Climate solutions

Advancing climate solutions

Advancing climate solutions
enabling a lower-carbon energy future

ExxonMobil is committed to advancing innovative solutions for a lower-carbon energy future

ExxonMobil is developing solutions to the world's most complex energy challenges. Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to assisting society on climate change while helping power economies around the world. The company's nearly 23,000 scientists and engineers are working to advance smart and scalable solutions including new ways to help decarbonize the largest emitting sectors — manufacturing, power generation and transportation systems. Because there isn't just one climate solution — there are many. And advancing those solutions will help power the transition to lower-emission energy well into the future.

Society's demand for reliable, affordable energy — and its desire to achieve the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement — require action. ExxonMobil supports these ambitions and has unique expertise and technical solutions, developed over decades. From its depth and breadth of operational experience — coupled with a history of progress and innovation, project execution and ability to scale up technology — ExxonMobil is poised to help work toward a lower-carbon future through our programs, partnerships and advocacy of sound public policies.

  • 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?

Investing in solutions

The company’s sustained investment in R&D plays an important role in helping to develop breakthrough solutions in areas such as carbon capture, biofuels, hydrogen and energy-efficient process technology.

  • Investments primarily focused on reducing emissions from three sectors that emit 80 percent of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions: power generation, industrial and commercial transportation.
  • Invested in technology that could capture more than 90 percent of CO2 and prove up to six times more effective than conventional technology.
  • Partnered with governments, academia and industry to research and commercialize biofuels, direct air capture and lower the cost of carbon capture and storage to help support society’s ambition of net-zero emissions by 2050.
  • Since 2000, more than $10B has been invested to research, develop and deploy lower-emission energy solutions.
Learn more about our emissions reduction plans

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:

Reducing GHG emissions

Recently, plans were announced to further reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in our global operations by 2025, when compared to 2016 levels, while aiming for industry-leading GHG performance across our businesses by 2030. This plan represents some of the most aggressive reductions in the industry with an expected decrease of about 30% in absolute Upstream emissions.

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 CO2, which is equivalent to eliminating the emissions of more than 25 million cars for one year.

CCS technology capability is available today, and has the potential to be commercialized. 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 CO2 that would otherwise be released into the atmosphere and then injecting that CO2 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 CO2 in Houston

ExxonMobil is one of several companies with operations in the greater Houston area that have expressed interest in capturing CO2 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 CO2 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
We have a unique opportunity to spearhead a breakthrough approach to reducing carbon emissions. As the world’s leader in carbon capture and storage, ExxonMobil is eager to play our part.
Joe Blommaert

President Low Carbon Solutions

programs

Developing biofuels

With global demand for energy projected to grow by about 25 percent 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 percent

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-carbon ambitions.
  • Predictable, stable, cost-effective policies are necessary to incentivize the development and scalability of a wide range of low-carbon technologies across the economy.

 

More articles about climate solutions

Decarbonizing industry with carbon capture and storage In a wide-ranging Q&A, Joe Blommaert, the head of ExxonMobil’s Low Carbon Solutions business, explains how his team is working to commercialize and deploy technologies to help lower global emissions and fight the impact of climate change.

Climate solutions Energy Factor Aug. 12, 2021

The promise of carbon capture and storage, and a Texas-sized call to action ExxonMobil believes, and experts agree, that carbon capture and storage (CCS) will need to play a critical role if the United States and other countries are to meet the emissions-reduction goals outlined in the Paris Agreement.

Climate solutions Energy Factor April 19, 2021

Energy & Carbon Summary ExxonMobil has a long history of responsibly meeting society‘s evolving need for energy in a reliable and sustainable manner. With a longstanding commitment to investments in technology and the ingenuity of our people, we are well positioned to continue to provide the energy that is essential to improving lives around the world, while managing the risks of climate change.

Energy and Carbon Summary Report

Our position on climate change policy and carbon pricing ExxonMobil’s commitment to the environment and climate change policy.

Climate solutions Energy Factor July 21, 2021

How ExxonMobil is reducing greenhouse gas emissions: Our 2025 emission-reduction plans Before 2020 ended, ExxonMobil announced plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its operations over the next five years.

Climate solutions Energy Factor Feb. 26, 2021