VP Simon Moore Joins the Cowen Insights Podcast to Discuss Air Products Integrated Approach to the Energy Transition

 

Simon Moore, Air Products' Vice President, Investor Relations, Corporate Relations & Sustainability joined the Cowen Insights podcast recently to discuss how Air Products' range of capabilities and expertise is an advantage with helping customers and countries along their energy transition journey, no matter where they are in that process. Read on to learn more about our integrated approach to the energy transition or listen to the full podcast episode below.

One of the things that Air Products is most excited about with respect to the Energy Transition is that we have an extensive portfolio of technologies and experiences, and we can bring those together to create the best solution that meets our customers’ needs. A few years ago, we’d talk about our growth platforms as being gasification, carbon capture, and hydrogen for mobility; but today, with our diverse portfolio of strategic partnerships and in-house expertise, we see opportunities for integrated cleaner energy projects that showcase all three of these capabilities on a world scale.

We’re committed to helping our customers’ transition to cleaner energy, no matter where they are on that journey, and we’re illustrating just that in the aforementioned projects in Alberta and Louisiana. Both are going to put low-carbon hydrogen into our pipeline networks, but there are key components to each project that require a unique set of strengths that Air Products has.

In the case of Canada, we’re going to take some of the hydrogen produced and liquefy it because we think that there is a significant opportunity in the trucking market, in the mobility market in that area. For modest distances, liquefying hydrogen is a great distribution solution—and we have the expertise to 1) create the product, 2) liquefy the hydrogen, and 3) distribute to end markets. We have the know-how to support our customers along the entire value chain.

It’s no different with our blue hydrogen project in Louisiana where we’re making our largest-ever US investment ($4.5 billion). Here, Air Products will showcase another set of capabilities with capturing and sequestering 95% of the process facility’s CO₂ emissions (about five million metric tons per year of CO₂, making it the world's largest instance of CO₂ capture for permanent sequestration). We’ve got the combination of technology, expertise to execute these projects, and proven experience to reliably operate each facility—and that’s gives us an advantage.

Capturing CO₂ is an important part of this integrated approach, but it’s not enough just to capture the CO₂. You need to have the know-how to safely do something with it. What drives many of these projects is not just the ability to retrofit plants to capture carbon but also the location—and geology—where you can sequester the CO₂ or use it productively. We’ve already showcased our capture capability at our Port Arthur, Texas facility, where the captured CO₂ is used for enhanced oil recovery. This project has been capturing approximately one million tons of CO₂ each year for nearly a decade. We’re building on that same experience and expertise on a grander scale for our Louisiana and Alberta projects.

Aside from new projects, we also see opportunities for retrofitting existing gasifiers or hydrogen plants to capture carbon as well—something we also have extensive experience in. Paired with rules and regulations that create economic value for the capturing of CO₂, we expect higher demand for these projects, too. It’s not just about green versus blue hydrogen—what the world needs is as much lower-carbon-footprint hydrogen as is possible.

That’s the crux of where Air Products sees opportunity. Whether it’s retrofitting existing plants to capture carbon or designing new solutions, we are confident we can meet our customers wherever they are on their transition to cleaner energy with solutions that make sense for them and the environment. ♦