Q&A: CEO of bp-acquired RNG producer on energy sustainability, stability

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Starlee Sykes, Archaea Energy’s CEO, shares the details of bp’s acquisition of the company and their vision for the future. Image via bp.com

bp’s Archaea Energy is the largest renewable natural gas (RNG) producer in the U.S., with an industry leading RNG platform and expertise in developing, constructing and operating RNG facilities to capture waste emissions and convert them into low carbon fuel.

Archaea partners with landfill owners, farmers and other facilities to help them transform their feedstock sources into RNG and convert these facilities into renewable energy centers.

Starlee Sykes, Archaea Energy’s CEO, shared more about bp’s acquisition of the company and their vision for the future.

HETI: bp completed its acquisition of Archaea in December 2022. What is the significance of this acquisition for bp, and how does it bolster Archaea’s mission to create sustainability and stability for future generations?

Starlee Sykes: The acquisition was an important move to accelerate and grow our plans for bp’s bioenergy transition growth engine, one of five strategic transition growth engines. Archaea will not only play a pivotal role in bp’s transition and ambition to reach net zero by 2050 or sooner but is a key part of bp’s plan to increase biogas supply volumes.

HETI: Tell us more about how renewable natural gas is used and why it’s an important component of the energy transition?

SS: Renewable natural gas (RNG) is a type of biogas generated by decomposing organic material at landfill sites, anaerobic digesters and other waste facilities – and demand for it is growing. Our facilities convert waste emissions into renewable natural gas. RNG is a lower carbon fuel, which according to the EPA can help reduce emissions, improve local air quality, and provide fuel for homes, businesses and transportation. Our process creates a productive use for methane which would otherwise be burned or vented to the atmosphere. And in doing so, we displace traditional fossil fuels from the energy system.

HETI: Archaea recently brought online a first-of-its-kind RNG plant in Medora, Indiana. Can you tell us more about the launch and why it’s such a significant milestone for the company?

SS: Archaea’s Medora plant came online in October 2023 – it was the first Archaea RNG plant to come online since bp’s acquisition. At Medora, we deployed the Archaea Modular Design (AMD) which streamlines and accelerates the time it takes to build our plants. Traditionally, RNG plants have been custom-built, but AMD allows plants to be built on skids with interchangeable components for faster builds.

HETI: Now that the Medora plant is online, what does the future hold? What are some of Archaea’s priorities over the next 12 months and beyond?

SS: We plan to bring online around 15 RNG plants in each of 2024 and 2025. Archaea has a development pipeline of more than 80 projects that underpin the potential for around five-fold growth in RNG production by 2030.

We will continue to operate around 50 sites across the US – including RNG plants, digesters and landfill gas-to-electric facilities.

And we are looking to the future. For example, at our Assai plant in Pennsylvania, the largest RNG plant in the US, we are in the planning stages to drill a carbon capture sequestration (CCS) appraisal well to determine if carbon dioxide sequestration could be feasible at this site, really demonstrating our commitment to decarbonization and the optionality in value we have across our portfolio.

HETI: bp has had an office in Washington, DC for many years. Can you tell us more about the role that legislation has to play in the energy transition?

SS: Policy can play a critical role in advancing the energy transition, providing the necessary support to accelerate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. We actively advocate for such policies through direct lobbying, formal comments and testimony, communications activities and advertising. We also advocate with regulators to help inform their rulemakings, as with the US Environmental Protection Agency to support the finalization of a well-designed electric Renewable Identification Number (eRIN) program.

HETI: Science and innovation are key drivers of the energy transition. In your view, what are some of most exciting innovations supporting the goal to reach net-zero emissions?

SS: We don’t just talk about innovation in bp, we do it – and have been for many years. This track record gives us confidence in continuing to transform, change and innovate at pace and scale. The Archaea Modular Design is a great example of the type of innovation that bp supports which enables us to pursue our goal of net-zero emissions.

Beyond Archaea, we have engineers and scientists across bp who are working on innovative solutions with the goal of lowering emissions. We believe that we need to invest in lower carbon energy to meet the world’s climate objectives, but we also need to invest in today’s energy system, which is primarily hydrocarbon focused. It’s an ‘and’ not ‘or’ approach, and we need both to be successful.

Learn more about Archaea and the work they are doing in energy transition.

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This article originally ran on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. For more information about the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, EnergyCapitalHTX's presenting sponsor, visit htxenergytransition.org.

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Houston-based Syzygy lands global customer for first commercial SAF plant

clean fuel deal

Houston-based Syzygy Plasmonics has secured a major future customer for its sustainable aviation fuel.

Syzygy announced this week that it has entered into a capacity reservation agreement with World Fuel Services, a global fuel distribution and logistics company.

Through the deal, World Fuel has reserved a portion of Syzygy's SAF production for future plants slated for Central and South America. The clean fuel will be produced at Syzygy’s NovaSAF-1 facility in Uruguay, which is moving toward construction.

The NovaSAF-1 will be the world's first electrified facility to convert biogas into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The facility is expected to produce over 350,000 gallons of SAF annually, which would be considered “a breakthrough in cost-effective, scalable clean fuel,” according to Syzygy.

