Jan. 8, 2024
Research and development
Jan. 8, 2024
In this section
Our unique and sustained approach to R&D
We take a fundamental approach to our research, which seeks to identify and progress new technologies that, once proven, could be deployed at a commercial scale by market participants.
As we work to advance carbon capture and storage, hydrogen and lower-emission fuels opportunities, we are also investing in research and development aimed at next-generation, lower-emission solutions. We determine which research projects to advance based on factors including advantage versus alternatives, the ability to scale, alignment with core capabilities and key partners, and the probability of commercial success.
Thousands of scientists and engineers, including more than 1,500 Ph.D.s, work at ExxonMobil. In R&D, they are exploring areas such as new catalytic and separation materials, novel low-energy process development and scale-up, advanced performance materials, and improved means of CO₂ storage. Our scientists have written more than 1,000 peer-reviewed publications and received more than 10,000 patents over the past decade. In addition, we collaborate with more than 80 universities around the world, four energy centers, and several U.S. national laboratories. These collaborations have increased knowledge in key areas important to the energy transition: fugitive methane emissions detection and modeling; optimization techniques to understand CO₂ storage; electrification of processes; lower-emission fuels; and energy systems models.
We also monitor emerging lower-emission technologies for future research opportunities and to improve understanding of likely energy transition pathways. Our research and development approach focuses on areas that align with our businesses.
Innovating across our value chain
Feed
Biomass – We are working to expand the range of options for biofuels feedstocks, ranging from vegetable oils to wood wastes, cover crops, and more. These have potential application at our biofuels facilities, such as our Strathcona renewable diesel plant and future advanced biofuel deployments.
Plastic waste – We focus on plastics that are difficult to recycle mechanically, allowing us to use a wider range of mixed and soiled plastic waste to make valuable raw materials safely, reliably, and economically at scale.
Methane detection – We are testing and deploying innovative technology on the ground, in the sky, and even in space to identify and mitigate fugitive emissions in our natural gas value chain, which supports the production of low-carbon hydrogen.
Conversion/separation
New catalysts – Our catalysts have applications in performance materials and lower-emission fuels, including renewable fuels. For example, our dewaxing catalyst provides higher yield with less hydrogen consumption while improving the diesel flow at low temperatures.
Low-energy separations – Reducing the energy needed to sort molecules (i.e., isolate hydrocarbons for use in the refining or chemical process) can dramatically reduce emissions in our manufacturing. Our scientists are building off years of research with university partners to identify ways to improve the scalability of this technology.1,2
GHG abatement and energy efficiency – As part of our GHG roadmaps, we are working across our sites to apply modeling that can drive efficiencies, support future deployment of carbon capture in our operations, explore opportunities for electrification and heat recovery, and pursue the full range of large and small optimizations that may lower emissions.
Products
Hydrogen – We are developing improved, lower-cost technology for production of low-carbon hydrogen at scale. We are also working with leading combustion equipment manufacturers on burners to enable industrial fuel switching to hydrogen while controlling NOx emissions. In addition, we are working with the U.S. Department of Energy and industry organizations to evaluate safe and cost-effective hydrogen transport, which could enable us to grow the supply of hydrogen for a wide range of end users.3
Performance materials – We are developing and deploying new thermosets, thermoplastics, fillers, and lubricants to enable improved performance while using less materials and reducing energy use for products used in society. For example, our ProxximaTM thermoset resin system, based on Nobel Prize-winning technology, provides stepout advantages in a range of applications including wind turbine blades, concrete reinforcement, and automotive applications. We are also studying additional opportunities for materials in the energy transition.
Lower-emission fuels – Our continuing research in advanced biofuels could lead to improved longer-term solutions by converting lower-value, bio-based feedstock into renewable fuels. For example, we have identified a new pathway for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from renewable methanol, which can produce jet fuel with high selectivity and lead to reduced GHG emissions. In addition, we are leading the industry through a technical evaluation of this pathway to certify its use in aircraft.
