Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Journey to water neutrality within energy operations at Ecopetrol (PRT249)

Summary

• Steven Siegel from Accenture and Ernesto Gutierrez de Piñeres from Ecopetrol presented their collaborative efforts with AWS to achieve water neutrality in energy operations.
• Ecopetrol, the largest company in Colombia and a significant player in Latin America's energy sector, has shifted its strategy to "Energy That Transforms," focusing on energy transition and sustainability.
• The company has diversified into three business lines: traditional oil and gas, energy transmission, and low-emission solutions, including hydrogen and geothermal energy.
• Ecopetrol aims to adjust its business distribution by 2040, with oil and gas dropping to 60%, energy transmission growing to 26%, and low emissions reaching 40%.
• The strategy is built on four pillars: competitive returns, growth with energy transition, value generation through TESG (Technological, Environmental, Social, and Governance), and cutting-edge technology.
• Ecopetrol has set ambitious goals for CO2 neutrality by 2050 and water neutrality in 20 years, alongside creating new employment opportunities in Colombia.
• The company is tackling challenges in technology maturity, cost reduction for green hydrogen production, and open innovation for global issues like decarbonization.
• The partnership with AWS and Accenture has led to the development of a platform to manage water usage in industrial processes, aiming to create value from water management and support circular economy principles.
• Guillermo Quinones highlighted the social and technical aspects of water management, emphasizing the need for collaboration across industries and government to address water scarcity and quality issues.
• The platform provides visibility, optimization, and decision-making capabilities for water management, with a focus on recycling water and reducing fresh water capture.
• The architecture of the solution is based on AWS services, with plans to introduce predictive analytics using AWS SageMaker in future releases.

Insights

• Ecopetrol's transformation strategy reflects a broader industry trend towards sustainability and energy transition, with a focus on diversifying energy sources and reducing environmental impact.
• The company's emphasis on TESG highlights the importance of technology in achieving sustainability goals, suggesting that technological innovation will be a critical factor in the energy sector's transition.
• The partnership between Ecopetrol, Accenture, and AWS demonstrates the value of collaborative efforts in tackling complex global challenges like water neutrality and decarbonization.
• The use of AWS cloud services and analytics tools, such as SageMaker, for predictive modeling indicates a growing reliance on advanced technologies to optimize resource management and operational efficiency.
• The concept of an open data platform for water management suggests a move towards greater transparency and data sharing, which could lead to more informed decision-making and improved environmental outcomes.
• The project's focus on circular economy principles, such as water recycling and creating value from waste, aligns with global sustainability goals and could serve as a model for other industries.
• The challenges mentioned, such as the need to reduce the cost of green hydrogen production by eight times, underscore the significant technological and economic hurdles that must be overcome to achieve sustainability targets.