Exxon Mobil, the biggest private oil company in the world, announced Wednesday one of the largest deals with the Trump administration meant to make low-emission technology a commercial reality in the next decade.
The oil company will invest $100 million over 10 years to advance the technology in collaboration with the two largest federal energy technology labs overseen by the Energy Department: The Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the West Virginia-based National Energy Technology Lab.
The announcement comes as the company has faced increasing calls by shareholders to be transparent about its greenhouse gas emissions and set carbon pollution reduction targets. It has also faced legal scrutiny by New York’s attorney general over allegations it tried to hide the true cost of climate change.
It has increased its efforts to demonstrate it is serious about the environment since the release of the progressive “Green New Deal,” running television ads illustrating how it is working to development new low-emission technology.
Exxon played up Wednesday’s agreement as “among the largest” between the Energy Department’s labs and the private sector, targeting research and development with the goal of making renewable fuels and carbon capture and storage technology commercially viable to lower emissions in the transportation, power generation, and industrial sectors.
“We’re focusing on advancing fundamental science to develop breakthrough solutions that can make a difference on a global basis in emissions reduction,” said Exxon Mobil chairman and CEO Darren Woods. “We’re doing that with our in-house scientists and with corporate partners, through relationships with 80 universities, and now with the intellectual and computing capacity of the renowned national labs.”
The company has been invested in developing what is commonly known as “carbon capture,” which refers to technologies that separate, capture, and reuse carbon dioxide from power plants, manufacturing facilities, and refineries to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change. Exxon has recently launched a television ad campaign in select markets, including D.C., to emphasize its efforts to advance this technology.
Supporters of the Green New Deal say carbon capture isn’t a real solution to curb emissions, saying it will only encourage the continued use of fossil fuels that are the primary cause of the Earth’s temperature rise.
The company has also been working to advance renewable fuels from plant waste that are less environmentally harmful with lower carbon emissions.