Carbon management
Post-combustion carbon capture – ExxonMobil and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) have entered a strategic alliance to deploy MHI’s leading CO2 capture technology as part of ExxonMobil’s end-to-end carbon capture and storage solution for industrial customers. The alliance also leverages our combined core capabilities in engineering and science to advance the carbon capture technology for improved performance and lower overall cost of CO2 capture.
With our partner FuelCell Energy, we are progressing the development of a next-generation carbonate fuel cell technology for CO2 capture from industrial point sources. A project is planned at our Rotterdam refinery to validate fuel cell performance and lower cost of CO2 avoidance in an industrial deployment. We are developing commercialization options as part of our Low Carbon Solutions portfolio.
Direct air capture (DAC) – We believe there is potential for direct air capture to play an important role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and ExxonMobil plans to play a lead role in accelerating the development of cost competitive and scalable DAC technology with our in-house expertise and select partners. We are planning for a prototype demonstration of our DAC platform in early 2024. Our goal is to produce a low-cost commercial platform at scale, in line with the improvements we expect to realize through rapid learning cycles.
Carbon storage – To support the required scale-up of global geologic CO2 storage, we continue to build on our experience and develop improvements such as rapid modeling tools. One such example is our support for Stanford University to develop a machine learning framework for CO2 storage modeling.4 Approaches like this have the potential to enable real-time modeling. Another area is our collaboration with the University of Texas at Austin, the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and Brooklyn College and the Benjamin Levich Institute at City College, both part of City University of New York, where our laboratory simulations indicate that the pore-scale sealing of caprocks is maintained under geological CO2 storage conditions.
Nature-based solutions – We continue to evaluate the potential opportunities to remove carbon from the atmosphere, including prairies, grassland, and other nature-based options.
Life-cycle assessment – The Sustainable Energy System Analysis Modeling Environment (SESAME) tool we have been developing with the MIT Energy Initiative can perform full life-cycle assessments for more than 1,000 technology pathways, from primary energy sources to final products or services.5
FOOTNOTES:
- K. Thompson, R. Mathias, D. Kim, J. Kim, N. Rangnekar, J. Johnson, S. Hoy, I. Bechis, A. Tarzia, K. Jelfs, B. McCool, A. Livingston, R. Lively, M. Finn, N-Aryl-linked spirocyclic polymers for membrane separations of complex hydrocarbon mixtures, Science 369 (6501) (2020) 310-315.
- Siyao Li, Ruijiao Dong, Valentina-Elena Musteata, Jihoon Kim, Neel D. Rangnekar, J. R. Johnson, Bennett D. Marshall, Stefan Chisca, Jia Xu, Scott Hoy, Benjamin A. McCool, Suzana P. Nunes, Zhiwei Jiang, Andrew G. Livingston, Hydrophobic polyamide nanofilms provide rapid transport for crude oil separation, Science 377 (6614) (2022) 1555-1561.
- HyBlend Project to Accelerate Potential for Blending Hydrogen in Natural Gas Pipelines, https://www.nrel.gov/news/program/2020/hyblend-project-to-acceleratepotential-for-blending-hydrogen-in-natural-gas-pipelines.html; HyBlend: Pipeline CRADA Materials R&D, https://www.hydrogen.energy.gov/docs/hydrogenprogramlibraries/pdfs/review22/in035_san_marchi_2022_o-pdf.pdf.
- Gege Wen, Zongyi Li, Kamyar Azizzadenesheli, Anima Anandkumar, Sally M Benson, Real-time high-resolution CO2 geological storage prediction using nested Fourier neural operators, Energy & Environmental Science 16 (2023) 1732-1741.
- E. Gencer, S. Torkamani, I. Miller, T. Wu, F. O’Sullivan, Sustainable energy system analysis modeling environment: analyzing life-cycle emissions of the energy transition, Applied Energy 277 (2020) 115550.
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Images or statements of future ambitions, plans, goals, events, projects, projections, opportunities, or conditions in the publications, including plans to reduce, abate, avoid or enable avoidance of emissions or reduce emissions intensity, sensitivity analyses, expectations, estimates, the development of future technologies, business plans, and sustainability efforts are dependent on future market factors, such as customer demand, continued technological progress, policy support and timely rule-making or continuation of government incentives and funding, and represent forward-looking statements. Similarly, emission-reduction roadmaps to drive toward net zero and similar roadmaps for emerging technologies and markets, and water management roadmaps to reduce freshwater intake and/or manage disposal, are forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future corporate, market or industry performance or outcomes for society and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control or are even unknown.
