ExxonMobil, the US oil major, announced that it will invest up to $15 billion over the next six years to advance low carbon initiatives. The new commitment increases the company’s investments towards carbon capture, methane emissions reduction, and biofuel production.
Firstly, the company also remarked it is on track to meet its 2025 emission-intensity reduction goals by the end of this year. That would be four years earlier than anticipated. As a result of such performance, the company increased its investment plan; became more aggressive towards meeting the goals from the Paris Agreement.
Moreover, a significant part of the $15 billion investment will go the Exxon’s recently launched Low Carbon Solutions venture; which focuses on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as heavy industry, commercial transportation, and power generation. Together these sectors account for about 80% of the world’s energy-related emissions.
In addition, the company says in its statement. “We see tremendous opportunities to use our technology and expertise in carbon capture and storage, hydrogen, and biofuels to support meaningful reductions in global emissions. We expect those opportunities to grow as policy support for low-carbon solutions increases.”
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ExxonMobil expanding carbon capture in Europe, Africa and Asia
Particularly for the United States, the company spearheads the large-scale carbon capture and storage hub in the Houston industrial area. ExxonMobil wants to annually capture about 100 million metric tons of CO2 from refineries, chemical plants; and power generation facilities in the area by 2040. Such an amount would be equal to more than 20 million gasoline-powered passenger vehicles.
Furthermore, in Wyoming, the company plans to expand its carbon capture and storage capacity at its natural gas and helium production site, which has already captured more CO2 than any other facility in the world.
As for Europe, the company has potential carbon capture and storage hubs in Scotland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Also, as we have reported previously, the company is working in carbon capture solutions in Mozambique, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
Finally, regarding biofuel production, an affiliate company in Canada, Imperial Oil, is progressing plans to produce renewable diesel at its Strathcona refinery in Edmonton using a proprietary catalyst technology that enables advantaged production.