The facility is expected to produce SAF with at least an 80 percent reduction in carbon intensity compared to Jet A fuel and make its first deliveries in 2028.

"Following NovaSAF-1, this agreement reflects continued interest in scalable pathways for producing SAF from biogas," Trevor Best, CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics, said in a news release. "Our NovaSAF platform is designed to deliver cost-competitive fuel while supporting the aviation sector's evolving regulatory and sustainability requirements."

Syzygy will make a portion of future production capacity available to World Fuel from its planned facilities, subject to the development and completion of those projects, according to the deal.

"We continue to evaluate supply opportunities that support increased access to lower carbon fuels in aviation, in line with emerging regulatory requirements and customer demand," Michael Ranger, senior vice president of supply EMEAA at World Fuel, added in the release. "Arrangements such as this are part of our ongoing efforts across the supply chain.”

Syzygy also secured an offtake agreement with Singapore-based commodity company Trafigura from NovaSAF-1 earlier this year.

Texas Gov. Abbott seeks data center crackdown as state grapples with growing power demand

growing pains

Just seven months ago, Gov. Greg Abbott trumpeted Google’s $40 billion plan to add three data center campuses in Texas. Now, amid growing public outcry over such projects, Abbott is pushing for a regulatory crackdown on data centers in the Lone Star State.

Abbott recently sent a letter to leaders of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) proposing stricter oversight of the state’s data centers. Texas is home to more than 400 data centers, with many more on the way, and is poised to become the world’s largest data center market.

Among other things, Abbott wants to:

Ensure residential electric bills go down — not up — as data centers connect to ERCOT’s grid, which supplies power for about 90 percent of Texans.
Require data centers to cover the costs of upgrades to deliver electricity to the power-hungry facilities.
Repeal sales tax exemptions and other “outdated or unnecessary” financial incentives for data centers.
Institute “best practices,” such as property setbacks and noise-reduction technology, to ease the impact of data centers on nearby residents.
Demand that all new data centers, which use a tremendous amount of water, be built with water-efficient technology.
Require large data centers to generate annual reports on their use of electricity and water.

Abbott has set a July 17 deadline for the PUC and ERCOT to address his recommendations.

“As Texas continues to welcome innovation and investment, we must ensure that growth strengthens our people and their quality of life without placing undue burdens on Texans and local communities,” Abbott wrote.

Abbott’s call for tighter control of data centers has elicited both praise and skepticism.

In a social media post on X, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows, a Lubbock Republican, thanked Abbott for seeking “accountability and reform” in the state’s data center industry. Burrows has made data centers one of his priority issues for the 2027 state legislative session.

State oil and gas regulator Wayne Christian, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, weighed in with similarly positive comments about Abbott’s directive. He says an outright ban on data centers isn’t the answer to residents’ complaints about new facilities.

“The Texas way is not to answer innovation with government overreach or fear-driven bans,” Christian, whose agency wasn’t cited in Abbott’s letter, said in a statement posted on X. “Our job is to protect prosperity, safeguard taxpayers and ensure the infrastructure that powers our economy remains strong and reliable.”

Gina Hinojosa, an Austin Democrat who’s challenging Abbott in this November’s gubernatorial race, took issue with the governor’s edict on data centers.

“Greg Abbott is changing his tune on data centers because he knows his policies are unpopular,” Hinojosa, a state representative, wrote on X. “Nobody believes the arsonist is gonna be the one to put out the fire.”

Abbott’s call for stepped-up regulation of data centers echoes many of the concerns expressed by the state chapter of the Sierra Club, an environmental nonprofit.

“The growth of data centers reflects a broader transformation taking place across Texas,” the Sierra Club says on its website. “The state is becoming a hub for the technologies that will shape the future economy, from artificial intelligence to advanced computing and cloud services. At the same time, Texans deserve transparency about how these projects affect the communities where they are built.”

Fervo promotes strategy leader to COO as flagship geothermal project nears launch

new leader

Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy has named Sarah Jewett as its new COO.

Jewett steps into the role as the company prepares for its flagship Cape Station geothermal project to deliver its first power later this year.

Jewett joined Fervo in 2020 as director of strategy and most recently served as the company's senior vice president of strategy. She spoke with HETI on the potential of geothermal energy in 2024.

Before Fervo, Jewett served as senior director of corporate development for Houston-based Select Energy Services. She ran hydraulic fracturing crews for Schlumberger in the Permian Basin and Alaska's North Slope early in her career.

In the COO role, Jewett is tasked with creating "the centralized infrastructure required to execute on what the company believes is the most significant commercial opportunity for clean, firm power in history," according to a company release.

“What Sarah has built over the last six years has been foundational to the company’s success. From the time she joined, she has brought an unwavering people-first mindset and outstanding dedication to building things that last,” Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo, added in the release. “As we move into the next phase of our growth, there is no better person to lead the operating core of this company.”

Jewett holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Dartmouth College.

Fervo announced the addition of four heavyweights to its board of directors this spring, including Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Spring-based HPE. Shortly after, the company filed for its highly anticipated $1 billion-plus IPO. Read more here.

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