Climate solutions

Advancing climate solutions

Advancing climate solutions
SUPPORTING A LOWER-EMISSION FUTURE

ExxonMobil continues to advance innovative solutions for a lower-emission energy future

We are focused on five strategic priorities to create sustainable solutions that improve quality of life and meet society’s evolving needs. Our strategy calls for us to maximize the advantages of our scale, business integration, leading technology, functional excellence, and our people to build globally competitive businesses that lead industry in earnings and cash flow growth across a range of future scenarios. We strive to play a leading role in the energy transition, bringing to bear these same advantages while retaining investment flexibility across a portfolio of evolving opportunities to grow shareholder value. Read more about ExxonMobil’s ongoing strategy in the 2023 Advancing Climate Solutions Progress Report .

Net-zero ambition

Our net-zero ambition (Scope 1 and 2 operated assets) is backed by a comprehensive approach centered on detailed emission-reduction roadmaps for our major operated assets. We completed these roadmaps in 2022, and will be updating them as needed to reflect technology, policy, and other developments, including the development and acquisition of major operated assets.

One example of our roadmap approach is our Permian Basin unconventional operations, where we announced industry-leading plans to reach net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. We are working to electrify operations with lower-emission power, which may include wind, solar, and natural gas. We are also working to expand and accelerate our methane detection and mitigation technology, eliminate routine flaring, upgrade equipment, and employ high-quality emissions offsets, which may include nature-based solutions.

Our 2030 GHG emission-reduction plans are:

Versus 2016 levels. Applies to Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions from operated assets.

20-30%

reduction in corporate-wide greenhouse gas intensity

40-50%

reduction in upstream greenhouse gas intensity

70-80%

reduction in corporate-wide methane intensity

60-70%

reduction in corporate-wide flaring intensity

  • What is ExxonMobil’s climate strategy and role in helping advance the energy transition?

    ExxonMobil is positioned to make a difference by:
    • Reducing emissions in its operations through avoidance and improving energy efficiencies

    • Providing products to help customers reduce their emissions

    • Developing and deploying scalable technologies to help decarbonize highest-emitting sectors

    • Proactively engaging on climate-related policy

    What is ExxonMobil’s climate strategy and role in helping advance the energy transition? What is ExxonMobil’s climate strategy and role in helping advance the energy transition?
  • What emission-cutting technologies is ExxonMobil developing?

    With a long history of scientific innovation combined with operational expertise, ExxonMobil is focused on decarbonizing a number of energy-intense sectors including manufacturing, transportation and power generation. Carbon capture and storage is an essential part of the portfolio alongside continued research and advancements in biofuels and hydrogen.
    What emission-cutting technologies is ExxonMobil developing? What emission-cutting technologies is ExxonMobil developing?
  • Can the world meet climate targets, including those in the Paris Agreement, without carbon capture and storage?

    The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) agree that CCS is one of the most important low-carbon technologies required to achieve society’s climate goals at the lowest cost.
    Can the world meet climate targets, including those in the Paris Agreement, without carbon capture and storage? Can the world meet climate targets, including those in the Paris Agreement, without carbon capture and storage?

Helping customers reduce emissions

ExxonMobil is delivering products and solutions that enable customers to meet production performance requirements while reducing their emissions and improving energy efficiency across the supply chain. Products and solutions include:

lower carbon solutions programs

Carbon capture and storage technology will be vital for the energy transition

With a long history of innovation, combined with scientific and operational expertise, ExxonMobil has the technical readiness to lead in carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Currently, CCS is one of the few technologies that could enable some industry sectors to decarbonize while also creating economic opportunities. The company has more than 30 years of experience in CCS technology, and is the first company to capture more than 120 million metric tons of CO 2 , which is equivalent to eliminating the emissions of more than 25 million cars for one year.

Carbon capture and storage can remove more than 90% of industrial CO 2 emissions and the technology capability is available today. It's one of the critical technologies required to achieve net-zero emissions and the climate goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. ExxonMobil is advancing plans for multiple new carbon capture and storage opportunities around the world to enable large-scale emission reductions.

Learn more about carbon capture and storage

What is carbon capture and storage?

CCS is the process of capturing CO 2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and then injecting that CO 2 into deep geologic formations for safe, secure and permanent storage. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) agree that CCS is one of the most important low-carbon technologies required to achieve societal climate goals at the lowest cost. CCS is also one of the few technologies that could enable some industry sectors to decarbonize, including the refining, chemicals, cement and steel sectors.

Capture and store CO 2 in Houston

ExxonMobil is one of several companies with operations in the greater Houston area that have expressed interest in capturing CO 2 emissions. The region has two features that make it an ideal site for CCS: a large concentration of industrial emission sources, and it’s located near geologic formations in the Gulf of Mexico region that could store large amounts of CO 2 safely, securely and permanently.

Carbon capture and storage could help the city of Houston meet its climate leadership aspirations and achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.

Read more about CCS in Houston

Programs

Exploring the use of hydrogen

Coupled with ExxonMobil's carbon capture and storage capabilities, the Company is interested in broadening its production of blue hydrogen. Currently, ExxonMobil produces about 1.3 million metric tons of hydrogen annually, and is working to develop new technologies that significantly lower production costs.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen can play a key role in the energy transition

Hydrogen is a versatile fuel that doesn’t produce CO 2 emissions at its point of use, and it may be the lowest cost option to significantly reduce emissions in some sectors, such as industrial and residential heating and heavy-duty vehicles. Blue hydrogen is readily available at scale and has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the highest-emitting sectors, such as industrial manufacturing and heavy industry, by 60-80%.
Learn more about what we’re doing with blue hydrogen

programs

Developing biofuels

With global demand for energy projected to grow by about 25% through 2040, ExxonMobil seeks to progress the science needed to deliver advanced biofuels with environmental benefits, identifying the best pathways to make these groundbreaking technologies available to consumers. The company is working alongside scientists at universities, government laboratories and companies to develop solutions for tomorrow’s commercial transportation that do not compete with food or water supplies.

Through these partnerships, ExxonMobil is focused on fundamental science and engineering, and ultimately the production of advanced biofuels that are affordable, sustainable and scalable. Examples include algae, corn stover, switchgrass or methane emitted from microbial activity in landfills. Among many other benefits, algae can be used to manufacture biofuels similar in composition to today’s transportation fuels.

Learn more about biofuel development

Growing fuel

~50

%

lower life cycle greenhouse gas emissions will be produced by algae biofuels as compared to petroleum-derived fuel

Partnerships and collaborations

Better together

ExxonMobil believes collaboration will enhance our ability to advance and scale tomorrow’s technology solutions. That’s why we collaborate with over 80 universities around the world, including five university energy centers, national laboratories and private companies. Learn more about our partnerships and collaborations

supportive of policy

Our positions

ExxonMobil’s scientists and engineers are working to develop innovative and scalable solutions to help reduce emissions, with a focus on the highest-emitting and most-difficult-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy: commercial transportation, power generation and heavy industry. But to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement, durable, predictable, market-driven policies are needed to produce the greatest emissions reductions at the lowest cost to society.

Public policy decisions are made at all levels of government and have significant effects on our current and future operations. ExxonMobil supports policies that promote a stable investment climate for long-term business viability and continues to communicate our positions to policy stakeholders and governments around the world.

  • Establishing a market price on carbon will play an important part by providing the needed clarity and stability required to drive investment.
  • No single technology on its own can enable society to achieve its lower-emission ambitions.
  • Predictable, stable, cost-effective policies are necessary to incentivize the development and scalability of a wide range of lower-emission technologies across the economy.

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