Are we changing for the better?

This week, Baker Hughes was due to host its 23rd Annual Meeting in Florence, Italy for customers and partners to discuss the future of energy and industry. Considering the continuing spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant,?we made the difficult decision to cancel our event.

In 2021, we hosted a virtual event, and I was thrilled to welcome guests like Satya Nadella, Anders Opedal, Ilham Kadri, Dan Yergin, and many more. Notwithstanding the current COVID-19 situation, I am optimistic about the future. I look forward to coming together in person again next year for Annual Meeting 2023 on January 30 & 31, and I love this 2020 highlight video which captured the great energy we will bring back.

This doesn’t stop us from having important discussions around climate change, the future of energy, and technology.?I continue to speak with our customers – leaders of the world’s biggest energy companies, government, and innovators in energy technology – to understand how we can change energy for the better.?This is a question we regularly ask and consider not just for Baker Hughes but also in the communities in which we operate. We play a key role in helping the world achieve its needs for cleaner, reliable and more sustainable sources of energy.

To change for the better, we must first reflect on what it is we must change. The photo above is me on a green screen, filming my keynote speech for last year's Annual Meeting. This was a big change for me yet really helped us continue our discussion virtually.

At last year’s Annual Meeting, I introduced?the three hard truths that we view as fundamental in defining a tangible path towards a net-zero future. I still firmly believe that without accepting some of these realities, we will have a hard time as a collective society to make progress and truly change for the better. Are these truths still helping us change?

Truth #1: Without major acceleration, the industry will not meet net-zero targets.?More companies have committed to net-zero goals, and we are now expecting action. Baker Hughes continues to reduce its Scope 1 and 2 emissions, yet acceleration is also seen through real commercial progress. This is the change – and action - we want to see.

Our customers and partners are also accelerating in their progress towards net zero. A great example is NEOM, a future city in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where Air Products will use Baker Hughes' compression technology for its carbon-free hydrogen facility.

Truth #2: Reliance on hydrocarbons will not disappear, so efficiency and emissions matter. It is critical that emissions, not fuel sources, are in focus as we combat climate change and work towards net zero. The tight natural gas supplies in Europe and a marked step-up on LNG activities ended last year with a clear need for hydrocarbons to stay a part of our energy mix. Without them, we risk access to affordable, reliable energy. We can learn from examples like Santos' Moomba Carbon Capture & Storage Project, which will permanently store 1.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

What about efficiency? LNG projects continue to demand higher-efficiency technologies to play a role in lowering greenhouse gas emissions. For example, our high-efficiency gas turbine and compression technology was recently selected for Woodside’s Pluto Train 2 LNG project, which plays a key role in supplying lower carbon intensity LNG and will be one of the most efficient LNG trains in Australia.

Truth #3: There’s no path to net-zero without partnership and collaboration. Baker Hughes has entered into many collaborations in the past year – including investments, partnerships, acquisitions, and projects. We are collaborating with more companies, associations and public institutions to accelerate towards net zero. We are not alone; as recent as yesterday, we saw examples like Jet Blue and Salesforce collaborating to track and reduce emissions from air travel.

I am encouraged to see so much change for the better. 2022 has great potential to make significant progress towards our goals. This is why we take energy forward – using technology to make it safer, cleaner, and more efficient for people and the planet.

I will be patient in waiting to gather again for Annual Meeting in 2023 and discuss some of these issues.?For now, I would love to hear from you about how you are changing energy and industry for the better.