Electricity doesn’t grow on trees. It falls from the sky.

Electricity doesn’t grow on trees. It falls from the sky.

Beginning in the 1930’s and up until the present day British Petroleum has been a major stakeholder in the oil industry. Needless to say it has played a considerable role in bringing Earth to the environmental crisis it now faces, specifically regarding the alarming and harmful rise of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Today’s societies tend to be characterized by their greedy corporations and their disconnection from the natural world. These factors can leave one with a disheartening sentiment as well as a pessimistic stance on the future state of the earth.

Somewhere in the midst of all the gloom a tiny ray of hope beams down from the sky. A new wave of business is taking its first steps across our nations, one built on the stones of social and environmental responsibility. British Petroleum is proud to be one of these corporations, dedicating a significant amount of effort toward the global endeavor to clean up our environment. BP, one of the world’s largest energy users, is leading the way in the movement to reduce carbon emissions. “In 1998, BP set a target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 10% by the year 2010. On the 11th of March 2002, BP Chief Executive Lord Browne stated BP met its targets eight years early despite growing production, and at no net cost to the company.” (bpenergy.com) BP intends to hold its current net greenhouse emissions despite its plans for significant growth. BP ensures this growth will be sustainable and even 10% below the level of emissions in 1990. (bpenergy.com)

BP’s success is due to efforts to consume energy more efficiently, for example the promotion and implementation of cogeneration power. These are very efficient power installations that generate electricity and utilize heat by pumping it back into the operator’s plant- a very cost effective method. BP is not only becoming more energy efficient in regards to oil but it has also extended itself into the renewable energy field by developing a wider range of cleaner energies for its customers. They are devoted to “researching, investing, and building a material and alternative energy business with a focus on wind, hydrogen, and solar” power (bp.com).

With regard to wind, BP is making investments to produce low impact, clean energy solutions. They have been working on a partnership to build and run a wind farm at the Nerefco oil refinery in the Netherlands.