BP (BP)

stricter emissions limits on large GHG sources and/or the introduction of a cap-and-trade programme on CO2 and other GHG emissions.
     In an April 2007 decision, the US Supreme Court overruled a lower court that had upheld a decision by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) not to regulate GHGs from motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act for climate change purposes. The Supreme Court’s ruling will require the EPA to reconsider its prior decision on motor vehicle CO2 regulation and render a new decision in keeping with the Supreme Court’s holding. The court opinion is expected to make it difficult for the EPA not to regulate motor vehicle GHG emissions in the future. It is also expected to increase pressure on the EPA to regulate stationary sources of GHGs (e.g. refineries and chemical plants) under other provisions of the Clean Air Act.
     In September 2006, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32) into law. In 2007, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) began the development of regulations that will ultimately reduce California’s GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (an approximately 25% reduction from current levels). CARB has initiated work on the Scoping Plan, which will identify reduction programme mechanisms and timelines for achieving the 2020 target. In advance of the Scoping Plan, CARB has taken early actions with the development of mandatory GHG reporting and a Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). The LCFS will require all refiners, producers, blenders and importers to reduce the carbon intensity of transport fuel sold in California by 10% by 2020.
     Since 1997, BP has been actively involved in policy debate. We also ran a global programme that reduced our operational GHG emissions by 10% between 1998 and 2001. We continue to look at two principal kinds of emissions: operational emissions, which are generated from our operations such as refineries, chemicals plants and production facilities; and product emissions, generated by our customers when they use the fuels and products that we sell. Since 2001, we have been focusing on measuring and improving the carbon intensity of our operations as well as developing sustainable low-carbon technologies and businesses for the future.
     In 2007, as part of our engagement with technology development, two major BP-backed research institutes came into full operation: the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) in the US, and the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) in the UK. The EBI is a strategic partnership between BP, the University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois, that will perform research into the production of new and cleaner energy, initially focusing on advanced biofuels for road transport. The EBI will also pursue bioscience-based research in three other key areas: the conversion of heavy hydrocarbons to clean fuels, improved recovery from existing oil and gas reservoirs and carbon sequestration. In the UK, the ETI has been established as a 50:50 public private partnership, funded equally by member companies, including BP, and the government. The ETI aims to accelerate the development, demonstration and eventual commercial deployment of a focused portfolio of energy technologies, which will increase energy efficiency, reduce GHG emissions and help achieve energy security and climate change goals. The ETI has issued its first Invitation for expressions of interest to participate in programmes to develop new technologies for offshore wind and for marine, tidal and wave energy.