time goal of the energy industry which has so far developed in fits and starts rather than leaps and bounds, remains a priority," said the company in a blog post. "[Baker Hughes] is confident that digital technologies will help meet both near-term efficiency requirements and decarbonization mandates."

Baker Hughes has also acquired leading provider of reliability solutions ARMS Reliability to help bolster its asset management portfolio. The integration of ARMS Reliability's software into Baker Hughes' existing APM solution will enable the maintenance provider to offer its clients a far more extensive spectrum of centralized and connected services designed to enhance industrial operational efficiencies, extend asset lifecycles, and reduce non-productive downtime.

"The acquisition is another step forward for Baker Hughes' strategy to provide an industrial software platform at scale to deliver outcome-based solutions for highly engineered critical equipment," said Baker Hughes in a press release. "Baker Hughes will have access to ARMS Reliability's substantial presence in a broad range of industrial sectors including mining, power, manufacturing, and utility companies."

Final Thoughts

There can be little doubt that keeping facilities running at maximum efficiency - especially when it comes to pipe corrosion and methane leaks - will have a significant impact on the carbon footprints of those facilities. Drones, AI, and innovative partnerships and acquisitions will certainly have a role in this - but any solutions adopted need to be supported by a solid commitment to a greener future and a willingness to make serious investments into making it happen.

Energy transition is an important component of this and it's encouraging to see an industry heavyweight such as Baker Hughes not only driving innovation in this area, but also ensuring there is a solid digital and physical infrastructure in place to support it.

You can hear Baker Hughes' Senior Director of Service Delivery Applications, Randy Engalla, speak at Field Service Palm Springs 2021, being held in November at the JW Marriott, Palm Springs, CA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.