FUTURE ENERGY
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“We need to keep improving the ways in which we produce and use oil and natural gas through the application of new technologies and new techniques”
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challenge. But, thanks to technology and innovation, it is not an insurmountable challenge. As history has shown, the way in which we produce, deliver and use the world’s oil and natural gas endowment constantly changes. The situation is not static but dynamic – and the dynamo driving our energy future is innovation. Th roughout history, as the world’s demand for and supply of energy has grown, so has our ability to improve upon the means of developing and delivering energy. Over time, the global energy industry has become more effective and more efficient. We have done so through innovation, in the form of new technologies and new techniques that reflect the workings of our best minds and our best practices. Th is energy learning curve extends to the present, and must continue into the future. Meeting the challenge before us – of ushering in a high-energy, low-carbon era – requires us to keep moving forward. To reconcile demands and realities, we need to keep improving the ways in which we produce and use oil and natural gas through the application of new technologies and new techniques. And for the world’s energy producers – like Abu Dhabi – who commit to innovation and partner with international oil companies to integrate the latest technologies and techniques, the challenge of growing supplies while reducing emissions and other environmental impacts becomes an enormous opportunity – albeit an enormous opportunity that requires vision, leadership and partnerships. To illustrate this point, I would like to discuss three areas of energy innovation that hold potential – innovations that could enable us to turn the energy and environmental challenge into a historic opportunity.
The first is carbon capture and storage, or CCS. CCS technology involves safely and effectively capturing, transporting and storing carbon dioxide in underground formations such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs. We see some of this technology at work in select upstream operations around the world, where carbon dioxide is already being separated from natural gas and can either be used for enhanced oil recovery operations or stored in a safe and costeffective manner. To scale up these select applications to a global level, and therefore achieve meaningful reductions in emissions, further technological progress is required. The search continues for a cost-effective means of separating carbon dioxide from the emissions of power plants and industrial facilities. ExxonMobil is advancing such progress through the ongoing development and testing of a new technology called Controlled Freeze Zone, or CFZ. CFZ has shown the potential to more efficiently separate carbon dioxide and other impurities from natural gas, and then discharge the carbon dioxide as a high-pressure liquid ready for injection into underground storage. We have committed more than US$100 million to develop and test our CFZ technology, which could not only expand the pool of cleaner-burning natural gas resources available for development and delivery to consumers, but also make carbon capture and storage more affordable and efficient in reducing emissions. Another area of innovation is in the field of renewable energy. As indicated earlier, meeting economic and environmental demands will require developing all commercially viable energy supplies, including alternative and renewable sources where and when they are competitive. One such potential renewable energy resource is algae, which could one day supplement conventional oil to help meet energy demands. Certain strains of algae produce oils with molecular structures similar to today’s petroleum products, capable of being refi ned into gasoline and diesel fuel using existing infrastructure in refining. They do so through natural photosynthesis, consuming carbon dioxide in the process. Unlike corn- or sugar-based biofuels, algae-based biofuels do not require fertile land or fresh water, and therefore do not have the same impacts on the food supply or environment. In 2009, ExxonMobil announced a partnership with Synthetic Genomics, Inc. for research and development of next-generation biofuels from photosynthetic algae, and last July we opened a new greenhouse facility in California to enable the next level of research and testing. If milestones are successfully met, ExxonMobil expects to spend more than US$600 million on this biofuels programme, US$300 million of which will be allocated to Synthetic Genomics. We are in the early days in this area of research, and the obstacles we face are formidable, but the potential is great. Finally, perhaps the most underestimated avenue for achieving a high-energy, low-carbon future lies in the area of energy efficiency. By producing, delivering and consuming oil and gas more efficiently, we not only displace demand and extend the life of the world’s hydrocarbon endowment, but we also reduce carbon emissions. Gains in
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