Strategy: Invest in profitable renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions.
Energy demand is expected to rise steadily over the next two decades, with renewables assuming a larger role in the energy mix. While we are involved in a number of renewable energy projects, the most significant, by far, is our portfolio of geothermal assets. We are the world's largest producer of geothermal energy, providing clean, renewable power to Indonesia and the Philippines.
In 2010, we announced plans to enter into a joint operating agreement to explore, develop and operate the Kalinga geothermal field in the Philippines. Kalinga is one of the leading undeveloped geothermal areas remaining in the country. Plans call for developing steam fields that can generate approximately 100 megawatts in new capacity for the Luzon power grid.
Advanced Biofuels
We also continue to test a variety of renewable energies, especially those that have the potential to be developed profitably on a commercial scale. Through our Technology Ventures company, we are investing funds and partnering with others to develop advanced biofuels from nonfood sources. We have forged alliances with a number of commercial and industrial partners to find ways to convert biomass into transportation fuels in ways that are both environmentally and economically sustainable. One example is our Catchlight Energy joint venture with Weyerhaeuser, a leading forest products company. Catchlight is exploring ways to commercialize the large-scale production of liquid transportation fuels from sustainable forest-based resources.
Solar Energy
During the year, we announced the start of Project Brightfield, a demonstration of seven emerging solar energy technologies at our facilities in Bakersfield, California. Electricity generated by the project will be supplied to the local utility grid as well as to our crude oil production operations at the Kern River Field. The demonstration will help determine the potential application of renewable power at other company-owned facilities.
Late in the year, we completed a new solar facility at our molybdenum mine in Questa, New Mexico. The facility consists of approximately 175 solar panels spread across 20 acres of land, making it one of the largest concentrating solar installations in the country. Electricity will be sold to the local power company. The project not only will help evaluate emerging solar technology, but also will demonstrate beneficial reuse of industrial land.
Energy Efficiency Solutions
We believe that one of the most important sources of energy is the energy we save. Since 1992, the year we began tracking, we have improved our energy use by 33 percent.
Our subsidiary Chevron Energy Solutions (CES) has contributed to our energy efficiency progress as well as to the energy efficiency of its external clients. Since 2000, CES has developed hundreds of projects that are estimated to have saved customers in aggregate more than $1 billion and reduced carbon emissions by a total of more than 3 million metric tons. An example was the completion of a groundbreaking energy efficiency and renewable power project for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The installation of a 1.2 megawatt solar panel system combined with energy efficiency upgrades at a transit facility is expected to cut electricity requirements in half and save $550,000 per year. Major projects in 2010 included an energy efficiency and solar project for the city of Brea in California, a landfill gas cogeneration project for the U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany in Georgia, and a thermal storage and new central plant project for the University of Utah.
Watch the video about CES and its efforts to help customers conserve energy.
Posted: April 2011