Actual future results, including the achievement of ambitions to reach Scope 1 and 2 net zero from operated assets by 2050, to reach Scope 1 and 2 net zero in Upstream Permian Basin unconventional operated assets by 2030, to eliminate routine flaring in-line with World Bank Zero Routine Flaring, to reach near zero methane emissions from operated assets and other methane initiatives, to meet greenhouse gas emission reduction plans or goals, divestment and start-up plans, and associated project plans; technology advances including in the timing and outcome of projects to capture and store CO2 supply lower-emission fuels, produce hydrogen, produce lithium, obtain data on detection, measurement and quantification of emissions including reporting of that data or updates to previous estimates, and use plastic waste as feedstock for advanced recycling; progress in sustainability focus areas; and reserve or resource changes could vary depending on changes in supply and demand and other market factors affecting future prices of oil, gas, petrochemical or new market products and services; future cash flows; our ability to execute operational objectives on a timely and successful basis; policy and consumer support for emission-reduction and other advanced products and technology; changes in international treaties, laws, regulations and incentives, including those greenhouse gas emissions, plastics, carbon storage and carbon costs; evolving reporting standards for these topics and evolving measurement standards for reported data; trade patterns and the development and enforcement of local, national and regional mandates; unforeseen technical or operational difficulties; the outcome of research efforts and future technology developments, including the ability to scale projects and technologies such as electrification of operations, advanced recycling, CCS, hydrogen production, or direct lithium extraction on a commercially competitive basis; availability of feedstocks for lower-emission fuels, hydrogen, or advanced recycling; changes in the relative energy mix across activities and geographies; the actions of competitors; changes in regional and global economic growth rates and consumer preferences; actions taken by governments and consumers resulting from a pandemic; changes in population growth, economic development or migration patterns; military build-ups, armed conflicts, or terrorism; and other factors discussed in this release and in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in ExxonMobil’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2022 and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-Q, as well as under the heading “Factors Affecting Future Results” on the Investors page of ExxonMobil’s website at www.exxonmobil.com. The Advancing Climate Solutions Report includes 2022 greenhouse gas emissions performance data and Scope 3 Category 11 estimates for full-year 2022 as of March 1, 2023. The greenhouse gas intensity and greenhouse gas emission estimates include Scope 2 market-based emissions. The Sustainability Report, the Advancing Climate Solutions Report, and corresponding Executive Summaries were issued on Jan. 8, 2024. The content and data referenced in these publications focus primarily on our operations from Jan. 1, 2022 – Dec. 31, 2022, unless otherwise indicated. Tables on our “Metrics and data” page were updated on April 26, 2024, to reflect full-year 2023 data. Information regarding some known events or activities in 2023 are also included. No party should place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates of these publications. All forward-looking statements are based on management’s knowledge and reasonable expectations at the time of publication. We do not undertake to provide any further updates or changes to any data or forward-looking statements in these publications. Neither future distribution of this material nor the continued availability of this material in archive form on our website should be deemed to constitute an update or re-affirmation of these figures or statements as of any future date. Any future update will be provided only through a public disclosure indicating that fact.
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SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FOR NON-GAAP AND OTHER MEASURES
The Resiliency section of the Advancing Climate Solutions Report mentions modeled operating cash flow in comparing different businesses over time in a future scenario. Historic operating cash flow is defined as net income, plus depreciation, depletion and amortization for consolidated and equity companies, plus noncash adjustments related to asset retirement obligations plus proceeds from asset sales. The Company’s long-term portfolio modeling estimates operating cash flow as revenue or margins less cash expenses, taxes and abandonment expenditures plus proceeds from asset sales before portfolio capital expenditures. The Company believes this measure can be helpful in assessing the resiliency of the business to generate cash from different potential future markets. The performance data presented in the Advancing Climate Solutions Report and Sustainability Report, including on emissions, is not financial data and is not GAAP data.