The U.S. oil and natural gas industry invested $108 billion in technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2016, according to a study released Tuesday.
The study, conducted by T2 Associates on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute, shows the balancing act sought by major oil and gas companies that are aiming to help combat climate change, even as they embrace the Trump administration’s “energy dominance” agenda supporting fossil fuels.
“Natural gas and oil producers are investing billions of dollars in delivering not only energy used today but technology that will continue to meet America’s needs into the future,” said Kyle Isakower, the American Petroleum Institute’s vice president for regulatory and economic policy, in a conference call with reporters. “That includes renewable and alternative energy sources.”
The American Petroleum Institute is the largest U.S. trade group representing the oil and gas industry.
Between 2000 and 2016, there was a total U.S. investment of $597.8 billion in low-emission or zero-emission technologies, the study shows.
Of that, the oil and natural gas industry spent $108.2 billion, compared with $143.6 billion invested by other U.S. industries combined. The federal government contributed $152.7 billion to the total.
The $108 billion does not include spending on shale gas, an energy source whose development has boomed in recent years because of fracking. Natural gas emits carbon dioxide, but not as much as coal, and many energy experts view natural gas as a bridge to renewable energy such as solar and wind, as they move to overcome intermittency challenges to take over more of the grid.
Over the past decade, an influx of cheap natural gas and the rise of renewable energy have transformed the nation’s power grid, reducing wholesale electricity prices and forcing unprofitable coal and nuclear plants to retire.
Isakower said the oil and gas industry is helping to bolster renewables, even if they are competitors and rapidly reducing in cost.
The study found that $1 of every $6 invested in renewables and other nonhydrocarbon technologies in North America since 2000 has come from the natural gas and oil industry. That includes funding for biomass, ethanol, and renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal technologies.
Other oil and gas industry funding goes to research and development for advanced vehicles, carbon capture technologies that store carbon dioxide emissions emitted from power plants, and efficiency improvements including combined heat and power. Many climate scientists blame greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels for driving man-made climate change.
Isakower also said that some of API’s more than 600 members invest directly in renewable energy projects, helping to fund wind or solar farms, for example.
But he is not yet ready to declare the demise of natural gas, the main moneymaker for the companies belonging to API.
The Energy Department forecasts that between now and 2040, consumption of natural gas will increase more than any other fuel source.
“For power generation to meet the needs of the power grid to address intermittency of some of the renewables, natural gas will be a foundation source of energy in the power sector for many years to come,” Isakower said.
