Creating Lower-Carbon Technology Solutions for Society’s Needs

Energy is an essential component of modern living. Access to safe, reliable, and affordable energy is a critical enabler of higher living standards that include longer and healthier lives. Future energy demand will depend on global population growth, a rising middle class in developing countries, and how efficiently consumers use energy. All energy sources are needed, but meeting this demand is coupled with the need to reduce the risk to the environment, including climate change. In independent net-zero carbon scenarios, society needs to meet its energy demand with fewer, or even negative, emissions.

Power generation and road transport are the most familiar demands for energy, but over half of energy use occurs in the industrial sectors where the world’s goods and infrastructure are produced. Industries like steel and cement, along with commercial aviation and marine transportation, are difficult to decarbonize and will require technology innovations that can be deployed across a large scale. The level of innovation required to meet society’s net-zero ambitions is unprecedented. Partnerships between industries, governments, and universities will be essential to find multiple pathways to reduce energy-related emissions. ExxonMobil is actively developing biofuels, hydrogen-based fuels, and carbon capture and sequestration to offer lower-carbon solutions for the hard-to-decarbonize sectors. This presentation will share some insights into the challenges and opportunities for these new technologies, which need to be economically viable and executable at scale.