The slow energy switch

Given their outsized contribution to air pollution and ambitious net-zero targets, state-run oil companies must accelerate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. But the country’s hobbling renewable projects may delay plans

- S DINAKAR

Energy transition is a buzzword in the boardrooms of major state-run oil companies, which are key contributors to India’s rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions. But three of them — Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) — are yet to see their multi-trillion-rupee green investment ambitions translate into reality.

Their chief financial officers are yet to open up their purses for projects covering renewables, including green hydrogen and biogas—at least not at a scale or pace that private sector giants Reliance Industries or Adani Green have done — according to senior officials and company data.

That said, the fourth major state-run oil company, ONGC, has aggressively snapped up renewable assets earlier this year to meet 25 per cent of its 10 GW capacity target. This is something fellow-state oil companies may need to emulate.

State-run oil companies, among the biggest and fastest-growing emitters in the country, have to play an integral role in India’s journey towards net-zero by 2070, and a delay on their part risks the nation’s plans to neutralise emissions. India is the world’s third-biggest emitter after China and the US, according to the UK's Energy Institute (EI).

Leading state oil companies emitted a combined 54 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) last year, or nearly 2 per cent of India’s 3 billion tonnes of CO2e from energy production, according to company reports and El data. These figures relate to what are called Scope 1 and 2 types of emissions, which cover a company’s operations and use of external services like utility power or cooling.

But after including Scope 3 emissions, which are generated across the value chain such as from burning petrol, LPG or diesel purchased from refiners, the three companies — IOC, BPCL, and HPCL— together account for around 650 million tonnes CO2e, or over a fifth of the country’s total emissions.