A hydrocarbon future without fossil fuels?

Hydrocarbons, fossil fuels, and why the difference is so important

In North America, Western Europe, China, and Australia, government and industry are increasingly investing in alternatives to fossil fuels.

At the same time, we’re pursuing ways to create our own hydrocarbons rather than extracting them from the subsurface, giving us another important tool in our energy transition toolbox.

Image generated by Canva via the following prompt: two beakers next to each other on a lab bench, both containing the same gasoline-like liquid, with one beaker labeled "hydrocarbon" and the other labeled "fossil fuel". (Clearly Canva decided to ignore parts of my request.)

In this post, we’ll explore the difference between hydrocarbons generally and fossil fuels specifically.

We’ll explain why the carbon footprint for some hydrocarbons can be so much smaller than it is for fossil fuels.

We’ll also discuss the ways we’re producing and using hydrocarbons without having to rely on fossil fuels, and what possibilities can exist in the future, as adjacent technologies become cheaper and cheaper.

The energy transition is exciting to think about for a number of reasons. One underexplored dimension is how the world could still utilize hydrocarbons in areas that are uniquely difficult to electrify, and how more sustainable hydrocarbons could change the way we think about the oil & gas industry.

Hydrocarbons and fossil fuels – what they are, and why it’s important to separate them