The challenges

Fossil energies (oil, natural gas and coal) account for around 81% of worldwide energy consumption. By 2030, they will still be contributing about 75% to total energy supply, with oil and gas resources making up about 50% of the mix.

Fossil energies are responsible for nearly 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions. And more than half of those emissions (or about one-third of total GHG emissions) come from the combustion of oil and gas.

Yet the scientific community, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has called attention to the fact that GHG emissions have an impact on climate and that an international effort is necessary to keep atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases below the maximum admissible thresholds.

Clearly, the oil and gas industry has a direct stake in the problem. But it also holds keys to some possible solutions for curbing emissions related to:

• oil and gas production and petroleum refining/distribution facilities (which represent an average 15% of all hydrocarbon-related CO₂ emissions),
• the use of oil and gas products (which account for an average 85% of all hydrocarbon-related CO₂ emissions).

What Total is doing

We believe it is our responsibility as an industrial enterprise that consumes, produces and distributes hydrocarbons to take action on:

• emissions from our own facilities: 55 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent in 2009.
• emissions released by the utilization of our products: 591 million metric tons of CO₂-equivalent in 2009.

To manage and reduce the GHG emissions related to our industrial operations and/or to the use of our products and services, we have defined a strategy targeting four complementary priorities:

• Reduction of flaring of oilfield associated gas
• Optimization of the energy efficiency of our facilities, our products and our services
• Carbon dioxide (CO₂) capture and storage
• Development of low-carbon energies

Taken together, our initiatives on this front should enable us to cut the direct emissions from our operated activities by roughly 15%, at constant scope, from 2008 to 2015.

What exactly is the greenhouse effect?

The Earth’s surface absorbs approximately 50% of the radiant energy emitted by the sun. This energy is reflected in the form of heat (infrared radiation), part of which is absorbed by the clouds and certain atmospheric gases.

Together, the clouds and gases act as a “lid” that reflects the thermal energy back toward the Earth, warming the lower atmosphere.

This process is known as the “greenhouse effect.” It is what keeps the mean temperature at the Earth’s surface relatively stable (15°C rather than -18°C), ensuring the presence of water in the liquid state.
Water vapor is the main greenhouse gas. It is responsible for more than 70% of the greenhouse effect. Water vapor has an atmospheric lifetime of a matter of days. In contrast, the other greenhouse gases, whether naturally occurring or anthropogenic (i.e., caused by human activity), take much longer to leave the atmosphere.

The main anthropogenic greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), followed by man-made fluorinated gases.

The main anthropogenic greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), followed by man-made fluorinated gases.